How to Diversify Your Professional Network (Because Your Connections Shouldn’t All Be Just Like You)
By | Marietta Gentles Crawford | www.themuse.com
Be honest: Do all of your professional contacts look and sound the same? Did your boss and all your work friends go to the same kind of school as you? Did everyone in your network take similar paths to get where they are?
“One of the most important things you should do for yourself personally and professionally is to have a diverse network, a robust network that’s full of different people with various backgrounds at varying levels with assorted life and career experiences,” says Rahdiah Barnes, President of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) in New York.
Maybe you’d never given it much thought before, but recent protests against racial injustice have made you take a hard look at what you could be doing to address inequities in the world and at work. Or maybe you’ve wanted to connect with different people but you’re not sure how to go about it. Either way, there are so many reasons to make the effort to expand and diversify your network.
When you get to know and build relationships with a more diverse group of people, you can help everyone come by the opportunities they deserve by referring and recommending them. You can support efforts to diversify your company and industry. And by connecting with people from all different backgrounds and perspectives, you can gain valuable insight that will make you better at your job, no matter what you do.
If you’re looking to build a more diverse network—so you can be a part of the anti-racist solution and grow as a professional—here are some steps you can take.
