I Went Back Through My LinkedIn Messages to 2010. Here's What Happened

You know that moment when you realise you're not following your own advice?

I was telling my clients they needed to activate their networks—both old and new connections—because opportunities could come from anywhere. Old connections from previous roles, friends, family, even people from the golf club shouldn't be disregarded just because you've pivoted your business focus.

Meanwhile, I was only connecting with new people through formal networking events.

I realised I couldn't authentically tell clients to reach out to their existing connections if I wasn't doing it myself. I needed to experience how uncomfortable that actually felt in order to honestly advise them to take that action.

The reality was, I'd assumed my old network wasn't relevant to my new direction. Having moved away from media agency consulting, I figured former colleagues in publishing and advertising agencies wouldn't have the types of businesses in their networks that would need strategic visibility services.

The Strategic Network Activation Experiment

In 2022, I challenged myself to systematically activate dormant professional relationships. Starting from my earliest LinkedIn connections—dating back to 2010—I methodically reconnected with colleagues I'd lost professional contact with over the years.

The approach was simple and honest: I reached out to see how they were, explained that I advised my clients to reconnect with existing connections and realised I wasn't doing the same myself, and asked how they were getting on. Each message was personalised—no copy and paste approach.

Here's what this network activation exercise revealed.

When I reached out to my former managing director from when I worked in media agencies, I discovered that he had moved to work for a non-profit organisation. We had a proper chat, catching up on what we'd both been doing since we'd last been in touch. A few weeks later, he connected me with a marketing director who was doing consultancy work at Airfield, an urban farm operation in Dublin.

That Airfield content strategy project led to a similar project with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, where I also coached their communications executive. The results were hugely effective—their campaigns outperformed anything they'd done before. They gained 70% more followers, drove a 30% uplift to their website, and achieved a 30% increase in their email list. This success then led to an engagement with a leading restaurant brand. All because I reached out and touched base with a former colleague.

One reconnection with someone I'd worked with more recently. A cascade effect that fundamentally transformed my business trajectory.

The Common Networking Mistake That Costs Opportunities

This isn't just my experience. One of my former clients, a non-executive director, was attending formal networking meetings regularly. He'd present his services, but his potential clients weren't in the room. The audience wasn't relevant to what he offered.

So he concluded networking didn't work.

But it did work—he was just in the wrong rooms. He hadn't reached out to people he'd worked with before. He hadn't asked them to connect him to the type of person he wanted to work with.

When he finally did activate his existing network, he got the roles and opportunities he'd been seeking all along.

It's completely natural to lose touch with colleagues when you change roles or pivot your business. But when we make these transitions, the people we were close to professionally may be perfectly positioned to help us—and we might be able to help them too. The challenge is that if we don't reconnect and let them know what we're doing now, these mutually beneficial opportunities never materialise.

After working together, this client now has optimised executive positioning across LinkedIn, refined messaging, and crystal clarity on his value proposition. But here's where most senior executives stall: they assume clarity equals market visibility.

It doesn't. Clarity must be followed by systematic network activation. Once your executive positioning is optimised, there's no reason to avoid continuous network engagement.

The Network Multiplier Effect That Creates Opportunities

Here's the miscalculation most executives make: they evaluate their network based on direct opportunity potential—"these agency professionals might require non-executive director services themselves."

That's not how networking actually works. The real value lies in leveraging these connections as multipliers to access their extended professional ecosystems.

Consider this as a network web. When you systematically engage different segments of your connections and communicate what you're focused on now, you create multiple opportunity pathways. The next time someone in their network mentions "we need a trusted non-executive director" or "we're seeking consulting expertise," your name surfaces through a credible professional referral.

They review your executive positioning on LinkedIn, evaluate your credentials, and they're significantly more likely to initiate contact because the recommendation originated from a trusted professional source.

This is how opportunities actually materialise for senior executives. Not through cold business development or hoping decision-makers discover your website. Through systematic activation of your existing credibility network.

Why Most Executive Networking Strategies Fail

But here's the strategic reality. Most CEOs and MDs read this framework and think, "Strategic concept, but what's the tactical execution?" They want specific guidance on messaging approaches, positioning strategies, channel selection, and segmentation methodologies for different network categories.

Some professional relationships require high-touch strategic engagement. Others operate more efficiently through streamlined interactions. Strategic network activation isn't a uniform approach—it requires understanding how different segments of your professional ecosystem operate and crafting your engagement strategy accordingly.

This strategic network activation is a core component of my Strategic Visibility for Ambitious Leaders partnership.

We begin with clarity—because you cannot achieve visibility without defined positioning. Then we optimise your executive presence across LinkedIn, develop messaging that attracts the right opportunities, and create systematic approaches to network activation that integrate seamlessly with your executive responsibilities.

The objective isn't to become a networking enthusiast. It's to ensure your complete professional network understands what you're focused on now, so when opportunities emerge, your name surfaces naturally through trusted referrals.

Your Professional Network Has More Value Than You Recognise

That transition away from media agency consulting I mentioned? Those professional relationships became the foundation for my current business success. The managing director who connected me to Airfield wasn't within my target market—but his network contained opportunities I couldn't have accessed independently.

Your professional network doesn't need direct alignment with your current focus to create competitive advantage. It just needs to be leveraged properly.

The executives securing the best board appointments, the highest-value consulting engagements, the most significant partnerships—they're not necessarily the most qualified professionals. They're the most visible to the decision-makers evaluating those opportunities.

Your expertise warrants recognition and proper positioning. But recognition requires visibility. And visibility demands systematic network activation that extends far beyond your immediate industry connections.

The senior executives who consistently secure the best opportunities understand this reality: your existing network represents your most valuable business development asset, but only when properly activated.

Ready to transform your professional network into sustainable competitive advantage? My Strategic Visibility for Ambitious Leaders partnership helps established CEOs, MDs, NEDs, and senior consultants create systematic approaches to network activation and positioning. This isn't about building a personal brand from scratch—it's about communication that ensures your expertise reaches the decision-makers who need to recognise it.

Over six months, we'll collaborate to transform not just your visibility, but the quality of opportunities that result from it. Because the recognition your expertise deserves requires more than hoping the right executives notice your capabilities.

It requires systematic activation of the professional credibility you've already established.

About Strategic Visibility for Ambitious Leaders

After 25+ years developing strategic communication for global brands like L'Oréal, Colgate, Fiat, and Ryanair, I've learned that the most successful leaders aren't just excellent at strategy—they're excellent at making their expertise visible to the right people at the right time. My experience in high-stakes negotiations and award-winning strategic campaigns has taught me that visibility isn't about personal branding—it's about strategic communication that positions leaders for the recognition their expertise warrants.

Ready to stop being your own strategic visibility bottleneck? My Strategic Visibility for Ambitious Leaders partnership helps established CEOs, MDs, NEDs, and consultants create systematic approaches to amplifying their expertise without adding to their workload. This isn't about building a personal brand—it's about strategic communication that ensures your insights reach the people who need to hear them. Book a strategic consultation to discuss how strategic network activation can transform your visibility and the opportunities that flow from it. Reach out to my team at [email protected] and let's get together for a Strategic Discovery Call.