The Organizational Network Fieldbook: Best Practices, Techniques, and Exercises to Drive Organizational Innovation and Performance

18.2. Practice 1. Authenticity as the Leader's Lever for Building Effective Networks

The highest-performing managers and leaders don't approach network building by developing a lot of superficial ties; instead, they build strong and enduring relationships with people who can broaden their perspectives and increase their access to information and other people and groups. For most of these leaders, developing an understanding of the importance of strong, trusted ties required a mindset shift. At some point in their careers, they realized that they had to bring their own values, strengths, and even shortcomings to their relationships instead of striving to fit into an externally defined template of an effective leader. The following practice is ...