Introducing Prohana
The world is changing rapidly. AI is eating the world. You watch as friends or family members are getting laid off, and you wonder if you might be next. I have seen this happen several times throughout my career.
When friends or coworkers have asked me if I was nervous, I always said 'No'. When they asked me why, I told them about my network, and how every job I had ever gotten was through those few close connections that I had a real relationship with, and who had opened up so much opportunity for me. Then I turned that question around. I asked them if they had been keeping up with their network over time, and the answer was often 'No'. That was their first mistake, and the result was showing. They knew they had neglected their network, but they didn't know how to do better. When people asked me how I did it, or said things like "yeah, I need to be better at that", I tried to help.
This really has been my story through my entire career. In 28 years in the software industry, almost every job opportunity I have had came through someone in my network. I spent 14 years at Cisco before moving to a startup where a former colleague was the VP of Engineering. I joined my next startup as first hire after the founders because I met the founders while working at that first startup. When I unfortunately had to take 2 years off from work to take care of my wife when she got sick, I spent that entire time doing contracting work, and never had a day that I wanted to be working and wasn't, because my network made sure that was the case. Later, when I left Google to go to VMware, it was to work with a close friend from my days at Cisco. Every one of those transitions only reinforced the power of my network.
Watching the industry trends and feeling how I do about the power of a strong core network, it felt like this was something others needed to understand. When I was ready to build something of my own, I decided I wanted to help others develop the same superpower that I had used throughout my career, and to help them avoid the stress and fear that career uncertainty can bring. That vision would become Prohana, a name built from Professional Ohana. Ohana is Hawaiian for "family". Family is the most important thing in your life, and your Professional Ohana should be the most important thing in your professional life.
What is Prohana?
Prohana is a tool for professionals who want to build and nurture that small but powerful core network of people who will make a real difference in their career trajectory. We focus on a small set of people, and we restrict the network to no more than 20 so that you focus on the important relationships and build those with intention. These are the people who can and will create the huge life-changing opportunities for you. Being first on their mind and first to get that referral is about building the relationship. It is about spending time and energy to connect with that person on a regular basis, and sharing ideas and interests and opportunities. If you see each person in your network once every quarter, that means you meet with 1-2 people a week. Most people can't afford the time and energy to do more than that, and if you try, the quality of the relationship suffers.
Really building these relationships is about offering to help them, and following through. It is about doing things for them with no expectation of reciprocation, so that when they have something, they think of you first, and they don't expect anything back from you. These are the behaviors that make someone think of you when the big opportunity comes, and make them fight for you to get that opportunity over anyone else. And Prohana is here to guide you through that process.
Those big opportunities come from needs. Whenever I've needed someone for a role, the first thing I did was look to my network. The people I was closest to that fit the need got the opportunity. If I didn't have someone in my direct network, I asked around. Again, the people they referred were people close to them. Building and maintaining strong relationships was the key to being on someone's mind when the opportunity arose. I would hire a strong referral over a cold outreach or resume search every time. Lots of services have come up lately for AI-native job search or resume optimization or interviewing and assessing talent. But if someone in my trusted circle said "Hire her, she's a star" or "I know just the right person for what you need", that carries a lot of weight. I would take that candidate extremely seriously. And this isn't just for hiring managers looking for talent. The same applies if you are the one being referred, and someone can give you that powerful reference.
Prohana helps you to build those critical relationships by developing an AI-driven program that evolves with you over time. As part of that program, we learn about your overall goals professionally and your goals with each connection specifically, and create and assign tasks designed to promote strong relationship building such as:
- scheduling regular meetups with each member of your network, and reminding you if you might be losing touch with someone
- using AI to build meeting agendas based on previous meeting transcripts or relationship notes
- using AI to create follow-up tasks from meetings and help you to deliver on the commitments you made
- suggesting actions/tasks you can do to strengthen your relationships and your network, such as:
- mentoring (either giving or receiving),
- knowledge sharing
- professional engagements
- posting to forums
- prompting you to ask for introductions or to make them
- analyzing your relationship health, and helping you know whether you are giving more to your network than you are asking for, which is a good sign that you are building up good will
- providing advice on how to improve your connection with each person
Over time, as you work with the platform, the AI gets to know you and your key relationships better, and can give even more detailed and relevant suggestions, and provide you with places to collaborate with members in your network. You might find yourself working together on a new business, or just sharing information about the latest trends that can help you and your peer to excel at your current role, or to grow into a new role.
What if I don't network?
The worst thing you can do with your network is nothing. Relationships are living things. If you neglect them, they die. If you get laid off tomorrow, and you haven't talked to anyone in your network in a decade, then when you reach out, you are that guy/girl that hasn't talked to them in forever and now you want something. When you meet that person for the first time out of nowhere, and you start with an ask, you are setting yourself up to be seen negatively, and the outcome is likely to mirror that perception.
But if you have been talking to them every month or every quarter for years, that's different. You're someone they have a drink or dinner with every now and then. Maybe you helped them find their last rock star employee or helped them solve a difficult problem. Now, you are a friend, a trusted colleague, a solid person with a reputation and a relationship. Now, when you need something, doors open.
Conclusion
We live in uncertain times, and the fact that many people are nervous is understandable. But the next time someone asks you if you feel nervous, I want you to be able to tell them, 'No, I feel great'. I want you to tell them your network is strong, and you'll be just fine. Join Prohana and let us help you build deep, meaningful, rewarding professional relationships with the small group of people who are in a position to change your life. We'll start with a quick interview to understand your goals, and then walk you through adding your first connections, and building your custom plan. Then we'll guide you day-by-day through the tasks and before you know it, you'll be building stronger relationships, and starting to unlock the hidden potential in your amazing network.