There are a few cliches around networking that most people have probably heard. Things like, “your network is more important than your net worth”, or “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” If you are like me, both of these you find them mildly annoying – the second one more so than the first. I think the reason I disliked the idea of these being true is for a few reasons:
- I always found myself being better at the thing, rather than the people aspect of it.
- Growing up playing sports, your ability was the most important criteria. And I was reluctant to the idea that the world did not working exactly the same way as Little League Baseball.
- I didn’t want it to be true. (See #1 and #2)
- It felt like cheating. I valued skill more than networking, so I imagined the world would too. Obtaining a status without having the necessary skill set felt wrong to me.
The military reinforces the idea that objective value is more important than social connection. Merit is the most important criteria. You get promoted based on an objective score. It’s unlikely you get a duty station due to a personal connection (at least as a younger military member). Your pay isn’t based on how well you get along with your boss. So if you were anything like me, when the military spits you out into a world where networking matters, you can find yourself off balance.
If you find yourself surprised, and potentially reluctant to accept this new factor in your professional life, I offer up a few options:
Play the Game
Understand that the private business world runs on networking. When people change jobs, they bring people they know with them. People would rather work with others that they know and like. You may not like the idea that networking is valuable, but you don’t need to like it to be good at it. Hopefully you do like it, as it’s easier to improve at things that you enjoy rather than not. But it’s a skill that you can utilize, so despite how you feel about it, understand its value and work to improve yourself in that area.
Be so good that they can’t ignore you.
If you are committed to avoiding networking, one solution is to be so talented that you make up for the lack of network. Be realistic about your skill and be aware of how easily you are able to demonstrate your skill set as well. Being the world’s greatest project manner can be a difficult thing to display, while as a fantastic sculptor, your product can sell itself.
Put Yourself at a Disadvantage
I once had an O-1, who had commissioned after making E-7 say something to me regarding Navy evals. For those that don’t know, the Navy values ‘collateral duties’ in their eval system. Many will make the argument that it is over-valued, and I would agree with that assessment. But what he said to me regarding having collateral duties, which take away from your main job function was: “Everyone knows that the system (ie: evals) is broken regarding collateral duties. But you have two options, you can focus on the collateral duties, get promoted, and contribute to the broken system, or you can not do the collateral duties, and knowing put yourself at a disadvantage.” At that point I realized I was going to ‘play the game’ until my next duty station. But once I got to my next duty station, I stopped doing that. It put me at a disadvantage, but I understood that and was ok with it.
Conclusion
Young enlisted folks are probably at the biggest disadvantage with networking when they leave the military. The officer corp, at least from what I’ve seen, seems to subtly promote the value of networking to its junior officers. And I think more senior enlisted end up seeing the value in networking as they spend more time in the military, and through things like the Navy’s Chief’s Mess. When you call up Johnny from two duty stations ago to better coordinate some movements between multiple units – that’s networking. It may not be clear though what experience military people have with networking, but it’s usually more than they think. Unfortunately, I don’t think they see it as networking, but rather the out growth of genuine relationships with people who want to help the mission. And while the mission may change and not everyone will care about it as much outside of the military, I think a lot of military members have a strong foundation from which to build their new network.