Focus Magazine - Summer 2014 - (Page 11)

GUEST EDITOR Kevin Kruse Your Network and the Connection Economy Your success is based on who you know and who knows of you. I 'd like to challenge you, and maybe even provoke you: You are doing a poor job of cultivating your social network. In my role as executive director, I get calls weekly from members who have been laid off. When I pull up their profile on LinkedIn, they typically have few connections and little activity. They are beginning their networking after they've been let go, when it's far too late. Building your network isn't just about job security or climbing the career ladder faster-though it will help with both. Have you ever thought you might like to write a book, become a consultant, hob nob with celebrities, help a friend in need, get your kid an internship, influence federal legislation or just have some amazing experiences? The most important part of our new name, the Life Sciences Trainers & Educators Network (LTEN), is the word network. In the industrial age, wealth and success came from what you could build. In the information age, success came from what you knew. In our new Internet-driven, social "connection economy," rewards go to leaders of tribes and those with the most active networks. In my own life, my network has brought unimagined opportunities: * Because I spoke at a conference, I got my first book deal from an editor in the room. * Because I returned the call of a recruiter, I was introduced to a man who would end up investing $1 million in my company. * Because I volunteered for a local organization, I became the confidant of a U.S. congressman and friends and business partners with a U.S. senator. * Because I share my passion for leadership on blogs and various social media channels, I've been invited to meet and speak with a Fortune 500 CEO in Zurich, a sheik in Dubai, a four-star general at the Pentagon and the chamber of commerce in Shanghai. I consider these kinds of opportunities inevitable for anyone who invests in their network. Cultivating a network means seeking out new relationships, sharing lessons you've learned and keeping in touch with people. The easiest thing you can do for your career is to build up your connections on LinkedIn. Ninety percent of all people have fewer than 500 connections on LinkedIn. One life sciences recruiter told me recently, "When I see someone with less than 500 connections I immediately think 'loser' and when I see 500+ I know I'm dealing with a 'player.'" I told you I would provoke you. I believe in what Stanford sociology professor Mark Granovetter has termed the power of weak ties. Granovetter studied job seekers who found work through personal contacts, and more than 80 percent said the new job came from a connection they rarely saw or was one person removed from them. In the connection economy your success is based on who you know, and who knows of you. LTEN is a network that gives you a tremendous opportunity to write, to speak, to form lasting relationships at our live events, and to connect with fellow members on LinkedIn. Don't be invisible. Opportunities await. I Kevin Kruse is the executive director of LTEN and co-author of the New York Times best-seller, We: How to Increase Performance and Proﬁts through Full Engagement. Email Kevin at kkruse@L-TEN.org. FOCUS | SUMMER 2014 | www.L-TEN.org 11 http://www.L-TEN.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Magazine - Summer 2014

Focus Magazine
From the President: Clarity, Community & Career
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Guest Editor: Your Network and the Connection Ecomony
Front of the Room: Getting Your Head Right
Neuroscience: Neuroliteracy
Introducing LTEN: The Life Sciences Trainers & Educators Network
Communities of Practice: Learning in Action
Are We Living in a Post-LMS World?
Member Solutions: Measuring the Impact of Training
Selling as a Team Sport
From the Training Room to the Board Room
The Science of Changing Sales Behavior
Personalized Medicine: The Coming Revolution
Virtual How: Trends in Selling Models
Member News
Ad Index
Focus Contacts
5 Questions with Nigel Brooksby

Focus Magazine - Summer 2014