Future Work/Life is my newsletter in which I explore ideas focused on the future of work and how to design legendary careers. If you find it interesting, please share it!
Cronyism: the practice of favouring friends or associates in professional situations, such as hiring or promotion, often without regard to their qualifications.
On the way home from the school run the other morning, I bumped into a friend who confirmed something that we all know – cronyism is alive and well.
She was perfectly qualified for the job she’d interviewed for. A better fit than the person who got it, in fact. The difference? She didn’t know her potential new boss, and the other candidate did. That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything untoward going on. But this wasn’t the first time this had happened. No doubt, it won’t be the last.
Which begs the question – is it possible to defeat the cronies at their own game?
Fortunately, the answer is yes. By flipping the premise. Rather than it being about who you know, it should be about who knows you. The modern version of networking - powered by digital communications - can help you experience the benefits of cronyism without having to deal with the self-serving arseholes.
Let’s call it Reverse Cronyism.
Instead of being excluded because you're not part of the old boys’ (or girls’) club, you create your own community of supporters. You proactively build meaningful relationships. And you accentuate the impact of your network by sharing your ideas.
Imagine Reverse Cronyism as a tall, greasy pole - here’s how to scale it, level by level.
Level 1:
ACTION: Every day, you connect with new people on LinkedIn – the type of people that you could see yourself working for or with in the future.
RESULT: When an opportunity arises, the chances of them including you in the process increase.
Level 2:
ACTION: Once connected, you stay on their radar by sharing knowledge and insights.
RESULT: When the time comes, and they need to hire someone with your skillset, you’re on the shortlist.
Level 3:
ACTION: They’ve seen your content AND you’ve been proactive enough to pre-emptively arrange a meeting.
RESULT: Whether or not you have the right credentials on paper, they now recognise your knowledge and have seen your soft/power skills in action. You’re not just given an interview. You’re on the shortlist.
Level 4:
ACTION: You regularly check in with them, curating your content to demonstrate value and a clear purpose for continuing to meet.
RESULT: By this stage, why would they risk a candidate they don’t know? You tell them you’re interested next time a job comes up, and it’s yours!
Like all the most effective strategies, it’s simple, if not easy.
But it’s all possible because, done right, the internet gives you access to anyone.
It might sound like a lot of work and commitment, but you will see results if you’re focused and build a repeatable system.
Oh, and there’s one more level.
Level 5:
ACTION: You’ve been consistent with your insights over the years and have become not just a meeting seeker but a connector of others.
RESULT: People start coming to you with opportunities. Unprompted.
This has been a revelation for me.
I wrote about my experience in Work/Life Flywheel.
Rewind a few years…
It wasn’t that I never went to networking events. Or even that when I was there, I didn’t wander the room keeping my eye out for interesting people to chat with. It’s just that I’d rarely ever actually strike up a conversation.
I’m telling you this as someone who may, at that same event, have been up on stage making a presentation to hundreds of people or sitting on a panel answering questions from an audience.
I just had a mental block when it came to ‘working a room’, experiencing the Perspiration, Awkwardness, and Introversion of Networking – or PAIN for short.
I say ‘had’, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, there weren’t too many opportunities for face-to-face networking, which came as a great relief!
However, my podcast has become a beautiful illustration of how and why I’ve fundamentally changed my view of networks since I started my career transition in February 2020.
Aware of my shortcomings when building connections, I made a conscious effort to interact with anyone whose work I was interested in. Quickly realizing these conversations were worth capturing, I started the podcast, leading to dozens more new relationships and, ultimately, this book.
Evidence that what begins as an exercise in satisfying your curiosity can lead to something much greater.
In my case, my first objective, two years ago, was to open myself up to the idea of meeting new people and sharing ideas. Significantly, I took advantage of the overwhelming shift to digital communication. While online working has shrunk many people’s networks and reduced opportunities to develop those weak ties, I’ve embraced a format that plays to my strengths and significantly reduces the friction of starting those awkward conversations.
If I’m curious about a subject and appreciate someone’s ideas, I write a concise and thoughtful note to them – easy. More often than not, they respond and, in many cases, are open to chatting about their work and mine.
I’ve gone a step further and set myself the goal to collate the knowledge and insights I’ve gained, to share with the Future Work/Life community. In turn, this has led to more people introducing themselves and to me making introductions to others in my growing network.
Cultivating a network and building a community is, it seems, another magical example of the Work/Life Flywheel in motion, and it has long-lasting effects.
Want to hear more networking tips?
Listen to these podcast episodes:
Andy Ayim - Investing in yourself and others
Austin Belcak - Helping you land an amazing job
Dorie Clark - Grow your career by playing the long game
Marc Effron - 8 Steps to High Performance
Maya Grossman - Become the CEO of your career
And if you enjoyed reading this…
Share it with someone you think will find it useful.
Let me know, and I’ll write more on this theme over the coming weeks.
Cheers,
Ollie
My bestselling book, Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, is out now. You can order your copy HERE (UK) or HERE (US).
Here’s what Professor Damian Hughes, host of The High-Performance Podcast said about it:
“Ollie’s excellent book will show you the practical techniques of reimagining your life and career and reveals how much better things could be for you if you can adopt his hard-earned wisdom.”