Ask for introductions

One way to grow your network

Most of us know it’s wise to grow our professional networks. I imagine many people would like to have more friends to do fun stuff with too. Meeting people randomly is doable, but if you’re the sort of person who finds a new best friend every time you go to the dog park, my guess is you don’t need any advice on how to expand your universe of connections. You make it possible for people to fall into your orbit all the time.

For the rest of us, however, there’s a pretty straightforward way to build more connections, and that is to ask for introductions.

People we know also know other people. Most likely, we don’t know all the people they know. They might know folks who’d be helpful, or interesting, or who you’d have something in common with. It generally doesn’t hurt to ask.

So, for instance, if you’ve started a new job, or have even just moved to a new department, ask whoever you’re familiar with who else you should get to know. They’ll likely be happy to introduce you to Tom, who has kids your age, or Joan, who just started two months before you did. If your kids are thinking of starting a new activity, a friend of yours with slightly older kids might know another family who has pursued that activity seriously. She can put you guys in touch. And of course, you can ask to be introduced to potential new clients too. If you’re a freelance editor, you could ask friends and neighbors to put you in touch with people who are looking for your specific services.

There’s generally no harm in asking — though you do want to be a good sport about it. If an introduction is going to require someone to spend some social capital (maybe the person is famous or quite senior) then I like Dorie Clark’s rule of “No asks for a year.” Make sure you have a real relationship with the person before you ask a big favor.

For more regular introductions, make it easy on the person. Write something they can forward if that makes sense. Keep expectations in check. Nothing might come of the introduction, which is why it’s probably wise to make this more of a habit than a one time thing.

If you do wind up connecting with someone new, though, make sure to thank the person who introduced you. Keep them posted. Everyone likes to feel like they made things happen! And you’ll probably wind up with introductions to more new connections in the future.