“Talent will get you in the door but character will keep you there.” Unknown
Way back in 1994 when I attended college, I studied endless days and nights to cram my brain full of knowledge. Knowledge that I had been told I would need in order to be successful in the business career I was pursuing. At the time, I was under the impression that the knowledge and experience would be the most important factor in my success throughout my career. I now know 29 years later that although knowledge is fundamental and important, a successful and more importantly fulfilling career is not based on what you know but rather who you know.
The past couple of weeks with the recent changes in my organization, I have had the pure pleasure of hearing from friends and colleagues that have all had an impact on my life throughout the years. Previous managers that I have considered mentors, customers that have become friends, friends that have become colleagues as well as champions and supporters of me. A good friend recently joined our organization, and she said it well when she stated, “We are all going through it, I prefer to go through it with people I enjoy.”
As a middle manager, I am often in a position where I do not have all the answers. The knowledge I have worked to stuff into my brain is not nearly enough to know all the answers all by myself. That is where the WHO you know comes into play. I will often reach out to others that have an expertise in the area I am seeking, but even more often I will encourage my employees to reach out and connect with someone that can share their expertise. The thing about having knowledge is that it serves you for the time that you are able to retain it and only for the purpose it serves at that time; however, a personal connection, well that is one of the gifts that can keep on giving and growing and evolving.
It is also important to remind your employees (and yourself) that the WHO you know does not mean your personal rolodex is only valuable if you know CEO’s and VP’s and CFO’s. Your connections at all levels are important, relevant and changing. As I connected with previous colleagues, employees and connections this past week, I was struck by the paths that they have all taken. The CEO’s and CFO’s that they have become, the mothers and fathers and grandfathers they have also become. These connections and the WHO I know started with a common interest, a common goal, a genuine joy in “going through it with the people I enjoy”. These connections started at the bottom, not at the top. They are the connections that are the most valuable and the ones that I will always help out first.
This week, reconnect with the WHO’s in your life and career. Seek out a conversation with someone you enjoy “going through it” with. Encourage your employees to build their network of knowledgeable resources and connections, not at the top but instead from the bottom. These are the people that really know what is going on, these are the team members that truly have the expertise to assist, and these are the people that 20 years from now will be the CEO’s and the CFO’s; they will grow and evolve in your personal rolodex. They will forever be the WHO’s that you call on when the WHAT is just not sufficient enough.
The Heart of the Middle 