A game-changing way to think about executive relationships

How often do you have the opportunity to unlock a whole new revenue stream within a company?

If the last newsletter was about an individual mindset shift, what I’m putting in front of you today is more of a paradigm shift. I believe that the companies who embrace this shift and recognize the business development opportunity sitting right under their noses will sprint ahead of the pack. 🏃‍♀️‍➡️

We can all agree that a CEO’s job, effectively, is to 1) develop a plan and 2) make sure the right leaders are in place to execute that plan.

In addition to relying on leaders who have ownership over these plans (and their respective departments), executives develop systems and procedures for everything in their business.

And yet, their most valuable asset — their network — lives in their head or in a spreadsheet that their EA manages. (And god bless EAs, but they are not relationship intelligence experts.)

💡 The lightbulb moment for the executives I work with is when we reframe their network as a new business growth initiative, and they realize “Oh my gosh, I don't have someone tending to this. I don't have a plan for this.”

The cross-functional nature of executive relationships — sitting across sales, marketing, growth, and operations — makes it even more vital to have a dedicated lead. It is simply not the kind of responsibility that can be dispersed across various team leads.

Few, if any, companies are thinking about their C-suite’s networks in this way: as a massive channel to un-tap through dedicated oversight, a custom-built system, strategy, and consistency.

Moreover, as companies grow and add executives, the strength of this “new business growth initiative” also grows: each executive has previously worked at many different companies. Each is likely in their own private membership clubs, going to their own calendar of galas, and so on… and nobody on their team is watching over those relationships.

Often, a lot of this activity is mistakenly considered just socializing. That's part of the reason why the executives I work with say they’ve never considered they could systematize this.

Another is that no one on their team has expertise in connection architecture to systematize relationship intelligence for the C-suite. It’s why a common refrain from my clients is “I am so glad I have you to talk about this with… People don't think this way on my team.”

It’s also about trust and discernment. Executives, understandably, don’t just want to share the details of their network with anyone — who they’re in conversation with, who they’re friends with, and even more sensitive topics like who in their network would make the cut for a Tier 1 invite list vs. Tier 2.

There’s a benefit to hiring an external expert to discuss this with. Maybe well-intentioned internal team members would see high potential in an executive’s new notable contact and urge the executive to keep cultivating that relationship even while the executive personally feels misgivings. An external relationship intelligence strategist can interpret the situation and appropriately run interference.

What does this look like in action?

As one example, last week a client came to me and said, “I just had coffee with this insanely well-connected guy. I want to follow up with a few people to introduce him to.” Because I have been inputting this client’s data into the Networking OS for months, neatly organizing it with best-in-class tech, and monitoring it with him weekly, I could pull 30 noteworthy people in his network for him to consider in a snap to meet this request. His sales team cannot pull that. Neither could the marketing team.

As his (and his company’s) de facto Chief Relationship Officer, I understand his relationships to the point where I can recommend people he can't even remember the name for. That could lead to massive deals for the company — and it's not duplicating what another team or person at the company is doing. It's not stepping on anyone's toes. It's just unlocking a whole new channel. 🔓

Ready to make this shift for your own business? Hit reply and let’s chat!

Nicole

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