At school, we had schoolmates and when we were starting out in our first job we most probably had a group of fellow graduates who began the job at the same time as we did.
But what happens when we get older?
Numerous research and studies have supported the importance of building a network, both within and outside your organisation, to progress our careers.
Getting together regularly with a group of like-minded peers can be a great way to be held accountable to your goals. The group can also be a great platform for you to test your ideas and can give you access to resources and contacts.
However, with everyone having busy professional and social lives, we understand that building your own peer group is not easy. Here are 3 ways to get started quickly:
• Commit to meeting regularly – One idea is to start a “Quarterly Club” where you get together with a very small group of peers every 3 months. The objective is to share your planned activities to reach your goals and your progress on these activities.
• Celebrate your wins and your challenges – Our learning can be multiplied when we not only learn from our own failures but also those of others. Being allowed to talk openly about what you did wrong and what you learned from the experience is refreshing in today’s world where we often feel the pressure to present our best self. Most importantly, it helps us to understand that everyone is still learning.
• Take a blended approach – Meeting face to face is most impactful when we want to share our experiences with each other. However, a good idea is to supplement these meetings with a way to interact digitally (e.g., an e-mail distribution list) so that everyone can easily share links to relevant articles, videos, courses and books.
We are passionate about helping Millennials become authentic leaders through helping them to find their purpose and arming them with the right tools to navigate the workplace.
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About the author May Kwong:
May is the co-founder of acadeMe. We are a women-led start up that coaches millennials and young professionals to identify their purpose and navigate the workplace effectively. We love talking about the power of feedback and building networks.
