How to Reconnect for Maximum Impact

Reconnecting with long-lost or dormant contacts can be very valuable both professionally and personally. But choosing from among hundreds of former contacts can be challenging. We find that executives, when left to their own devices, donu0027t take full advantage of their opportunities to reconnect. And when they do reconnect, they tend to focus on comfort and not on re-connections that might offer the best advice. Unmaintained relationships are not dead at all: they can be revitalized fairly easily. Research revealed the most valuable reconnections were people who provided novelty and engaged fully. Generally, it was better to reconnect with higher-status contacts and people the executives had not spent a lot of time with in the past; this allowed for more novel insights. In addition, participants expectations of who would care about them and be willing to help turned out to be predictive of the value they received, as this engagement allowed for authentic and productive conversations rather than just a shallow catching up.