Remaining Fresh|Jill Lublin

Networks are constantly in flux — people come, go, and move in different directions. They get tired, bored, burned out. Changes in their lives may prevent them from helping you. Your relationship with them may be wonderful for a while and then become less productive or peter out. Circumstances change; solutions that always hit the mark may no longer work.

At times, you have to make changes; some of your network partners may not be performing well or may be holding you back. The referrals they make may not be helping your career. If they no longer provide quality leads and referrals, you may have to shift that member to your friends list from your business associates list.

 

To operate most efficiently, networks continually need new blood. New members introduce new outlooks, contacts, and approaches that can prevent groups from becoming stale. Continually monitor and check whether each of your relationships is producing what you want. Ask, “Is this person still serving the cause, should I move him or her to another area, or lessen my reliance on him or her?

 

Frequently, an internal alarm sounds to tell you that you have outgrown someone or something and that changes are needed. Unfortunately, most people let problems go on too long before they address them and suddenly they wake up and find that they’re stuck in the middle of a real mess. As a result, they are caught by surprise so they don’t have as much time to respond and to deal with it as well.