Network like a Spy

When it comes to networking, any good sales executive will seize the opportunity to go to a particular conference where the speakers are the go to guys in their given industry. It makes sense to get their take on what is happening, where future trends are headed. It is also very likely that there will be a good calibre of delegates in attendance to hear the gurus message. All that makes for great networking possibilities.

None of this is news. When it comes to networking, we have the rule of thumb, the more important people we can meet the better. The higher up you can network in your industry the better.

Consider another complementary approach. Network downwards. In her book ‘Work Like a Spy: Business Tips from a Former CIA Officer’ J.C. Carleson explains how it pays to establish relationships at all levels, from the secretary who can choose whether or not to put your call through, to the software developer who can give you the inside track on those quality control issues. The most effective networks are far-reaching in all directions, up and down.

So take time to get to know the admin staff, the delivery guys, in your own organisation and your clients organisations. There is more to networking than hob knobbing it at conferences.

Athletes 'die twice', first time is when they Retire

We will all retire at some stage, despite the best efforts of national governments to get us to work into old age. For many of us, hopefully retirement will be a happy process, it will be at a time of our choosing and in a manner that reflects how we want to spend our golden years.

It is not always that simple. I read an article on the BBC Sport website which looked at how sports psychologists explain why athletes struggle with retirement. We can all think of many examples of people who went from hero to zero after retirement, end up financially badly off, get hooked on addictive habits, abuse alcohol, struggle with relationship problems. Any regular follower of boxing will be able to name a few from recent years.

The article discusses the profound sense of sense of loss retired athletes experience. For years their identity was formed by their profession, people looked up to them for what they did and achieved. With retirement, that is gone.

There are also biological factors. For example, they no longer get their daily dose of serotonin from working out and dopamine from winning. Keeping fit is very different to being professionally active.

Working athletes have a regimented life with a focus on the daily routine they rely on to keep fit and compete. With retirement, this framework for how they spend their time, decide what to eat, how to socialise, disappears.

There can even be a grieving process, where a forced or untimely retirement can leave them feeling angry, in denial, making it hard to accept and move on.

The article makes the case well for athletes, but you could also see this translating into the work place, where the parallels are obvious. Perhaps we need to look at roles where identity is largely derived from the position in the workforce (e. the military) or where daily routine is heavily influenced by work.

Retirement should be enjoyable, but aside from the financial arrangements of the pension plan and the going away party, we may need to look at the lessons learnt from retired athletes and focus on the specifics we can quickly apply to ourselves and our older colleagues.