BMA eBook - Manual / Resource - Page 277
them—whether those goals are political (gaining early access to opinion
leaders), developmental (supplementing skills gaps), innovation-oriented
(searching for new insights), or related
to best practices (finding people who
know efficiencies).” He acknowledges
that some women find this inauthentic,
even Machiavellian, but notes that men
interpret the same behavior as putting
the work first. He says it’s OK to have
a “tenure bell curve” in professional
relationships. Women should, of
course, maintain some long-known
advisers. But they should consistently
initiate new connections, and organizations can help them by instituting
processes such as network reviews at
the start of new assignments or during
performance evaluations.
Boundary-spanning. The highestranking, best-networked women
connect with people in a wide variety
of functions, geographies, and business
units. Again, less successful female
networkers tend to shy away from the
tactic because it feels uncomfortable
or overly promotional. “We heard
from women that they liked their own
communities,” Carboni says, whereas
spanning boundaries made them wary
of “backlash” and “stressed out.” But
that behavior is critical to accessing new
information, leading innovation, and
pursuing advancement, for both women
and men. Cross suggests periodically
considering the leaders in your organization and asking yourself, “Who isn’t in
my network but should be?” He advises
approaching them “not with ‘Here’s
what I need’ but with ‘Could we grab
a coffee and explore ways of working
together?’” Companies including Ford
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Harvard Business Review
November–December 2019
and Booz Allen Hamilton have tried to
institutionalize the practice by setting
up cross-functional groups of female
high potentials who meet regularly with
C-suite executives.
Energy-balanced. More than two
decades’ worth of research shows, perhaps not surprisingly, that the highest
performers are seen as the most energizing people in their networks—as the
type of colleague who makes the work
more engaging, which then drives better performance. But men and women
are expected to bring different energy
to relationships, and this is where effective female networkers set themselves
apart from less successful women:
They demonstrate both competence
and warmth, both intelligence and
emotional intelligence, as studies—the
researchers’ and others—suggest they
must to build trust. “The most successful women don’t downplay their knowledge, skills, and accomplishments; they
show evidence that they can do things,”
Cross says. “But they also use humor,
presence, and small gestures to signal
caring and positivity, and they employ
listening skills to spur creative thinking
among their colleagues.”
The researchers say they hope more
women will adapt their networking
behaviors in keeping with these four
characteristics. They add that organizations have a big role to play too. “The goal
is to embed these behaviors and practices
so that they’re the norm for everybody,”
HBR Reprint F1906A
Cross says.
ABOUT THE RESEARCH “How Success-
ful Women Manage Their Networks,”
by Inga Carboni et al. (working paper)
IN PRACTICE
“You’re
Closer to
Everyone
Than You
Think”
Julie Lodge-Jarrett has worked
at Ford Motor Company for 21
years, holding positions around
the world. Currently the chief
talent officer, she leads an
initiative to encourage colleagues
to develop better networks among
the company’s 73,000 salaried
employees. She spoke with HBR
about the special challenges
female professionals face when
trying to make connections.
Edited excerpts follow.
As a female executive,
how have you approached
networking? During my career,
I’ve often been the only woman
in the room. In developing a
network, I always made sure it
was authentic and purposeful.
I didn’t reach out to people
because I thought they were
important and I wanted them
to know me. I tried to figure out
whom I needed to know and why
and set up meetings to pick their
brains. When you approach it as
a learner, people want to share
their insights and experiences.
Later, when I had more questions,
I would ask those I’d forged a
relationship with to connect me
