Latest / Career Coaching with Fexingo: Professional Coaches, Career Counselors, and Guidance for Workers / Why Your Internal Network Is Stifling Your Career
Transcript
- Lucas: We tend to think of networking as something you do outside the office — conferences, alumni events, coffee chats with people who aren't on your org chart. But inside a company, we usually default to talking to the same five people we see every day. The problem is that this creates what sociologists call a closed network, where information loops back on itself before it ever reaches the decision makers. Luna: Right, so you're just echoing what everyone else already knows instead of finding new angles. It feels safe, but it’s intellectually stagnant. Lucas: Exactly. And the cost isn't just boredom; it's measurable stagnation. When you only talk to people in your direct chain of command or your immediate peers, you miss out on weak ties. These are the acquaintances in other departments who know about upcoming projects before they’re posted internally. Without those bridges, you’re waiting for permission to move, not creating momentum. Luna: But doesn’t spending time building those external bridges distract from your core responsibilities? Managers usually want you focused on your own deliverables. Lucas: That’s the trap. If you view networking as separate from work, you’ll never have time for it. The most effective internal connectors embed their relationship-building into the actual work. They volunteer for cross-functional task forces or offer help to a colleague in marketing when they need data support. It’s not adding extra hours; it’s shifting how you spend the hours you already have. Luna: So you’re saying the best way to network is to be genuinely useful to people outside your bubble, rather than just asking for favors? Lucas: Precisely. Let me give you a concrete example. A few years ago, I worked with a senior product manager named David. He was stuck at his level for three years, despite excellent performance reviews. His team was tight-knit, loyal, and completely isolated from the engineering division. David started attending engineering stand-up meetings just to listen, even though he wasn’t an engineer. Within six months, he identified a recurring bottleneck between product specs and code deployment. Luna: And he fixed it? That sounds like a classic career breakthrough moment. Lucas: He didn’t just fix it; he documented the process and presented it to both teams. By bridging that gap, he became the go-to person for any project requiring product-engineering alignment. His promotion came fourteen months later, not because his individual output increased, but because his visibility expanded across two major divisions. He turned himself into a hub. Luna: That’s interesting. It reminds me of the concept of structural holes. You’re filling the gaps where information doesn’t naturally flow. Lucas: Spot on. Ronald Burt’s research on structural holes shows that people who span these gaps get promoted faster and earn more, not because they work harder, but because they control the flow of information. In David’s case, he wasn’t just doing his job; he was optimizing the connection between two parts of the company that were inefficiently linked. Luna: But how do you identify those holes without knowing the entire organizational chart by heart? Most people don’t have that macro view. Lucas: You look for friction. Where are the emails going unanswered? Which projects always take longer than expected because of handoff delays? Those friction points are usually structural holes. If you can position yourself to smooth that transition, you become indispensable. It’s less about charm and more about solving a systemic inefficiency. Luna: So the strategy is diagnostic first, relational second. Find where the system breaks, then insert yourself as the connector. Lucas: Yes. And this requires a shift in mindset. Most employees see other departments as competitors for budget or credit. But if you approach them as potential collaborators, you unlock value. For instance, a sales rep who builds a rapport with customer support learns exactly why clients churn. That insight is gold for product teams, and sharing it makes the sales rep a strategic asset rather than just a revenue generator. Luna: It changes the dynamic from transactional to collaborative. You stop being a cog and start being a bridge. Lucas: Exactly. And here’s the counterintuitive part: the deeper you dig into your own department, the more invisible you become to the rest of the company. Senior leaders rarely notice the hero who stays late to finish their own team’s backlog. They notice the person who helped the finance team reconcile a messy quarterly report or helped legal navigate a compliance issue. Luna: Because those visible wins demonstrate influence beyond your title. It shows you understand the broader business, not just your slice of it. Lucas: Right. Influence is the currency of promotion. Title is just the receipt. If you want to move up, you need to prove you can operate at the next level, which usually means operating across boundaries. A director needs to understand how their decisions impact marketing, operations, and finance. If you’ve only ever talked to your direct reports, you haven’t practiced that integration. Luna: So, practically speaking, what does a weekly networking goal look like for someone trying to break out of their silo? Lucas: I’d suggest one low-stakes interaction per week with someone outside your immediate circle. Not a meeting to ask for advice, but a casual check-in. Maybe you share an article relevant to their role, or you ask how a recent company-wide initiative is landing on their end. The goal is to plant seeds, not harvest crops immediately. Luna: Planting seeds. I like that. It takes the pressure off having to be impressive right away. Lucas: It does. And over time, those seeds grow into trust. When a new opportunity opens up, you want to be the name that comes to mind because you’ve been consistently helpful and present, not because you asked nicely once. It’s compound interest applied to relationships. Luna: Which brings us back to David. Did he maintain those connections after he got promoted? Lucas: He doubled down. He created a monthly forum where product and engineering leads could share roadmap updates openly. He institutionalized the bridge he had built individually. That’s the difference between a tactic and a strategy. A tactic gets you a promotion; a strategy makes you a leader. Luna: Institutionalizing trust. That’s a powerful way to frame it. It ensures your influence survives even if you leave that specific role. Lucas: Absolutely. Your reputation becomes tied to the health of the organization, not just your personal output. That’s the kind of capital that protects you during layoffs or restructuring. Leaders cut costs, but they keep bridges. If you’re seen as essential infrastructure, you’re harder to remove. Luna: It’s fascinating how much safer you can actually feel by taking these calculated risks outside your comfort zone. It feels risky to step out, but staying in might be riskier long-term. Lucas: That’s the paradox of career security. Security used meant loyalty to one department. Security now means adaptability across the whole enterprise. If you’re only known for one narrow skill set within one team, you’re vulnerable. If you’re known for connecting disparate parts of the business, you’re resilient. Luna: So the advice is essentially: stop trying to be the best player in your own game, and start trying to be the referee who understands all the rules. Lucas: I love that analogy. The referee sees the whole field. They know where the action is going before it happens. That’s the vantage point you want. Luna: One last question on this. How do you handle pushback from managers who see this as slacking off? Lucas: Frame it as efficiency. Tell your manager, 'I’m spending twenty minutes chatting with the logistics team to prevent a delay in our next shipment.' You’re not networking; you’re preemptively solving problems. Most good managers will respect that proactive approach. If they don’t, that’s a red flag about their management style, not your strategy. Luna: Reframing it as risk mitigation. Smart. It aligns your personal growth with their operational goals. Lucas: Always align your growth with their goals. It’s the oldest trick in the book, but it’s also the most effective. You’re not asking for special treatment; you’re offering additional value. Luna: It really shifts the perspective from selfish ambition to collective utility. That’s a much healthier place to be mentally. Lucas: It is. And it makes the work more interesting. You’re not just grinding through tasks; you’re mapping the terrain and figuring out how everything fits together. That’s where the real learning happens. Luna: So, for anyone listening who feels stuck, the first step isn’t to update their resume. It’s to find one person in another department they don’t know well and send them a genuine note of appreciation or curiosity. Lucas: That’s it. Start small. Be human. Build the bridge. The rest follows. Luna: If you’ve found these conversations helpful for navigating your own professional landscape, consider supporting the show directly. Your contributions help keep these episodes ad-free and allow us to dive deeper into these complex topics. Lucas: You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Every bit of support helps us continue providing clear, actionable guidance for your career journey. Luna: Thanks for helping us keep this resource available. Now, back to thinking about those bridges. Lucas: Right. So, looking ahead, how do you sustain that momentum once you’ve established those initial connections? Do you have a system for maintaining them without turning every interaction into a transaction? Luna: That’s the key. Maintenance without friction. It’s about consistency, not intensity. Small, regular touches that remind people you’re there and you care. Lucas: Exactly. Because once you’ve crossed that threshold from outsider to insider, you have a responsibility to keep the channel open. That’s where the real long-term value lies.