You know how much I love to talk about networking, and for some reason, you keep rolling your eyes at me each time I do.
Let me break down how important networking is and how, just yesterday, it led to an opportunity for someone in my network.
I woke up to a post on LinkedIn by let's say, Steve. Steve is a co-founder of a company with a guy named Mike. I happen to know Mike. I then texted my friend, whom I'll call Bobby, and I told him about the role. He said, "Yes, that role is a perfect fit, I'm going to apply." By the end of the day, I had Bobby's resume in the hands of Mike, and we'll see where the universe takes it.
Sure, you can blindly apply to hundreds of roles and then wonder why you can't get an interview, or you can go the route of having connections of connections who can help you out.
I happened to meet Bobby eighteen months ago through another connection. We've stayed in close dialogue throughout his career journey, and when an opportunity all of a sudden made sense, the connection was made.
Everyone thinks that networking is this thing that you only do when you're desperate for a job, or that you sound weird for reaching out to meet new people. It's quite the contrary. Networking works in all aspects of your career, as making new connections is always a winning approach.
You can't do it alone, and I don't know why people think they can. It's quite ridiculous, in fact, to have this solo approach to the world like you're a lone wolf. You're not, you're a part of a broad ecosystem that thrives on human-to-human connections, dialogue, and support.
What people miss is that none of that interaction from yesterday was forced, awkward, or transactional; it was simply the byproduct of staying in touch, checking in, and actually giving a damn about what the people in your circle are up to. There was no cold outreach, no "hey, can you help me" desperation message, no last-minute scramble because someone suddenly realized they hate their job. It was built over time through conversations that had nothing to do with job openings at all, which is exactly why, when the moment showed up, it moved fast, and it felt natural instead of forced.
That is the part people don't see when they roll their eyes at networking; they only see the ask, but they ignore the months or years of consistency that made the ask effortless.
And here's where it gets even more interesting, because Bobby didn't need me yesterday, and I didn't need anything from Mike, and Steve certainly wasn't posting that role thinking about me sitting there connecting dots like some kind of career matchmaker. Yet somehow, because the relationships existed, the opportunity moved exactly where it needed to go, and now Bobby has a shot that he would have never had if he were just another resume sitting in a pile of 500 applicants.
That is what leverage looks like in your career, and it has absolutely nothing to do with how polished your resume is or how many keywords you managed to stuff into your LinkedIn profile.
The people who struggle with this tend to treat networking like a light switch; they only flip on when things are going wrong, and then they wonder why it feels uncomfortable, why no one responds, and why it feels like they are begging for help instead of being offered opportunities. You cannot build trust on demand, and you cannot shortcut human connection just because your situation has suddenly changed and you need something now. Relationships compound the same way money does, slowly, consistently, and often invisibly, until one day it shows up in a way that feels almost unfair to everyone who chose not to invest the time.
So the next time you feel that instinct to roll your eyes or convince yourself that you will just grind it out on your own, I want you to remember how quickly that situation came together and how little friction there was because the groundwork had already been laid.
This is not about being fake or collecting business cards like you are playing some weird corporate version of Pokémon; this is about being curious about people, staying connected, and putting yourself in a position where, when opportunity shows up, you are not starting from zero.
You are already in the room, whether you realize it or not, and the only question left is whether you have built enough connection for someone to actually pull you into the conversation.
If it were a corporate Pokémon, then I'm Charizard.