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Networking, soft skills, business connections
Why leaders stall in external relationships — and how to stop avoiding the connections that change everything
How can a manager stop hiding behind operations and start building relationships that speed up approvals and strengthen the branch’s results?
What stops managers from building relationships with the administration, major clients, and government customers — and how to start doing it without the feeling of “this is not who I am.”
In regional IT companies, there is one recurring pattern. The branch manager does a decent job (really, a very decent job!) handling internal tasks: numbers, reports, processes, team motivation. But external relationships are stalling: meetings with the local administration are rare and purely formal, communication with major clients happens only “when there’s a problem,” and contact with the municipality breaks off after the very first interaction.
Usually, three arguments come up.
“I don’t have time.”
“That’s not my area of responsibility.”
“Let the director handle communication.”
The problem is that this no longer works.
In the regions, the winner is not the one with the prettier presentation, but the one who has stable relationships. And yes — this is just as much a KPI as financial results.
Example from practice
Nizhny Novgorod.
A branch of a large Russian IT company was implementing a digital system in several districts. On paper, everything looked perfect, but deadlines kept slipping: the administration delayed approvals, and municipal services did not respond to emails.
The branch manager openly admitted:
“Damn! What can I even do? I’m not the director. I’m a technical guy. I don’t like all this — approaches, handshakes, pointless small talk.”
But a couple of months later, the picture changed. He started to:
show up at relevant regional industry events,
have coffee with the deputy head of the district,
and a few times personally initiate short calls with clients.
Result?
— approval timelines were cut almost in half; — requests started being processed “out of turn”; — a major client themselves invited him to a meeting to discuss new projects.
And all this happened without any “high politics.” Simply because the person became a familiar face, not just a job title in an email signature.
Why does resistance arise in the first place?
Status anxiety. “What if I say something wrong? What if they have their own games going on?”
Overload. External contacts seem like something “extra,” non-essential.
Not knowing what to say. “What am I supposed to talk about with a deputy minister? I’m not a government official.”
A habit of delegating upward. If the director has been the one solving everything for many years, it’s scary to handle the contact yourself.
But the truth is that external relationships are not a “bonus,” they’re part of a manager’s job.
This is like security, HR policy, or meeting the budget.
It’s not “optional”; it’s simply part of the role’s core competencies.
Today, a branch manager is expected to show:
— initiative, — independence in external matters, — the ability to negotiate without involving top management.
This is a direct contribution to financial results: when the administration doesn’t delay documents, when municipal customers feel respect and openness, when key clients remember you by name, both speed and profit increase.
Where to start: small steps that turn external relationships from a chore into a clear management tool
.. how do you stop avoiding external contacts?
Start small. One short call a week. One meeting a month. One initiative.
Build it into your personal plan. Just like revenue or operations KPIs.
Use simple language (yep, really). Not about politics or technology. About people, tasks, and goals.
Be consistent. In the regions, people trust those who don’t disappear after the first contact.
Remember: you’re evaluated on your communication skills 🥱 just as much as on your numbers.
Valuable connections accelerate your career
Connections are an accelerator for processes. A way to protect the interests of your team and your branch. And yes… it’s a KPI.
The kind that makes your work not only visible, but genuinely influential.
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