How to Leverage your Peer Network for Leadership Success

Look to your left, and then to your right. What have you done lately to engage your peers in a meaningful way? As one client CEO recently shared, peer relationships are the most undervalued connections in the workplace, yet one of the most critical. His point … your peers can either be your best support or completely undermine your advancement. We agree. 

Think about it. As we develop in leadership, we spend much of our time learning how to manage up and manage down. We might seek out mentors, typically individuals with more experience than us, that can help us to skill up and provide knowledge transfer. Yet, sitting next to us is a colleague that you could turn to for insight and support that provides a safe haven and is accessible; someone at the same level who likely is experiencing similar challenges and will engage in thoughtful and invaluable dialogue.

In our coaching practice, we encourage the development of peer-to-peer networks, both internally within companies and externally with formal groups of professionals at a similar stage of development, such as our LEADForward Roundtables for high potential women. An intentional and systematic approach to establish and leverage your peer relationships can accelerate your growth as a leader. Just what are the benefits?

• Two (or three, or MORE!) heads are better than one: if you’ve participated in brainstorming, you can attest to this.
• Helps you avoid stagnation and feelings of isolation: networks normalize challenges and are vital for fresh perspectives and new ideas.
• You don’t fall into the trap of reinventing the wheel:  spend your time and energy on high value stuff; rely on your network for all the rest.
• We learn best from those like us:  learning from others in similar circumstances to our own is well proven to be the best form of discovery.
• Fuels trusted, long-term connections:  peer networks provide relationships that can last and support you your whole career.

Embedded within a productive peer network is the ability to have constructive coaching conversations. Peer coaching is a healthy balance of inquiry – asking relevant and provocative questions, and advocacy – offering experiential-based reflections and suggestions. Coaching is not giving advice nor solving other people’s problems. Rather it’s sharing experiences and offering suggestions that help others to solve their own challenges. 

Peer coaching also has reciprocal benefit. Not only can breakthrough discoveries and ideas emerge for your colleague but engaging in someone else’s issues can be insightful into your own. Realizing that your challenges are not unique is empowering and the peer support and accountability, invaluable.

Here’s a quick primer on how to have an effective coaching conversation. If you’re the peer coach, be sure to ask clarifying and thought-provoking questions, offer experienced-based suggestions and provide emotional support. If you’re the person being coached, explain your issue or challenge to your peer and describe the results you’re trying to achieve. Be sure to identify any obstacles, and very importantly, listen actively to your counterpart’s suggestions without getting defensive. The goal is for you to reflect on the conversation and commit to action steps that your peer can hold you accountable to. 

There’s power when two or more people share their plans and their progress to overcome obstacles and resolve problems. Are you ready to think and act more strategically regarding building and leveraging your peer network to fuel learning and growth? Simply take the first step to level up progress toward your professional goals and accelerate your leadership success. You won’t regret it.