Beyond Networking: Meaning and Connection
RWL #332
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! We had a fabulous time at the annual meeting of the Northern New England chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (NNE HFMA). When I say “we”, I mean myself and 12 undergraduates from my program. The chapter very generously paid for my students to get student memberships in the national HFMA, and waived their registration for the annual meeting. They had a great experience listening to the presentations, but more importantly, meeting and networking with the participants. At the end of the conference, we had a speed-networking event where about 20 members stayed and the students rotated from table to table in ten minute increments to introduce themselves and get some rapid-fire mentoring. The whole thing was really gratifying to see. I was of course pleased to see my students getting this opportunity, but I am consistently impressed by the generosity of professionals in the healthcare industry toward the next generation. So many people, but especially people who are members of organizations like HFMA, are so willing to listen, offer advice, and importantly offer connections to these young folks. It is heartening to see, especially in a time when there is so much public acrimony in our society.
The highlight of the conference for me, other than seeing my students showing off how professional they are and the generosity of the members, was the fact that I was able to introduce Major General (retired) David Rubenstein to the NNE HFMA community. MG (ret) Rubenstein was the commander of the AMEDD Center and School when I was a faculty member in the Army-Baylor Graduate Program in Health and Business Administration. He was also the Chief of the Army Medical Service Corps, which was my branch, and he was also the Deputy Surgeon General of the Army. He was, and continues to be, an impressive individual. He was also a guest on the Health Leader Forge podcast. In addition to his many accomplishments on active duty, he was known as a master mentor. Anyone you talk to who knew him then or knows him now would tell you he was always aware of both the person and the mission that needed to be completed, and he was an expert in balancing both. His leadership was one of genuine connection. In his talk, MG (ret) Rubenstein challenges us to consider our personal mission, vision, and values, and whether we were living them, and if not, why not? It was a great talk. Pic above is of MG (ret) Rubenstein speaking with some of my students at the end of the conference. They were impressed with not only his professional experiences, but his wisdom.
One of the things this conference reminded me was of the importance of building a professional network. Organizations like HFMA exist to help people build their professional networks. One thing we know from the last 50 years of academic research into careers is that the vast majority of us will change organizations multiple times in our careers. People like MG (ret) Rubenstein and I who have one or two employers over the course of their professional lives are highly unusual. Most people experience what has been called a “boundaryless” career - in the sense that their careers are not bounded by a single organization. Instead most people’s careers cross the boundaries of many organizations. I have become a keen observer of early careerists, particularly those who graduate from my program and I see many young people serving three or four different organizations over the course of their first ten years as professionals. Building a strong professional network that is also boundaryless is critical for people who are living a boundaryless career. Access to opportunities come on the strands of a network the way a spider feels a fly touch a strand of her web. Our network contacts become informants and endorsers that allow us to pursue those opportunities. Our network gets us past the human resources guards at the boundaries of our target organizations.
In my research with military retirees, this is something I heard over and over. People who served 20+ years in the military often had robust networks inside the military, but very weak or non-existent networks outside the military. People who spend 20+ years in the military in order to retire have not lived a boundaryless career, and so are like babes in the woods when the time comes to retire. They often run up against immovable, implacable human resources guardians when trying to move into civilian roles that they are capable of performing, but because they do not look like civilians and do not have civilian jobs on their resumes, they cannot get to the hiring managers. In my observation, this is also true of people who have had “traditional” careers who, like military retirees, spend 20 or more years in one organization and have not crossed boundaries. They lack the skill to make the transition, and they have often not made the investments in their networks.
To be successful in a boundaryless world, you have to constantly invest in and nurture your professional network. You have to have an openness to meeting new people and hearing their stories. But more importantly, you have to give more than you take to your network. You have to be a person who provides tips and information freely. You have to be a person who helps other people connect to the network. You have to be someone people trust to look out for them, even when they aren’t looking. In other words, people have to believe you care about them, and that you are not just using them for your own gain when it is convenient. For a network to have genuine power, the connections have to be real.
In this vein, this conference also highlighted for me once again the importance of connection in creating not only a successful career, but a meaningful life. If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you may remember my heuristic about the 3C’s of Meaning:
Meaning = Competence x Contribution x Connection
Whenever I go to a meeting of a group like this, it is always nice to see people who know each other, but might only see each other occasionally, catching up, and it makes me think of the lyrics from the Louis Armstrong song, What a Wonderful World:
I see friends shaking hands
Saying how do you do
They're really saying
I love you
I come back to St. Thomas Aquinas’s definition of love - to will the good of another. And that is what people who are genuine in their building of their networks are doing - willing the good of others. When people say they hate networking, or think of it as some sort of dirty thing, I would tell them, you aren’t doing it right. You start by asking how you can help. That means listening with intention. When you build your network as a community of people who you care about and want to help, your network becomes a source of meaning by being a source of meaningful connection. Giving to people you care about is its own reward. As St. Paul says,
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-2)
You can really see the people who have invested in their networks at events like this stand out because they are glowing from their connections. The connections have a practical value, as I said. You never know when you are going to need help from your network. You never know when you might face a lay off, or have a change of life circumstance and you need to reach out and ask for help. And you might not even know your network is leaning in to help you - we humans are experts at gossip and talking behind one another’s backs. A good network is both constructive and protective - a tool and a shield. But what good is all of the professional success in the world if no one genuinely is happy for you? And really, what is success if not lifting other people up?
I came back on Friday night and kept talking at my poor wife about how great the event had been, and how proud I was of my students. But really I was so proud to be part of a generous community. MG (ret) Rubenstein was generous to fly to New Hampshire and share his thoughts with us. His question - are we living our mission, vision, and values? - resonates with me. It resonated with the audience. I would ask you specifically, is connection one of your values? Are you investing in your connections? Not just professional, but personal? Deep and broad connections are not just about professional success. They give our lives deeper meaning. I’m really grateful to the NNE HFMA chapter for letting my students participate in the meeting, and for each person who took the time to mentor a student over the two days of the meeting. I think the members got some real joy from working with the students based on the smiles I saw around the room, and that just shows that connection is a two-way benefit. I look forward to this becoming a tradition.
I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Oh yeah!
I’ll be back on Wednesday with links. As usual, willing good for all of you!