Why Your Network Is the Answer to Everything

Six emails, two texts, and four phone conversations later, you have everything you need from colleagues across the company (and perhaps a few people outside the company) who are more than happy to help you. Within three hours, a third of the time it took you previously, you send the completed project to your boss.

Another name for relationship-building

Say the word networking and most people will think only of getting a job. To me, that is a limited and frankly self-serving view. In fact, for years I avoided even talking about networks and networking for that very reason. Then I recognized what I had been doing all along: reaching out to former classmates, building connections with current and former colleagues, and getting to know people I met in business and personally. What I called relationship-building was networking.

Over the years, my network has been an invaluable resource for discovering what I needed to know. Whenever I was faced with a question I could not answer or needed insights about something I was unfamiliar with, I always knew someone who had the information—or who knew the right person to ask.

Networking to solve problems has been my habit since graduating from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management 45 years ago. I made a point of keeping in touch with at least 30 of my classmates. These relationships were two-way streets as we landed our first jobs, advanced in our careers, and reached out to each other for advice.

As a financial analyst starting out at Baxter International, I frequently heard from former classmates with their questions about finance. When I was promoted to running a division at Baxter and needed expertise on a marketing issue, I could reach out to at least three former classmates who had become chief marketing officers for major companies.

Building relationships internally is even more crucial. This is collaboration at its best, extending a helping hand and your expertise to colleagues who will then become resources for you. These relationships are the key to your current and future success.

Becoming a CEO

When I was new in my role of chief financial officer (CFO) at Baxter International, William Graham, the long-time chair, stopped by my office one day to talk about CEO succession candidates. All of them were highly capable, he told me, but many believed that they could not become CEO unless they knew everything about the job.

“That would take about 185 years!” Mr. Graham joked. “But here’s the great news. There are only two things you need to know in any position, even as CEO. The first is what you know, the strengths you bring to the job. The second is who knows what you don’t know!”

Five years later when I became CEO of Baxter at the age of 42, leading a $12 billion healthcare company, I relied heavily on Mr. Graham’s advice. The relationships I had built both within the company and across a network of contacts enabled me to accomplish far more than I ever could have done on my own or with my direct team.

Here are four reasons to build your network.

1. Networking saves you time. The reason most people don’t network is the time it takes. That’s understandable because connecting and communicating with others requires both time and effort. Think of your network as a long chain you build link by link; with every interaction, you strengthen or add a link. It’s an investment that pays huge dividends. When it comes time for you to get help from your network, you can usually accomplish something in a fraction of the time.
2. It expands your knowledge base. I was giving a speech recently to 80 senior executives. At the end of my talk, I advised them to get the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of everyone in the room. “Then within a day or two, reach out to each other,” I added. I’m sure there were quite a few people who hadn’t done much of that kind of networking. As senior leaders, they might be wondering why they should canvas the room for connections. The reason is simple: The way the world is changing, we can’t possibly know everything, from using AI to sustainability. That’s why even senior leaders need to keep growing their networks to expand their knowledge base. It’s true for everyone at every level: as you interact with different people, you gather new information—and from a variety of sources.
3. You gain a balanced perspective. With all the concerns, problems, and issues facing us—from the economic outlook to greater political polarity—there is even greater value today in understanding multiples sides of an issue. That’s the essence of a balanced perspective, and it’s one of my principles of values-based leadership. The more I reach out to different people to discuss an issue or an opportunity, the more likely I will hear diverse opinions—and sometimes views that are completely different from mine. I welcome the challenge to my thinking, because my goal is not to “be right” but rather to “do the right thing.”
4. You can answer questions for others. The golden rule of all networking is to give before you receive. All it takes is a willingness to give your perspective to someone else, offering your expertise. Early in my career, when I worked on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), my former Kellogg classmates knew I had this experience and often would ask for advice. Without giving or receiving any confidential information, we could talk about everything from the main reasons acquisitions often fail to choosing which investment bank or auditor to engage. Not only was I happy to help, but I also knew I had just strengthened the connections in my network. It’s a practice I continue to this day, whether the questions I’m asked are about choosing a college, the value of getting an MBA, the best way to find a job, opportunities in healthcare, or any number of business issues from M&A to recruiting talent.

The good news about networking is that it is never too late to start. Just think about the last five or six people who reached out to you. Have you replied? If not, there is no time like the present.

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This article originally appeared in Forbes.