What is your impression of networking? On or offline, it’s an insincere trade of favors or, at best, an elegant way of using people to get what you want. Conversely, what’s your impression of relationships? When talking about relationships, most use characteristics such as trust, depth and vested interest. So, if relationships have been around since the Ice Ages and we all know what they are, why is it that we’re becoming increasingly disconnected? In many ways, we’re losing our ability to touch people!

Robert Putnam, in his book Bowling Alone, clearly describes how our health, our democracy, and yes, even our happiness, depends on a certain amount of social capital. Yet for many, when it’s easier to send someone a voicemail who works three offices down the hall instead of walking over for a conversation, or to send them a tweet DM (direct message) instead of picking up the phone and calling them, is there really any question about the dramatic erosion of our sense of community?

You have an opportunity to build relationships every minute of every day. Building and nurturing relationships must become the dye in the fabric, not the patch. Networking functions are patches; drive-by greetings are patches; insincere getting and giving business cards are patches. Relationships should permeate through who you are and what you do with those most important to you.

There are three fundamental types of networks: Givers (God bless Mother Theresa), who give altruistically; Takers (we’ve all known some), who only call or send an e-mail when they want something; and Investors, who see their personal, functional and strategic relationships as their most valuable asset, and consistently aim at more effectively identifying, building, nurturing and leveraging those investments for a quantifiable return on their relationships.

As a relationship investor, a foundational component to the elasticity in your success is your reputation capital: the quantifiable and strategic significance of the value you’ve promised and delivered consistently over a period of time. By definition, the development, nurturing and protection of this reputation—in essence, the building of your reputation capital—is an investment of time, effort and resources (human and capital). It also has comparable value as your reputation is often compared to those of others. I equate this to building a house. Few will recognize the painstaking labor of love dedicated to the intricate details and investments you make in ceiling or floor beams no one will ever see. It’s a far greater asset than a simple structure; it’s a home you’re proud to call yours.

Regardless of the investments you make in building your home, it will always have a comparable value. If the street or neighborhood is perceived to be undesirable, your home will likewise suffer from reputation by association. Similarly, the business relationships you painstakingly invest time, effort and resources in to develop over the years, whether you like it or not, directly contribute to your reputation capital. The employees you attract, the channel partners you work with, and the customers you serve all contribute to your reputation capital.

One of the biggest challenges with reputation capital is that very few people really understand how they are perceived. And you simply can’t do anything about a reputation you’re unaware of.

So what are the key ingredients of building, validating and fostering your reputation?

• The image of the industry you work within: Beyond products, services, and even brands, keep the focus of the industry on the overall experience or perception based on a degree of confidence in predictability of behavior (“what you’re going to get”)
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• Your corporate image and identity: “Image” is a person’s beliefs about an organization and “identity” is the attributes used to describe the organization. Character describes organizational culture and competitiveness; ability describes the CEO, employees and resources; products and services are evaluated by quality, value and range; leadership and profit define behavior. All of this is based on the individual’s relationship with the organization, its past behavior and what other people have said about it.
• Your stakeholders: Values and perceptions vary greatly by how much the organization’s character, respective beliefs and values are aligned regarding appropriate corporate behavior. Stakeholders are becoming more sophisticated as they look for their expectations to be exceeded, not simply met.

According to Professor Thomas Kosnik at the Harvard Business School, visibility and credibility are the key components of measuring an organization’s reputation. Similarly, your visibility in the marketplace—number of quality, relationships you develop who are aware of your capabilities—as well as your credibility—quality of your reputation amongst those who know it—determines your current market reputation. Recent college graduates often have low visibility and credibility because they simply haven’t had the chance to earn it yet. As such, their reputation is predominately unknown. With increased credibility and visibility, your reputation becomes unparalleled.

So, when considering an individual, team or organization’s reputation, what are the sources of these reputations and the quantifiable outcomes of reputation capital?

An individual’s reputation comes from personal characteristics, (when was the last time you did a personal SWOT—strength, weakness, opportunities and threats---analysis specifically around your reputation?), professional development efforts, non-working activities and the company you keep! The quantifiable returns become individual and peer-level recognition, broader appeal and visibility with more interesting and demanding work, growth and rewards for performance.

A team or group’s reputation is derived from how the team recruits, develops, rewards and terminates its employees; clear goals and objectives (KPIs) of the team; a clear understanding of “part” of bigger objectives; and the execution skills (“gets things done!”) of the team leader. Reputation capital results include business unit, departmental, or company-wide recognition; current A Players attracting other A Players; reduced involuntary attrition and cost of position replacement; captured and shared best practices and strong intra-company relationships that attract resources (both capital and human).

The organization derives its reputation largely through the personalities of the senior management, shared corporate values and the financial stewardship of the organization. Great examples include Steve Jobs’ consistent knack for innovation at Apple, Johnson & Johnson’s credo, IBM’s values including respect for the individual, customer service and commitment to excellence, and Cisco’s Employer of Choice campaign. The quantifiable value of reputation capital at an organizational level can manifest itself in preferential access to market opportunities previously deemed improbable, unconditional support in times of business crisis, and lifelines when the bottom falls out of your company.

Your personal and professional success depends on the diversity and quality of your relationships with others, yet most of us don't spend enough time building, nurturing and quantifying the key relationships we need to achieve success. That's where Relationship Economics® comes into play. Relationship Economics isn't about networking; it's about learning how to invest in people for an extraordinary return. It's about understanding Relationship Currency®, accumulating Reputation Capital® and building Professional Net Worth®. It's about learning the art and science of relationships to get things done in a systematic, disciplined manner.

David Nour is the thought leader on Relationship Economics®. Nour has pioneered the phenomenon that relationships are the greatest off-balance-sheet asset any organizations possesses, large and small, public and private. To learn more, please visit: www.relationshipeconomics.net.