Who are your ‘ambassadors’?
We all know that all governments in the world, including the government for Vatican City, have ambassadors resident in foreign countries. The role of ambassadors and high commissioners is to represent the President of their country of origin and the interests of their country. They also help to get information on opportunities and risks pertaining to the country where they are resident and relating to their country of origin or country to which they oblige their loyalty and patriotism.
At a personal level too, we need to have ambassadors to represent our interests in different areas of importance to our professional and personal lives. In your job, you may be wanting to climb the ladders. You need to identify the team of people that will be making the decision about you. It could be senior management team or the human resource department. Make sure that you are represented in those meetings with some ambassador or ambassadors.
The trick really is to always have good networks everywhere. This means that you will be like a country that has ambassadors in all the capital cities of all the countries in the world—they are very well represented. All their interests are covered everywhere and at all times. This way, even without you knowing, you will be represented. They may come back to you after representing you but sometimes they do not even give you feedback.
I have had the privilege to sit on several boards for companies and organisations. Almost each of those appointments came up through my name being nominated at the board meetings by one of the many ‘ambassadors’ that I have spread across many companies and organisations. In some cases, I wondered who did it until later on when the ambassador in question mentioned it. This is how the world works in general. The more ambassadors you have, the more opportunities you create for yourself. If you have few ambassadors, then fewer opportunities will come your way.
Ambassadors will also help to protect you. If people want to damage you, or to take away that which belongs to you in your absence, your ambassadors will step in to protect your name or your interests. Again, they might report back to you but at times they may not revert to you having done a good job for you! Again, the more ambassadors you have, the better chance, you have that your name and interests will be protected most of the times. Make sure that you have as many ambassadors as possible spread across many geographies, several industries, in different companies and organisations and across many groupings of people cutting across diversity in terms of tribe, religion, age groups, gender and so on. Be broad and flexible. Be everywhere!
Of course, when we are talking of ambassadors here, we are talking of people that will make a positive impact on you. These are people that can influence others and people who wish you luck. Not people who can neither influence others nor wish you luck. It is the positive minded people you need to be your ambassadors. It is people who can be listened to and they can be trusted. People that others can believe. While you need to have many ambassadors, focus on having the ambassadors can make an impact.
In order for you to ‘recruit’ many good ambassadors, you need to network. You also need to make an impression on the would-be ambassadors. They will not tell lies about you. They will represent the ‘product’ that you are. If you are lazy and a person who never gets anything done, do not expect the ambassadors to volunteer to promote your interests. Additionally, you need to be a good ambassador of others too. Represent interests of other great people. When you see a good opportunity, think hard about the people that you know who can benefit from the opportunity and connect them. They will pay back to you the great favour and they will automatically become your ambassadors also. It is generally in the human nature to return a good favour!
