Photo by Souvik Banerjee / Unsplash
Your employer doesn't own your network.
Only you do.
As a former legal practitioner, one of my employers asked me if I would open up my lawyer network so that the company could pitch them on a recently launched product (think Google Search for court cases).
I said no (naturally).
Like you, I've spent years carefully cultivating, growing and nurturing my network.
And like you, it's one of my most important assets and a valuable source of support, information, opportunities and connections.
I treat my network's contact details with the same trust, discretion and care that I hope they would with mine.
It's also why I refuse to display employer banners on my LinkedIn to celebrate things like product launches.
My LinkedIn account doesn’t exist to peddle my network whatever product belonging to whatever company I'm employed with at that particular point in time of my life.
My account belongs to me (although technically, it actually belongs to LinkedIn) and it exists to nurture mutually beneficial, reciprocal relationships with my professional contacts.
What's your relationship with your employer and how much of your professional and/or personal network of supporters and contacts do you allow them to access?