Networking: How To Become a Great Leader

I was flicking through my bookshelves the other day and reacquainted myself with Linda Hill and Kent Lineback’s 2011 book Being The Boss. I remembered how they had identified 3 imperatives that could shift good Managers to great Leaders: Managing Yourself; Managing yourTeam and Managing your Network.

15 years on, I would argue that these imperatives not only remain central to Great Leadership but that having a strong Network is both increasingly important and necessary.

Our networks are so often made up of people reflecting our own views back at us so how do we encourage the richness that comes from hearing something that challenges our thinking?

Twinned with this, there has been a sense of distancing that began with Covid, continued with hybrid working and is maintained by extensive use of online meetings rather than face-to-face conversations. Even if Leaders want to diversify and extend their web of relationships, for many, the art of networking is even harder to master.

As Hill & Lineback stated  “The wisdom of a network may seem obvious, but creating one is something many managers dread, and so few do it actively or well”.

Do you?

To grow a new network, book a seat on the Autumn Pentagon which begins on Friday 11 September https://www.nicolalincoln.com/pentagons-peer-network