Weaving a Network of Relationships

The New Reason to Work aims to help people enter and build meaningful careers in social impact. Based on a decade of work as cofounders of Amani Institute, an award-winning social enterprise that has, to date, helped more than 10,000 people from over 65 countries accelerate their careers in social impact, the authors also draw on their previous professional lives and careers at Ashoka and working with hundreds of social entrepreneurs around the world.

The excerpt below comes from a chapter on how to build authentic networks, one of our most valuable professional assets in the 21st century. While primarily a nonfiction book, The New Reason to Work is set up as a conversation between the authors and two fictional characters. In the excerpt below, you will meet Farah—a mid-career graphic designer who yearns to see her work have more value than the corporate bottom line—and Kim, a recent college graduate who is just coming to terms with the fact that breaking into a climate change career is not quite as easy as it seemed in university. We pick up the narrative after a discussion about what networking both is and isn’t. The authors encourage us to see networking as something even introverts can excel at through a focus on intentional relationship building, being authentically true to oneself, and seeking to add value to others just as much as you seek help from them.—Roshan Paul & Ilaina Rabbat

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We left the house and started walking down deserted streets illuminated by vintage lanterns that created the perfect aid to self-reflection. Add a little background jazz music and we’d be in a Woody Allen movie.

Like a falling glass that shatters the silence, Kim burst in with characteristic youthful energy. “I’m ready to become a networker! How do I start?” 

That brought us out of our reverie. “Let’s find somewhere still serving coffee,” said Ilaina, “and we’ll share some next steps.”

Helpful Networks You Can Create Yourself

A couple of blocks later, we found an open café. When everyone had their hands around a warm mug, Roshan began to answer Kim’s question. “Here are two types of networks you can actively create or join right away.

“First consider building your Kitchen Cabinet, a term that started with US President Andrew Jackson, who famously seemed to trust his informal network of advisors and friends more than his actual cabinet secretaries. Today, the expression means an informal group of people you can call upon for advice when needed. This ‘cabinet’ should be personalized and tailored to your needs. For example, you might think about who you would choose as your ‘Minister of Career Advice,’ or ‘Minister of Love and Relationships,’ or ‘Minister of Personal Finance,’ or ‘Minister of Business Advice,’ and so on.

“To begin creating your Kitchen Cabinet, reflect on what would be your most important ‘cabinet positions’ at the moment. Then, consider who you would assign to these positions.

“Here are five tips to keep in mind as you do so: First, they should be people you know well and can contact easily. Second, cabinet positions can be both temporary and permanent—some positions can change over time as your career or life progresses, while some will always remain the same. Third, some ministers can also provide general advice, as people whose opinion you trust broadly. Fourth, diversity is useful to get opinions from different perspectives. And finally, to take the pressure off, know that you don’t have to bring them together in real life, and that these individuals don’t have to know they are in your cabinet!

“Once you have the positions filled, here are five more tips for effectively managing this personal cabinet of ministers: First (and obviously), reach out to the relevant minister when you want to discuss an issue. Second, make sure you send a written thank you note after the meeting, and let them know what outcomes you’ve had based on their advice. Third, be in contact with each of them at least two to three times a year, keeping them informed about your life even when you don’t need their advice. Most importantly, actively look for ways in which you can help them—it shouldn’t be a one-way relationship (i.e., the HMIHY principle). Finally, don’t pretend to be someone else; remember, these people care about you more than your job.”

Kim nodded. “I already know who some of my ministers will be.”

Ilaina continued, “Let’s move to the second type of network. Making a career change, going against your family’s wishes for a certain job, or taking the risk to start a new organization can be profoundly isolating, because sometimes our closest connections are the most resistant to our changing course. What helps immensely in these moments is to join a new tribe (in other words, your behavioral kin—people whose values or choices mirror your own) or community of practice (i.e., people doing the types of things you want to). Indeed, much research shows that if you want to create new habits, then joining a group that already practices those behaviors or life choices is highly effective because it gives you energy, makes you feel less of an outcast, and helps you follow in the footsteps of others who have already walked the path you’re on.

“This is one reason why so many fellowships exist in the social entrepreneurship sector. Entrepreneurs find it remarkably morale-boosting to be around people who don’t ask why they take such risks instead of settling for a stable job, who understand how their purpose is core to their identity, and who rejoice in seeing each other grow. And like social entrepreneurship fellowships, there are several other types of communities of practice that can help you along your way.”

“It’s wise to contribute to your community of practice as much as you receive from it,” Ilaina continued. “Aditi Agrawal, a young Indian changemaker, understands this instinctively. She was the first Amani Fellow from India. It takes strong courage and conviction for a twenty-one-year-old Indian woman to convince her family that she should travel to Africa for five months to do a fellowship program. After she graduated, Aditi returned to India to work in education. A few months later, Tito, an Amani Fellow from Kenya, shared a job posting with JUMP! Foundation. Aditi applied, and was soon moving to Thailand to work with JUMP! Foundation. When they later transferred her to Australia, she sought out members of the Amani community for advice on life in Australia.

“On other occasions, when she traveled to Spain and to China for work, she deliberately sought out Amani Fellows in those countries to make new friends and tap into their local knowledge. As Aditi says, ‘Wherever I go, it’s always on my agenda to find Amani people because it’s the fastest path to meeting potential new friends.’ That statement reveals how deeply she understands the value of investing in her community of practice. Her conversations with Jerry Zhu, an Amani Fellow she sought out in China, inspired her with the urgency she needed to start her current company, School of Future.”

Farah interjected, “I read in the news how India and China have recently been confronting each other over territory, and that it’s leading to negative impacts on trade and livelihoods. It’s inspiring to have this example of how a young social entrepreneur from India was motivated by one from China!”

Ilaina beamed with pride. “That’s the kind of outcome that makes us proud and grateful for what we do. But the story doesn’t end there. As Aditi was starting her new organization, like any smart social entrepreneur, she tapped into her Amani Institute community of practice for support. Jessica Comin, a talented graphic designer from Brazil, responded to Aditi’s request for design support and went on to develop School of Future’s initial logo for free. Other Amani Fellows in India and elsewhere have introduced Aditi to potential partners, funders, and more.

“But this is no one-way street. Aditi has given back to the Amani community in countless ways. She has nominated several people to the program she completed, including her own sister-in-law! She has represented Amani Institute at public events and hosted marketing and outreach events in her hometown in New Delhi. And she has made useful introductions for several Amani Fellows with others in her networks. ‘Within any network, there are people that show up and people that don’t,’ Aditi says. ‘Those who show up both offer and get more help in the long run. I try to ask for help clearly and succinctly. And I try to give back as much as I can.’ Aditi is a great example of someone actively using a global community of practice—in this case, the Amani Institute network—to deepen her impact around the world.”

“Thanks to social media platforms, it’s never been easier to bring together loosely connected people into a community of practice”, Roshan observed. “And that’s how one of my most valuable communities of practice got started. In January 2012, I saw a social media post about a new executive education school in the Netherlands that was recruiting its first class. At that point in time, Amani Institute was slowly taking shape as a concept—we hadn’t yet developed our curriculum or program structure. Researching this new school, which was calling itself THNK: The Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership (now it’s just THNK), it appeared to be well-funded and backed by impressive-sounding people. The participants who had already signed up looked intimidatingly accomplished.

“I threw in an application and was invited for an interview while I was on vacation. I left the interview impressed, knowing that if I was offered a place in the program, I would take it even though I’d have to use all my vacation time for the year to do it. Later that day, when telling my co-vacationer friend about the interview, he tried to discourage me from it. ‘Why go through another program?’ he said. ‘You already have a Harvard degree and have learned so much at Ashoka. This may not add very much.’

“I replied that I wanted to do it for two reasons. Firstly, I’d be in the founding class of a well-funded program, which would immerse me in the journey that the first class at Amani Institute would go through. And since we were starting Amani Institute with no funding or backing, I’d get a firsthand look at everything it takes to create and run a world-class program. The second reason was that nearly all of my network until then was in India and the United States. If I wanted Amani Institute to be truly global, this program would provide a new network with significant European composition.

“My friend shrugged. ‘Seems like a waste of time to me. Ok, where are we going for dinner?’

“Despite my friend’s skepticism, my hunch about THNK would be life-changing. The THNK program, and the incredible network it generated, was undoubtedly the biggest accelerating factor in Amani Institute’s global growth. THNK’s incredibly credentialed leaders helped us develop our curricula for multiple programs and shaped our thinking about the future of education, innovation, and technology. The wider THNK network contributed funding, opened the door to major funders and clients, hosted events, and became highly popular faculty members.”

Meet a Champion Networker

“Wow!” Kim exclaimed. “I’ll start looking for my community of practice as soon as I get home.”

Shaking her head at Kim’s indefatigable energy, Farah quipped “Well, I’ll do so tomorrow morning after a good night’s sleep.”

Everyone laughed. “Speaking of sleep, let’s get going,” said Ilaina. “I’ll share one final story as we walk to the bus stop.”

We scraped back our chairs, cleaned up our table, and began walking toward the bus stop. Ilaina continued, “Our favorite example of global networking comes from Carrie Rich, the founder of The Global Good Fund. Prior to becoming a social entrepreneur, Carrie worked in a major healthcare corporation in the United States. She started as an intern, assigned the lowest-level jobs in the hospitals—pushing the snack cart, folding laundry, taking attendance, and so on.

“Carrie met the CEO of the company, Knox Singleton, while taking attendance in a meeting, and she wanted him to be her mentor. Still an intern, she persuaded the CEO’s executive assistant to arrange a meeting to discuss how to live a life of purpose. As the meeting wound up, Carrie wanted to prolong the conversation because she knew her chances to talk to Knox again would be few and far between. She instinctively proposed that they write a book together about leadership in healthcare, in which she would interview him and all he had to do was talk from his many years of experience. Carrie and their co-author would record the conversations and do the writing. It was a classic example of HMIHY in action.

“Knox agreed and they began working together, having many conversations over several months. Carrie would never have gotten this much time with Knox otherwise. Through the book project, they built a strong mentoring relationship.

“But the story gets even better from here. For Carrie’s twenty-sixth birthday, Knox challenged her to raise money for a cause she cared about: business for social good. Carrie sent an email to her entire network and raised several thousand dollars to develop impact-first leaders. Then Carrie was contacted by an anonymous donor who said he liked her idea and wanted to meet her. They met at a café in Washington, DC, where, to Carrie’s utter shock, this man handed her a check for $1 million to be used to support high-potential young leaders committed to social good through business. Carrie returned to work, went to Knox’s office, slammed the check on the table in front of him and said, ‘Look what you did!’ The health company CEO looked down at the check, then quietly reached for his own checkbook and wrote out a matching check for $1 million.

“With $2 million in seed funding, raised exclusively through creative networking, Carrie and Knox co-launched The Global Good Fund in 2013, which has gone on to help over two hundred entrepreneurs in forty countries create 2,800-plus permanent jobs in disadvantaged communities, raise over $100 million in capital, and positively impact nearly ten million lives.

“Carrie’s network weaving doesn’t end there. After being introduced to Roshan by a mutual friend, Carrie flew from Washington, DC to Nairobi to take an Amani course and understand firsthand how we could work together. In Nairobi, the Amani faculty member teaching the course Carrie attended just happened to be one of the leaders of THNK. Carrie went on to attend THNK and wrote her next book in partnership with THNK’s managing director. Meanwhile, she also became an Amani faculty member and has significantly contributed to Amani’s community of practice by teaching fundraising to dozens of Amani Fellows, hiring some of them, selecting others into The Global Good Fund’s network of social entrepreneurs, and making The Global Good Fund a client of Amani Institute.

“Being a professional fundraiser, Carrie is far more comfortable at cocktail parties than we are. She even met her husband that way! But the key to her success—and the myriad awards she has won for her work—is the depth of relationships she builds and the warmth with which she does so.”

As Ilaina was finishing, the bus pulled up to the stop. We hugged goodbye, and Kim and Farah waved through the window until the bus pulled away into the night.