Create Deliberate Relationships

“Bodacious” means to be bold, outstanding, and remarkable.
Take those attributes to work and you’re on your way to
building a fulfilling, bodacious career.  Does having a
bodacious career sound exciting to you?  It is!  After
starting as an $8 an hour customer service rep, I rose
through the ranks of AOL, accepting four promotions and
surviving over six layoffs to become the head of corporate
training for 12,000 employees.  Along the way I learned I
needed to be bodacious to achieve the career I wanted.  Out
of that experience I created my “cheat sheet” of ten
essential Bodacious Career Builders.  Here’s number two:
Create Deliberate Relationships

Bodacious Career builders know that in today’s business
world value lies in relationships. Everything is
introduced, evaluated, negotiated, bought, sold, resolved,
ended, and enjoyed based on relationships.  The
technological advancements that have evolved over recent
years serve as both metaphors and evidence of our demand
for an infinite ability to make connections through
computers, modems, phone lines, and air waves, as well as
among people in organizations.  Even with all this
high-tech stuff, it’s still all about people.

What I’m about to say flies in the face of all good girl
coding most of us have had embedded in our systems from the
day we first heard, “Now play nice.  That’s a good girl.”
And it might make you so mad that it will cause you to stop
reading this article and move on to something else.  I
certainly hope not.

But in the name of authenticity and full disclosure, I have
to tell it like I see it:  To build a Bodacious Career,
deliberately seek relationships with people according to
who they are, who they know, what they do — and what they
can do for you.

Sounds horribly selective, doesn’t it?  But it isn’t really.

Think of how you’ve created relationships at work in the
past.  My guess is that more often than not, you’ve created
friendships based on those around you who you easily
connected with or felt some kinship because of working
closely together or having something in common.  These
approaches are okay, but they don’t do much to increase the
quality of the selection.

Your mother always said to choose your friends wisely,
right?  Now it’s time to do it strategically.  Proactively
create relationships with people who can support your own
growth, who can contribute meaningfully to your journey.
Do the same in return.

So what kind of people would be best for building your
Bodacious Career?  Perhaps it’s someone with a particular
kind of experience that you’d like to have.  Or, someone
with an organizational rank that you want to make sure
knows you exist.  Maybe it’s an internal or external
customer whose performance is linked to yours?

While there are no “right” one-size-fits-all answers, here
are a few suggestions of the kinds of people to seek out
when creating deliberate relationships:

- People who are in key leadership positions

- Women or men who are successful in your profession or
industry

- Women who represent an achievement or personal growth
spurt that you would like to experience

Once you’ve brainstormed a list of 2 -3 people, reach out
to them.  Send an e-mail, call them up, invite them to
lunch or coffee, or ask for a phone appointment.  Yes, you
can do this, even to very successful people!

Make sure you identify what’s in it for them to invest
their time with you, be it something emotional like a the
positive boost for being recognized and appreciated, or
something practical like offering your talents on a project
they need done.  If you’re able to succinctly and
gracefully capture what you have to offer, you’ll get their
attention sooner.

Thinking of developing relationships this way may feel
awkward at first, but I encourage you to give it a try.
You have nothing to lose but the potential of meeting
someone who could make a huge difference to your career.

BODACIOUS CAREER BUILDER #2:  Decide who in your company or
organization could help your career in some way and how you
will go about getting to know them.

—————————————————-
Mary Foley, author of “Bodacious! Career: Outrageous
Success for Working Women” inspires women to be
courageously in charge of their lives, careers and
businesses. You can be inspired, too! Get her free e-book
“10 Bodacious Ways for a Bodacious Career today at
http://www.GoBodacious.com/ebook .