Great leaders don’t just build networks, they cultivate them. Not as quick contacts or social media stats, but as living, evolving relationships that grow over years, sometimes decades. The long game is where trust deepens, loyalty compounds, and real influence is earned.

If you trace most great ideas to their origin, you’ll find something else entirely: a conversation, a collaboration, a clash of perspectives.

Crisis is not a matter of if, but when. For leaders, it’s never a question of whether adversity will come, it’s how we’ll respond when it does.

Even the most independent leaders are, in reality, carried forward by their network. A mentor’s advice. A peer’s introduction. A former colleague’s endorsement. A friend’s encouragement at just the right time. These are the moments that change trajectories.

We live in a hyper-connected world, where we can message, tag, like, or follow almost anyone, anywhere, anytime. But with all this access, a curious thing has happened: genuine relationships have become rarer.

Networks are not just collections of contacts. They are living ecosystems of support, insight, accountability, opportunity, and growth.

The Power of Personal Networks, was born not from a theoretical curiosity, but from decades of experience across boardrooms, construction sites, coaching sessions, conference stages, and even unexpected conversations on cross-country flights.

Peter Comrie Publisher WBN News - Okanagan and WBN News - Winnipeg FREE Subscription to WBN News and/or to be a Contributor. Subscribe Here A Leader’s Most Underrated Advantage On a recent flight home from facilitating leadership workshops for Northern BC, I found myself seated beside a 31