And why not a non-profit directorship? There are many relatively young and struggling charitable and cultural organizations which, unlike the venerable institutions, aren't yet dominated by mega-donors and directors from the second-to-tenth generations of the same families. Not only can you be a more significant and higher-level supporter of a young institution, you may even find its mission more pertinent and exciting.
Don't shirk fund-raising duty.
The valuable contacts you'll make as a supporter and potentially a board member of a charitable or cultural institution won't be limited to other supporters and officers. In all likelihood, you'll be pressed into service trying to line up contributions from corporations and wealthy individuals. Don't resist.
Awkward as fund-raising may initially seem, it will gradually fill your personal database with some prominent contacts...particularly if you stress the corporate side, and try to get the business leaders you approach to participate in the institution, rather than just add it to their companies' "contributions" list.
Club your anonymity to death!
Probably you already belong to a respected country club and a city luncheon club. If not, you certainly should. But if you're like most of us, you probably spend very little time at either place. And when you do go, you're usually entertaining an outside guest.
From now on, make it a point to participate in the annual golf or tennis tournament, and other general-membership events, as a means of knowing more of your fellow members. And when you don't have any other lunch date, try sitting at the "club table" of your city club. Sure, you'll meet some dullish habitués. But you'll also meet some very interesting people you'd never have become acquainted with any other way.
Also consider moving some of your otherwise solitary, or socially "throwaway," pursuits to an athletic club. Instead of taking a lonely morning jog along the road near home, why not come into the city early and, using the club as your base, run in the park? You'll join lots of other executives in this ritual, and several may turn out to be valuable business and social contacts. Same goes for your thrice-weekly workouts doing aerobics, machines, or weights, and your lap-swimming, which you can readily switch from a strictly commercial gym to a club frequented by lots of folks in your community you really should get to know. And when you're at the club, why not sign up for a team sport or substitute a pick-up game of tennis or some one- on-one basketball for your usual workout, whenever the opportunity presents itself? You'll get to know a lot more people that way.
One very successful and athletically-inclined CEO of a New York-based Fortune 500 corporation can almost always be found both before and after his 9:00 to 5:30 workday at a prestigious athletic club engaged in strenuous competition with other members of his management team. In fact, over the past decade or so of his presidency, his key aides have been winnowed by Darwinian selection into a group of brainy jocks, who can not only challenge him intellectually in the office, but also athletically at "the club." More than one fine athlete from "the club" has found employment in the corporation. And, except for quite a few women (yes, he's enlightened), almost all of the top-level executives he's recruited have been men who work out at "the club."
One final suggestion: If you travel to the same city fairly often, consider a non-resident membership in one of its leading clubs. Or maybe your present city club has reciprocal privileges. Your athletic routine can be accommodated better than at a hotel; you'll probably make some valuable contacts; and reservations will be less of a hassle when trade shows and conventions clog the city. Accommodations may be spartan, but certainly not unacceptable.
Take the initiative in meeting people who interest you.
At your current level of achievement and prestige, you're already in a position to make overtures toward people you think may share a mutual interest. Don't hesitate. The worst you'll suffer is rejection...something you should learn to accept, if you haven't already.
When you read an article about someone who's just pioneered a new technology that may have future application in areas you deal with, write a note of appreciation and follow it up with an invitation to lunch. Introduce yourself to the conference speaker whose point of view seems so congenial, and suggest meeting later for a drink. Set up an appointment to meet the dean of a nearby business school; perhaps some of your business problems can become his or her graduate students' research projects, with mutual benefit. If you've admired the work of a sculptor, or a novelist, or a conductor, call or write to say so. You may establish an acquaintance that can broaden your horizons and give you a new perspective. If not, what have you lost?
And if there's someone you particularly want to know, don't hesitate to use your skill at networking to make contact. Gaining a personal introduction through networking is a technique that needn't be reserved just for job- changing.
Personal contacts are one of your most valuable resources.
Let's go back to our cliché:
"It's not what you know, but who you know that counts."
We've all heard that as a rationalization for not getting a promotion or a new job the speaker felt he or she should have had. Totally wrong-headed, in my opinion.
Don't let the career orientation of this article and the usual meaning of the "who-you-know" cliché obscure the greatest value of a strong and constantly- expanding personal contact network. It's not just a set of "connections" that may help get you hired. After all, you'll change jobs only a few times during your career. Meanwhile, your personal contacts are useful to you...and you're useful to them...every single day, and in every facet of your life.
