Networkers are driven by the need to help others. Strategists are driven by the need to see their brilliant ideas, their ‘babies,’ come to life. To care for and feed the vast array of relationships within their sphere of influence, the Networker needs a pipeline of fresh ideas that will work. Blind to protocols, blunt and generally a loner, the Strategist needs the Networker’s help to reach the person who needs their idea, and to communicate the idea in a people friendly way (without the sometimes sharp corners of the Strategist). The Networker is naturally talented at positioning ideas so that they resonate with a particular buyer’s spoken and hidden agendas.
The earlier in their careers that Strategists and Networkers find one another, the better for the individuals and the organizations they serve. But it must be understood that if left to nature, these two intellects may be repelled by one another more frequently than drawn to one another. To put this into perspective, think back to high school. The “popular” kid (Networker) did not generally hang out with the strange kid with the strange ideas (Strategist) who might have been very introverted as well, even though the Networker could see the creative talent of the Strategist.
