6-25-10 Renewing Old Friendships

For me it is always a good day when I learn something new. And today, I learned something new.

I just spent the afternoon with a high-school friend….. My best friend in those days. As happens a lot in real life, we had lost contact with each other over the years. It had been 30 years since we’ve seen or talked to each other. So I learned a lot today…. About my friend and her life over the past 3 decades. It was an absolutely delightful afternoon.

And I re-learned something else. Each executive’s network should be made up of both old and new friends, colleagues, etc. Yeah, I already knew that. Heck, I’ve talked about that more than once in this blog. And one of the key executive skills from my model is all about building your network (1-4-10 Let's Talk).

But “knowing” something and actually implementing the knowledge are two completely different things. I realized today that I “knew” how important the network was in my life, but I hadn’t actually taken an active role in maintaining the relationships that should be an important part of my network.

I also realized that it is important for each executive’s network to be made up of a variety of people, with a variety of backgrounds. It doesn’t have to include just your work relationships. Your network should have people from all the aspects of your life --- work, church, volunteer activities, college, and yes, even high school. There is so much to learn from all of the people that touch your life. And when you let both old and new relationships go stale, you miss out on so much.

The beauty of a network is that you can always renew and reinforce the relationships, no matter how much time has passed. Sure the relationships might have changed/evolved, but they are still there for your learning and enjoyment.

So, take some time and check your network. Is it balanced? With all types of people and all types of backgrounds? Have you told the people in your network how important they are to you? I guess it comes down to…… did you make an effort to nurture the relationships?

Cheers!