Short summary on HBR case study explaining how leaders create and use professional networks to advantage

1. Managing Yourself
How Leaders Create & Use Networks
 Harvard Business Review – January 2007
 By Herminia Ibarra & Mark Hunter
 Idea Brief
 Alternative to ‘Networking’ is to ‘Fail’
 Successful leaders know ‘whom to tap’ to get the Job done
 Skill, ‘whom to tap’ require leaders to realize the importance of forming
 Operational Networks
 Personal Networks
 Strategic Networks

2. Operational, Personal & Strategic Network
Operational Network
Personal Network
Strategic Network
 Operational Networking
comes ‘natural’ to managers
 Relatively easier to measure
efficiency & productivity
 Turn silo thought to a
collective supportive process
 Contacts/ partners are
usually non-discretionary
 ‘Depth’ is the key
 Manage strong relationships
Coordination &
Cooperation
Job/ Task Done
Trust &
Knowing Role
People

3. Operational, Personal & Strategic Network
Operational Network
Personal Network
Strategic Network
 Personal Networking has to
‘be developed’ by managers
 Results are not ‘binary’;
however advantage is
‘sustainable’
 Advance communication,
etiquette, social & personal
skills
 Contacts are mostly
‘discretionary’ & it is not
clear who is relevant
 ‘Breadth’ is the key
Work on hand
Managing Time out
Manipulative
Important
referrals, contact &
rapport building
Safe Place for
Personal
Development
Find Coaches &
Mentors
• Social gatherings
• Club outings
• Conferences/
workshops
• Shared interest
groups
• Follow role model
Challenges:
 Network lacking knowledge
of professional domain
 No time for activities
indirectly related to work

4. Operational, Personal & Strategic Network
Operational Network
Personal Network
Strategic Network
 Next level; figure future
possibilities & get
stakeholder buy-in
 Set direction to advantage
 Lead transformation
 Contacts are followed in
strategic context & are
mostly ‘discretionary’; not
clear who is relevant
 ‘Leverage’ is the key
Focus on broad
strategic issues;
‘the big picture’
Exercise personal
network gains to
‘work’
Key is leverage:
Ability of a leader
to marshal use of
idea &
information from
one sector to
advantage in the
other
Leveraging Network
• Mind your Mindset
• Work from Outside
In
• Ask & you shall
receive
Challenges:
 Realize the change from an
excellent functional manager
to a business leader
 Require significant time &
energy; retain balance to
manage operational demands

5. Points to Ponder
 Can a leader be called a manager as he is continually feed up by the networks
he developed Or has at disposal
 Is information, research, corporate case-studies & other sources continue to
undermine efficacy of Networks?
 If the eventual gain is to gain stake holder trust than how a leader is different
than a manager?
 Networks support democratizing situations; whereas leadership is not
democracy. Do networks support &/ built like-wise?
 Is relationship building & personal networking different sides of the same coin