Two weeks ago I fly to New York to speak to a bunch of Executive MBA candidates at a prestigious university.
At least three people asked me about the connection strategy they should have. Two of them had strong opinions already formed and just wanted to see what I thought.
I explained in my LinkedIn book I have a chapter about connection strategies, where I explain there is a spectrum with open networkers on one side (those who connect with anyone) and closed networkers on another side (those who have very strict requirements before they connect with you).
The bottom line is this: I can’t tell you what is right for you, or anyone else. You have to decide where on the connection spectrum you feel comfortable. You might be in the middle, or lean towards open, or lean towards closed… I don’t know what your comfort level is.
I also recognize that your circumstances now might push you towards one strategy, but when the circumstances change, your strategy might change.
What’s right for you? I don’t know.
What’s right for the person next to you? You might not be the best person to decide what’s right for them (as I see so often!).
I do know this: everyone has different objectives with their networking efforts… choose what’s best for you, for now, and go with that. Adjust as necessary.
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