20. Internal Connections: Building organisational influence.

While formal structures define organisations, it’s the informal networks of relationships that often drive the most impactful work.   These connections – inside and outside of your immediate team – drive collaboration and agility.

As a leader, building relationships across your organisation fosters belonging, inspires commitment, and creates the conditions for successful collaboration and resilience.  Strong connections not only help you get things done they also provide the support and energy needed to thrive.

Awareness:

• What is the quality of your most critical relationships?
• Where have you built strong connections across your organisation? What shared experiences, or values drive those relationships?
• Are there any key relationships you’ve yet to build that could enhance your effectiveness?
• Do you approach your work with a collaborative mindset?

Agency:

• Map your internal network – who you rely on, and what’s the strength of each connection? Visualise this through a spider diagram to assess the gaps.
  • Put yourself at the middle and imagine a circle around you with all the people you need to be able to do your role.
  • Draw lines from you to the names of those people.
  • Make the lines thicker the more important they are (to doing your role).
  • Rate the quality of each relationship using symbols like ++ for strong relationships, and — for weaker ones, and assess where to focus your efforts.
  • Assess where to focus your relationship building efforts.
• Identify a key relationship that needs strengthening and take intentional steps to nurture it – whether through regular check-ins, shared projects or collaborative initiatives.

Recommended Resources:

• BOOK: The Connected Leader by Emmanuel Gobillot