BY: JANEÉ WEAVER
If you lost your job tomorrow, who would you call?
Not the person you’d call to vent. Not the friend who would tell you everything is going to be okay. Who could you call who could actually help you figure out your next move? Who knows the quality of your work? Who would make an introduction without hesitation? Who would tell you about an opportunity before it was posted? Who would say your name in a room you weren’t in? That’s career insurance.
We spend years building our careers, earning degrees, gaining experience, collecting accomplishments, and taking on more responsibility. But sometimes we forget to build the relationships that can help us navigate what happens when the career we carefully built suddenly changes.
Careers change. Layoffs happen. Leaders move on, companies restructure, and sometimes the job you once loved no longer feels like the right fit. And then there are those moments when you realize, I’m ready for something different.
The worst time to build your network is when you desperately need one. And no, this isn’t about traditional “networking.” You don’t need to attend every industry event. You don’t need to schedule endless coffee meetings. And you definitely don’t need to send awkward messages to people you haven’t spoken to in five years asking if their company is hiring.
Career insurance is built through genuine, consistent relationships. Check in with people when you don’t need anything. Congratulate someone when they get promoted. Send the article that made you think of them. Make an introduction that could help their career. Recommend them for an opportunity. Invite them into a room. Stay connected to the colleague you genuinely enjoyed working with after one of you leaves the company.
Don’t limit your relationships to people who can do something for you today.
Careers are long. The colleague sitting beside you today could be a CEO ten years from now. The junior employee you mentor could eventually be the person who recommends you for a board seat. The woman you meet at an event could become a client, business partner, investor, friend, or the person who introduces you to your next opportunity.
That’s why your network should never be built solely around your current title, company, or immediate needs. Your employer may provide your paycheck, but your career belongs to you.
So ask yourself: If I lost my job tomorrow, who are the first five people I would call? If five names immediately come to mind, keep investing in those relationships. If you struggle to name five, that’s not a reason to panic. It’s a reason to start building. And if you’re looking around realizing you need to build that circle, that’s exactly why we created CRWN. Join us October 24th for Crwn In Motion to grow your community and build the relationships you may need for tomorrow.
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