Affiliation

Firstly I don’t think professional networking takes place because we have a psychological need for it. Perhaps socially we do (e.g. the desire to find a partner) and perhaps in business we mimic this behaviour because we are aware of the benefits it will bring but I believe it to be a conscious choice not an innate desire.

This assertion started me thinking about people’s need to affiliate. If socially you don’t have a strong need for affiliation (perhaps you are a content loner) I don’t think it necessarily follows that you won’t need or want to affiliate yourself with people professionally. I would say that I am naturally content with my own company. I have some very good friends but don’t like to have lots of superficial friendships. Professionally however I have come to realise that this can be detrimental to my career. It is important for me to cultivate superficial professional friendships to benefit me (see my blog on cooperation). This creates a problem for me because as I don’t practice it socially, I am not good at it professionally. I have realised that a person’s desire to affiliate is not necessarily the same as their ability to affiliate. I now have a desire to make professional connections but, as I have mentioned before, I am rubbish at doing so. This must be the case for many people and there must be many factors that affect people’s ability to affiliate, for example social upbringing. A person who has had an abusive relationship as child, may desperately want a secure relationship as an adult, but may not know how to maintain it.

Thinking in more depth about how, where and why I affiliate, I have noticed that I am moving into a new phase. As well as still needing to create and maintain relationships with teachers, directors and more experienced professionals, I am beginning to give back to students and younger performers more than I ever have before. The question ‘If experienced and influential individuals are likely to be at their preferred level of affiliation, why is it common for them to still assist younger, less experienced individuals?” really interests me and I think I am now beginning to understand the answer. I think what it comes down to is motivation. What motivates us? The same things that motivated me ten years ago do not motivate me now. I am now inclined to help people who before I may not have done, and receiving a favour in return is not my goal because career advancement is no longer always of primary importance to me. Other things take precedent, such as my desire to be a generous person, or my belief that it is important to nurture talent to keep the industry I am still a part of strong, or the fact that I take enjoyment from watching people improve and succeed. As you can see I have lots of different reasons for doing things and I think these reasons could apply to more experienced professionals too, as well as a host of others. It is not just a case of doing something nice, it is the fact that doing something nice makes you feel good about yourself and is therefore a positive motivation. The chances are, even if it was nice, if you completely hated it you wouldn’t do it, unless you were a saint.

References:

Durrant, A. (2010) The networked professional reader

Crisp, J & Turner, R. (2007) Essential social psychology. London: Sage

Iles, M. (2010) Cooperation http://markgraemeiles.blogspot.com/2010/12/cooperation.html accessed 5 December 2010