Networking Action Plan

A 42-year-old senior manager of supply chain operations at a consumer goods company has been in a passive job search for four months. She knows three people who work at the companies she wants to join. She has not reached out to any of them. She explains this with varying reasons each session: too busy, doesn't want to seem desperate, doesn't know what she'd say, doesn't want to put them in an awkward position. Her coach has heard a different version of the same barrier each week. The Networking Action Plan is introduced to name five specific contacts, write down exactly what she'd say to each, and make the action concrete enough that the real barrier can be identified.

Frame this as converting intention into a plan with names in it. 'You've named several people you should contact. The action plan asks you to pick five, write one sentence for why connecting serves both of you, and choose an outreach method and a date. We're not building a general networking strategy — we're naming five people and writing the first sentence of the message you'll send each one.' The barriers section is the most important part for this client: 'The plan also asks you to name what feels uncomfortable about reaching out. I want you to write the real answer, not the polished one. The barrier you've named each week has been different — I want to find the one that's actually underneath all of them.'

Watch for the five contacts to be people she feels safe reaching out to — former colleagues she's already close with — rather than the people with actual access to what she's looking for. If her list avoids the three contacts she's mentioned, name the pattern. Also watch for the outreach method column to list email for all five when a direct message or phone call would convert at a higher rate for the relationships she has. The plan should match the warmth of the relationship to the channel — not default to the least vulnerable option across the board.

Start with the session opener: 'Which of these five contacts would have the most value if the connection went well — and what's actually stopping you from reaching out this week?' Let her answer fully. Then go to the barriers section: 'You wrote a barrier for [contact three]. Read it to me.' Then: 'Is that barrier specific to this person, or would it apply to any of the five?' If it applies to all five, you've found the real barrier rather than the rationalized one. Then: 'If you sent the first message on this list this afternoon — what would the worst realistic outcome be?' Close with a commitment: 'Which one are you sending before our next session, and on what day?'

A 26-year-old UX researcher at a mid-size tech startup has been at the same company since graduating. His professional network consists of current colleagues, three professors, and a handful of people he went to school with who are also early in their careers. He wants to move into a more senior research role but doesn't know people at the companies he's targeting, isn't sure how to introduce himself to people he doesn't know, and has dismissed LinkedIn as 'a waste of time' based on a few uncomfortable cold-connection experiences. He came to coaching to figure out his career direction. The Networking Action Plan is introduced after his job search target has been named — as the bridge between knowing what he wants and actually knowing anyone who can help.

Frame this as building outward from what exists. 'You have a network — it's smaller than you'd like and it's clustered in one place, but it exists. The action plan works with what you have: five contacts, with a specific purpose for each connection, and an outreach approach that matches how you actually know the person. We're not cold-pitching strangers. We're identifying which people in your existing network might know someone who works in the organizations you've targeted, and asking for an introduction rather than an opportunity.' The 90-day goal section is important here: 'I want the goal to be a number of conversations, not a number of applications. Your goal for the next 90 days is [X] informational conversations with people at [target company type]. That's a goal you have full control over.'

Watch for the five contacts to all be people he already knows well, producing a plan that isn't actually expanding his network — just activating relationships he has. The plan should include at least one or two second-degree contacts: someone in his existing network who knows someone at a target organization. Also watch for the follow-up schedule column to be blank or vague — 'follow up if I don't hear back.' Push for specificity: what date, what channel, and what will he say differently in the follow-up versus the first outreach. The follow-up is where most introductory conversations succeed or die.

Start with the 90-day goal: 'You've set a goal of [X] conversations. Based on the five contacts on this plan — how many conversations does this realistically get you?' If the answer is fewer than the goal, the plan needs more contacts or a clearer ask per contact. Then: 'For contact three — walk me through what you'd say in the first message.' Have him say it out loud. Then: 'Does that feel like something you'd actually send, or does it feel like something you think you should say?' The test of a good outreach script is whether the person would recognize the voice in it. Close with the barriers section: 'You wrote that [barrier] is what's holding you back. What would have to be true for that to not be the case?'

A 53-year-old former SVP of marketing at a retail company left her role six months ago following an acquisition. She has 2,400 LinkedIn connections, a decade of industry relationships, and genuine goodwill from people across her sector. She has had exactly three networking conversations in the past six months, all reactive — people who reached out to her. She has not initiated outreach because she doesn't know what to say. She hasn't defined what she's looking for precisely enough to make a specific ask. She came to coaching to 'figure out her next chapter.' The Networking Action Plan follows her career vision work and is introduced once she has a clear enough direction to have a purposeful conversation.

Frame this as translating direction into conversation. 'You know what you're looking for now — [named target]. The networking plan converts that into five specific conversations with people who could either directly connect you to that target or give you useful intelligence about it. The most common mistake at your level is reaching out with something vague — 'keeping in touch,' 'grabbing coffee.' The plan asks you to write one sentence for why the conversation is worth their time. That sentence is the thing you've been missing.' The consumes field applies here: use the career vision and brand work she's already done as the foundation for the outreach language. 'The ask for each conversation should come directly from the direction you've already named.'

Watch for the connection purpose column to be vague or relationship-maintenance framed — 'reconnect,' 'catch up,' 'see how they're doing' — rather than purposeful. At SVP level, the people she's reaching out to are busy; a clear purpose respects their time and produces a better conversation than a vague check-in. Push for one sentence that names what she's thinking about and what she'd value from the conversation. Also watch for the 90-day goal to be output-framed (a job offer, an introduction to a specific company) rather than conversation-framed. At this stage the goal is conversations and intelligence, not decisions.

Start with the purpose column: 'Read me the one-sentence purpose you wrote for the first contact.' Then: 'If [contact name] received that message — would they know exactly why you were reaching out and what you were hoping to get from the conversation?' If the answer is no, the sentence needs to be more specific. Then go to the barriers section: 'You said knowing what to ask for was the thing stopping you from reaching out. Now that you've written a purpose for each contact — does the barrier feel the same, or different?' That question tests whether naming the purpose resolved the underlying block. Close with: 'Which of these five conversations are you most nervous about — and why is that one probably the most important?'