How do I reconnect with my old network without it feeling awkward or transactional?

You know you should keep in touch with people. You also know you only think about it when you need something, and then it feels transactional. So you do nothing, and the network you spent twenty years building goes quiet.

What a network is actually for

When I left the bank, I lost my specialist network. You do not notice a function until you are it.

Walking along the Viadukt in Zurich, I unexpectedly bumped into an old work colleague. She asked me how everything was going. It was a lovely surprise, and a good moment to reflect: it is hard to see how far you have come before you have arrived. She was onto her next adventure too.

Those conversations happen more often when you make room for them.

Three lists

Start with three lists, first names only.

1. People you clicked with. The ones you would happily have a coffee with tomorrow.
2. People you were totally fine with. Good working relationships, nothing special, and often the most useful people of all.
3. People you lost touch with but liked. The ones you meant to stay in contact with and did not.

How to find them: go through your LinkedIn connections. Then take each role you have had, one at a time, and ask who you worked with there: your manager, your team, the people in other teams you relied on, and the people who relied on you.

Then one conversation a month

One person a month, starting with the first list. The message does not need a reason beyond the true one: you were thinking about the work you did together and wondered how they are. Ask what they are working on. Do not ask for anything.

Write down what you talked about, and who you will speak to next month. After a year you have twelve warm conversations, and a network that will take your call when it matters.

Your next step

The Optionality Vault keeps your three lists, suggests who to speak to each month, and remembers what you talked about. About ten minutes a month, CHF 99 a year, with a full refund in the first 30 days.