_Stormy economic times with record-setting volatility and financial upheavals have prompted many executives to voice concern over ongoing well-being and vitality of your careers. The questions have focused on how to acquire Career Insurance, those specific strategies and tactics that protect and safeguard your career in difficult times.

Where do you begin? If not in an active search, I recommend looking at upgrades to your professional network.  Start with a SWOT analysis of your network focusing on the quality, breadth and trust of your connections.  Consider the following questions and, more importantly, evaluate the efficacy of your responses.

Do you have an established presence and relationship with people who can make a difference for your career growth and development?  The quality of these relationships can ultimately determine your next promotion or position. Are they at the right level and function both inside and outside the company?  They need to be in a position to make introductions and open you to new opportunities. Where do you need to reinforce and buttress these connections? 
Is your network not just deeply embedded within your sector, but broad enough to move you out of your industry or service should it start on a downhill trajectory?  Making career moves among companies within a sector, such as within consumer-packaged goods or financial services, is relatively easy compared to breaking out of the sector.  This presumes that you have targeted alternate sectors that pique your interest.  Cultivating strategically placed connections that act as a bridge into a new sector or industry is more than career insurance; it could be a career lifeline.  Are those contacts global as well as local?

Can you count on your contacts? Can they count on you?  Do you trust them to come through for you with their resources, introductions, and leverage?  During times of business adversity, having relationships that are not just able but willing to offer or share safe haven is priceless.  Consistently in turbulent times, executives turn to the known (not the unknown) for resources and support.  They connect to the colleagues at the top of their trust list within and outside their organization and you want to be one of them.

Your next step is to determine how you want to act on your analysis.  To build up your career insurance what will you focus on now to bring the greatest return for your unique employment situation?  Where can you capitalize on the strength of your network while shoring up the weak connections?  How can you exploit opportunities to extend your networking reach into new areas while building deeper confidence and trust with your existing base?  

Improving your network is one piece of a well-executed career insurance strategy but it is a key one as you will more likely advance and grow your career by who you know.