Building a Qualified Network

I’ve often heard the phrase, “Your network is your net worth.” While I haven’t spoken to that from a financial perspective to this point, the strength we can each develop through great professional relationships will definitely yield success in just about any aspect of our lives where we’re willing to apply it. When we invest in growing our qualifications beyond a certificate, doors will open that we may not have even known existed otherwise.

As I got started in behavior-based safety, albeit without ever getting any type of formal certification, I immediately found opportunities to interact with and learn from my peers within the company I worked for at the time. The more experience I gained, though, the more I looked for others in different organizations to connect with so I could study their best practices. I remember making a case with my boss (Kevin) and our corporate safety director (Tim) to apply to serve as a volunteer on a committee that planned a large annual conference for all the businesses around the world that held licenses with Behavioral Science Technologies (the folks we contracted with back then on our behavior-based safety process). That committee met twice annually, typically in the location where the following year’s conference would be held. I felt like a very small fish in a freaking ocean as I sat at the table with that group for the very first time. Not only was every other member of that committee quite a bit older and more experienced, they represented some of the largest companies in the world. But because I had developed a reasonable skill set in that field, no one ever looked down on me. In fact, I built solid friendships with several of them, and those friendships helped me become even better in that behavior-based safety initiative than I ever could have on my own.

Similarly, earning the "Certified Professional” credential through the Society for Human Resource Management gave me a chance to interact with HR professionals locally and at the state level in a way I hadn’t experienced prior to that. But the more qualified I became in that space, the more opportunities I had to work with business owners and executives in every other field. I was able to offer them a very unique perspective - one that combined practical, boots-on-the-ground experience and firm grasp on both safety and human resource regulations - but the interaction with them gave me a behind-the-scenes look at issues every business faces that I never would have seen from a safety or human resources role.

In complete transparency, leading those groups for now nearly a decade has added some pressure for us though. Launching them required trust from the initial participants but adding ongoing value has forced us to sustain our qualification to deserve their time over the long haul - because every single leader who’s been actively engaged has grown exponentially. To continue adding value as they progress, we couldn’t be stagnant. We’ll look at that more next. Until then, I’ll challenge you to identify and connect with a qualified peer within the next week - someone who is as good in their field of expertise as you are in yours - to intentionally build your qualified network.

Earlier I detailed the continuing education requirements I have to meet to maintain the SHRM-CP credential I earned more than a decade ago. Through that process and through the support we provide for several small business clients still today, I’m able to maintain a reasonable level of familiarity with the ever-changing landscape that is employment law. For several years, I also provided different types of safety training and support for some of those same clients. That said, I finally had to admit that even with close to twenty years of experience in the safety field, I didn’t have enough exposure on a routine basis to sustain the value I could provide. More importantly, I was concerned that I’d miss a critical change in regulations and create unnecessary exposure for one of those clients.

In the more than two and a half decades that I’ve studied leadership, I’ve seen speakers, trainers, and consultants from a variety of backgrounds. Many of them have absolutely mastered the message they share - but notice I said message (singular) rather than messages (plural). It’s not too hard to become really fluid in presenting the same script over and over and over again. While that may capture attention once, it rarely brings someone back twice. I’ve repeatedly mentioned my humble beginnings. If there’s anything I have to hang my hat on though, it’s that I’ve worked incredibly hard at constantly improving my qualifications. That constant drive to improve has yielded multiple books, several sought after courses, and more than 200 individual lessons we’re able to tailor for the clients we serve today. Creating and keeping up with all that has required a bit more attention than mastering one script, but the keep who are counting on us deserve every ounce of energy we put into it.

If we stick with a certain diet, we may be able to sustain a consistent weight. That said, there’s no such thing as sustaining qualifications; not in leadership and not in any other field. Continuous growth is an absolute necessity. And continuous relational growth is key in keeping our leadership qualification relevant. Before we wrap this up with a look at how we can leave a qualified legacy, I’ll challenge you to set a quarterly goal for enhancing what you see as your best skill. Without that, even your best today may soon not be good enough…

Leaving a Qualified Legacy

I’ve emphasized the idea of legacy as we wrapped up almost every aspect of our look at building strength through great professional relationships; that hasn’t been accidental and it will continue. I’ve mentioned a few times to this point how I feel a heavy obligation to pay forward the many blessings I have in my life that have come directly from those who have been willing to mentor me, one on one and from a distance. Don’t misunderstand me here, though, this is one of the most exciting obligations I’ve ever worked to fulfill.

By building a qualified network of best-in-class professionals around us and consistently working to sustain (and build) our own qualifications that helped open the doors to those relationships, we have opportunities to reach people we would likely never have otherwise. When we’re willing to keep investing beyond any credential we receive along the way, any mentorship we offer builds toward the legacy we leave and adds to our own qualification; it’s an amazingly positive perpetuating cycle. That said, the inverse can be just as true if we choose to rest solely on a certificate that’s been hanging on our wall for decades that we’ve never put into practice.

In a session Cindy and I presented recently, one of the participants called me out for piling on to the already heavy workload she carried in her role, saying that “Leaders can’t be responsible for everything. We need to hold the individuals on our teams accountable, too.” I realized that I hadn’t clarified my view on leadership, which has nothing to do with title or position and everything to do with earning influence at every level. I explained that I believed everyone in every organization has responsibility for positively influencing the people they interact with so the team achieves the necessary results. She appreciated that explanation and was remarkably engaged for the remainder of the session. Since I’ve mentioned legacy so often, I want to make sure we’re on the same page. I’m in no way suggesting this as something we look at that serves selfish motives, it’s anything but that.

As I worked through the Maxwell Leadership certification process more than a decade ago, I remember hearing some of the faculty members say that we were “the legs to John’s legacy.” I also remember John sharing how adamantly opposed he initially was to naming the organization after himself. None of the companies he had owned to that point even hinted at his name; INJOY, EQUIP, Maximum Impact, etc. His interest was always in building a legacy of positive leadership, not something that exulted himself in any way. He has always modeled the humility I detailed earlier. Around that same time, I realized that I was going to need to come up with a name for our business. Understanding exactly where John was coming from, I did the only logical thing: I named it after myself. Well, not exactly… Truth be told, going with Dove Development & Consulting was more me not having any other ideas and just wanting to have something in place. While I’ve never been under the illusion that we’ll ever have a reach like John’s, I’ve also never had the slightest bit of interest in receiving accolades for what we do. I want any legacy we leave to be because we developed the qualifications necessary to make a positive impact on the people we’ve worked with.

Thankfully, we’ve already had the honor of seeing that legacy take shape; through our kids, through former co-workers, and in leaders within the many organizations we’ve served. That said, I can easily tie all of that back to what we’ve learned from our mentors. If anything, we’re building on the legacy of folks like John Maxwell, Mark Cole, Terry Ward, Kevin Arnold, Rod Little, Chris Rollins, and so many more. We’ve just worked extremely hard to make sure we’re genuinely qualified to carry their legacies forward. Interestingly enough, each of the mentors I’ve mentioned by name - and so many others I’ve learned from over the years - have all had their own very unique strengths. For me, recognizing who knows what I don’t know has been incredibly powerful. We’ll dig into that next. First though, don’t ever underestimate how much a legacy of qualification inspires others through relational impact. My challenge for you now is to routinely look for ways you can share practical lessons that build toward your qualified legacy; a framed certificate will never get that job done…