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Leadership careers rarely follow a straight line anymore. Companies restructure, markets shift, and strategies evolve overnight.

Every leader knows the feeling: one day the work feels steady, the next the landscape shifts. A merger, a new CEO, a sudden opportunity, or a sudden exit can change everything.  In those moments, what matters most isn’t the resumé line or the job title; it’s who you can call.

Many executives will focus on their job but forget about their career. When they do, they discover too late that their network is thin. When the next big move arrives, they may find themselves isolated, wishing they had built stronger bridges earlier.

Executives who have invested in strong networks often don’t face these professional challenges alone. They have advisors, connections, and sounding boards who are ready to step in and lend their support. The relationships they’ve built over time often become their greatest source of resilience, opening doors, offering perspective, and providing support when it’s needed.

What are the benefits of networks?

• Networks Accelerate Decision-Making: Executives are often tasked with making high-stakes decisions under pressure and with incomplete information. Leaders with a strong network can call on peers, mentors, or industry experts who have faced similar challenges.

Instead of relying solely on consultants or internal teams, they can gain fast, unfiltered perspectives from people they trust. This type of network speeds up decisions and reduces risks.

• Networks Offer Perspective During Moments of Uncertainty: Whether personal, organizational, or market-driven, periods of disruption can leave even seasoned leaders questioning their own decisions. In these moments, the right network acts as both a sounding board and a mirror, providing reassurance and a renewed mindset.

At the same time, staying visible within a network means leaders remain top of mind for new opportunities. Recruiters, board members, and potential collaborators notice executives who are engaged and accessible, making networks both a stabilizer and a launchpad.

• Networks Support Agility and Confidence During Change: Executive career progression is rarely linear and leaders may pivot industries, explore relocations, or step into unfamiliar mandates. Those with broad, active networks move through these changes seamlessly because they already have relationships to lean on for important introductions, gathering information, or investigating new opportunities.

Networking Is a Strategic Asset, Not a Side Activity

When we consider the concept of networking, we might envision a stuffy cocktail dinner or long days on the golf greens. For many years, professional networking has been viewed primarily through the lens of business development. It’s seen as a means to expand client reach or seek out transactional value. For many, that may be a very real part of networking, but this narrow framing underestimates the broader role of a well-functioning executive network.

Networking is not peripheral. It’s a professional practice that is less about having a robust LinkedIn profile or a massive database of people you barely know and more about cultivating and maintaining those valuable connections.

An effective corporate network shouldn’t be measured by the number of connections but by their value. The most valuable networks share the following features:

• Mutually beneficial—Connections that work best when both sides benefit, not just one
• Diverse—Connections that span industries, functions, and geographies
• Responsive—Connections that are responsive and capable of activating quickly in a time of need
• Curated—Connections that are meticulously maintained over time, not assembled ad hoc

Consequences of Being Under-Networked

The majority of under-networked executives are typically those who have remained within a single company or industry for extended periods. Their internal credibility may be high, but their external visibility is often limited … and they often don’t realize they are under-networked until it matters most.

This creates vulnerability. During times of transition, whether due to restructuring, acquisition, or voluntary career change, leaders who lack diverse connections outside their organization may struggle to access opportunities or insights quickly. They may also experience longer periods of stagnation or job searching due to a lack of visibility.

This dynamic is often tied to function. Executives in roles with regular external engagement, such as commercial or client-facing positions, tend to develop broader networks by default. In contrast, those in roles like finance, legal, or compliance may become siloed, with fewer natural opportunities for relationship-building beyond company walls. Those are the executives who may need to make a little more effort to grow their network intentionally.

Three Networking Paradigm Shifts for Today’s Leaders

Executive networking is evolving, and for networking endeavors to remain truly effective, leaders need to rethink some long-held assumptions, like the following:

1. Networking Is More Than Attending Events

A common misconception is that networking must take the form of formal events, introductions, or orchestrated outreach. While structured opportunities certainly have value, true networks take shape long after the name tags come off.

Leaders who thrive in their networks often do so by embracing more organic methods. They cultivate relationships through day-to-day conversations, peer interactions, collaborative projects, or shared industry challenges. They remain curious about others, attentive to opportunity, and intentional about follow-up.

Technology has made this more accessible. Platforms like LinkedIn have transformed how leaders build and sustain visibility. With 1.1 billion members as of 2025, LinkedIn has become the dominant platform for professional engagement. Still, digital tools alone are not enough. Some studies show that 87% of executives still believe that in-person interactions deliver more enduring benefits than virtual alternatives.

The most effective networkers strike a balance between both, using digital tools to maintain presence and relevance, while investing in meaningful, human conversations that foster trust over time.

2. Openness and Transparency Create Opportunity

For many executives, the greatest obstacles to networking are internal. Feelings of discomfort or perceived reputational risk often hold them back, especially during career inflection points.

Leaders become hesitant to update their LinkedIn profiles, reconnect with old peers, or share news of a job search, fearing it may signal failure or instability. However, visibility is a strength, not a liability. It creates options, surfaces opportunities, and shows openness and engagement.

Seasoned executives may believe they can’t ask for a recommendation to a new position and they can’t let their network know they are job-hunting. We need to be transparent and remove the stigma of shame and secrecy around career transitions. It’s not a setback. It’s a moment of reorientation. When leaders frame it in those terms, it becomes much easier to reach out and get help from their network.

I’ve personally seen professionals undervalue the impact they have on others. These executives cling to the belief that they have nothing to offer. That is a self-limiting belief, and it’s rarely true. The real value of being part of a network isn’t about being perfect. It’s about showing up consistently and honestly, and this comes more naturally to those who recognize their own worth, and what makes them interesting to other people.

3. Your Network Is Your Career Infrastructure

When leaders only access their network in moments of difficulty or need, they’re leaving a significant resource untapped the rest of the time. At the most strategic level, a corporate network is a long-term, full-time career infrastructure. It supports a leader’s ability to adapt, reposition, and remain relevant. It opens doors to lateral movement, advisory work, board positions, and entrepreneurial ventures.

Just as companies diversify supply chains to manage risk, executives should diversify their relationships to future-proof their careers. Like any infrastructure, it must be maintained consistently, with foresight and care.

Six Practical Strategies for Building a High-Impact Network

Executives often ask, “Where do I even begin?” Best-selling author Bob Burg presented a profound perspective on the topic when he wrote, “Networking is the cultivation of mutually beneficial, give-and-take, win/win relationships. The focus is on the ‘give’ part.”

These words capture the principle that effective networking is grounded in generosity, not transaction. This becomes more evident when exploring the following six strategies that form the core of effective network-building:

1. Map the current network: Leaders who audit their networks—examining where relationships are concentrated by function, geography, or seniority—can quickly identify gaps and opportunities. A balanced network should provide access to diverse perspectives, reliable referrals, and trusted voices across different contexts. If I was a CFO, I’d make sure I have relationships with banks, investors, and audit firms, since they’re usually good multipliers or influencers.
2. Be present, be generous: Networks grow through small, consistent actions. Leaders who congratulate peers on accomplishments, share useful insights, or make thoughtful introductions build familiarity and goodwill over time. These gestures may seem minor, but generosity compounds trust and keeps relationships warm.
3. Personalize each relationship: The strongest networks are rooted in human connection, not just professional exchange. Remembering details like family milestones, hobbies, or shared experiences makes interactions more authentic. These touchpoints remind others that they are seen as people, not just roles.
4. Offer before you ask: Deep, trusting connections are built on the principle of reciprocity. Approaching conversations with curiosity about what might be valuable for the other person shifts the dynamic from transactional to collaborative. According to a blog article by executive search firm, Signium, trust grows naturally when leaders give first by sharing knowledge, connections, or encouragement.
5. Do your homework: Effective networking is built on relevance. Outreach should never be generic or one-size-fits-all. Before approaching a new contact, leaders should take the time to identify a genuine point of connection, whether it’s a shared interest, a mutual acquaintance, or an aligned challenge. Without this effort, executives risk becoming just another noisy knock on the door.
6. ​​Openness invites support: Networks work best when they’re activated. Reaching out during times of transition or uncertainty is a mark of confidence and maturity. Leaders who clearly articulate their next steps—and what they need—are often met with support and respect, not judgment.

The Best Executive Networks Are Built Before They’re Needed

I’ve always told my son to listen to people, be curious. That’s how you create the types of connections that become a tapestry of lifelines to rely on during times of growth, change, and uncertainty. It’s no different for executives. In fact, it’s even more critical the higher you climb.

Strong networks aren’t built in a day, on a golf course, or from a stack of business cards. They’re built steadily on a foundation of curiosity and generosity—and the best time to start is today.

Carolin Fourie is a Managing Partner at Signium, having joined the Executive Search Industry in 2001. With her experienced team in Munich, she has completed many national and international assignments and covered a great variety of industries in the industrial sector. Fourie has successfully placed top and mid-level executives across all functions to both SME and publicly-listed organizations. Prior to her career with Signium, she held senior positions in product management and contraction functions for several years for two leading tour operators in Germany and the U.S. Fourie graduated in Business Administration and has a degree as Systemic Business Coach (dvct).

Editor Note: This article was originally published in September on Signium’s “News & Insights” webpage and has been republished here with permission.