Professional networks such as Xing (mostly Germany) or LinkedIn are excellent tools to support the care and feeding of one’s network. No discussion there. I’ve been an active member of these sites for many years, and not only have I found interesting connections to use both professionally and privately, but these sites are - of course - a favorite amongst headhunters as well.

Currently, a notion hit me that I haven’t considered - ever - when adding new connections to my networks. The concept crept into my head recently, when an ex-colleague from a previous employer contacted me to re-connect on Xing. Apparently, he had lost some connections due to a technical issue; in any case, he wanted to re-connect.

This colleague is a key account manager at my previous employment and, as it happens, that company is a direct competitor to my current employer.

One feature of network sites like Xing and LinkedIn is their „network news” broadcasts. You’ll get a weekly email update of what is happening with other people you are linked to. While this may be entertaining and mostly harmless for technical or administrative folks, if you’re very close to sales - like I am - then „person x is now connected to person y” may broadcast much more about your sales activities to your competition than you might like!

Think of it this way: every time you connect to a new potential (or existing) customer, that connection is broadcast to every sales person working for the competition that is linked to you! Not a good idea, really, is it? Alternately, you might just send them an email, telling them what accounts you’re currently working on!

I haven’t found a way to turn that broadcast off, neither on Xing or LinkedIn, so until I do, I certainly won’t be adding any more people to my network whose nose shouldn’t be stuck in my business activities.

Tags: Xing, LinkedIn, Work, Sales