Breaking Down Silos: How to Build Internal Networks That Actually Move Your Career Forward

I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately with sharp, ambitious people who feel stuck. They want a bigger role, a different function, or just more impact but they’re running into walls.

This topic hits close to home for me. Early in my career, I realized that no matter how technically strong I was, real progress came from understanding how the company actually operated and who made things happen. Whether I was starting a new role, joining a new company, or even now when I consult with business leaders one of the first things I do is map the hidden wiring of the organization.

This article contains all of my best tips on how to get around the barriers and make real progress based on my experiences of moving from entry level to Director and beyond.

Why Bother? The Real Payoff

Most people network externally using LinkedIn, conferences, and industry events. That’s important. But internal networking is the highest-leverage activity most early and mid-career professionals ignore.

Here’s what it actually delivers:

1. You learn how work really gets done I’ve learned that almost every company has two sets of processes: The official one in the employee handbook and the real one that people use to ship product, close deals, or hit deadlines. Sometimes they’re the same, often they are not. I’ve sat in executive meetings where leaders thought they knew how things worked, only to discover (when a critical project stalled) that they didn’t understand the actual levers. Knowing the real flow lets you bypass bottlenecks and deliver results faster.
2. You learn the people behind the titles The same role can be executed completely differently by two individuals. One person wants every detail in a specific format. Another ignores process entirely and just wants a quick call. A third will bend rules to help you if you ask the right way. When your team hits red tape and says, “we’ve tried everything,” your ability to pick up the phone, call the right counterpart, and say “let’s just get this done” is pure leadership gold.
3. You become the indispensable connector Over time, you become the person everyone thinks of when they need something unstuck. “Go talk to Jason, he knows everyone and how things actually work.” That reputation is rocket fuel for promotions, lateral moves, or even new opportunities inside the company. It’s not politics. It’s earned influence built on genuine understanding and helpfulness.

I’ve seen this play out repeatedly. The people who get tapped for stretch assignments, cross-functional projects, or the next open leadership role are almost always the ones with the broadest internal networks.

How to Do It Effectively: My Step-by-Step Approach

This isn’t about forced coffee chats or collecting business cards internally. It’s a deliberate, curiosity-driven process that compounds over time.

1. Start with genuine curiosity Shift your mindset early: “I’m here to learn not just my job, but how everything connected to my job actually works. And, how it fits into the bigger picture.” Fake interest is obvious and backfires. Real curiosity is contagious. People love talking about their work when someone genuinely wants to understand it.
2. Do the homework no one else does
• Study the org chart like it’s a treasure map. Look well beyond your own team. How is R&D structured versus sales? Where is headcount concentrated? What does the reporting structure reveal about strategic priorities? The org chart shows both the intended design of the company and the natural friction points between functions.
• Spend deep time with your immediate team first. Learn the history, the war stories, the inputs and outputs of your group. These people will train you directly and indirectly, and they’ll surface the first layer of “how things really work.”
3. Expand one ring at a time starting with natural collaboration points Focus first on the teams you already interact with: who hands you inputs? Who receives your outputs? Instead of just accepting deliverables, add one curious question:
• “I really appreciate how clean this data is, mind walking me through how you generate it?”
• “Is this format working well for you, or is there something I could tweak to make your life easier?”

These small questions open doors. People light up when you show interest in their craft and offer to reduce friction for them.

4. Repeat and widen the circle Use each new relationship to discover the next one. Over months (sometimes a full year or two in larger organizations), you’ll build a mental map of both processes and personalities across functions. The result: you can navigate roadblocks faster, propose better solutions because you understand upstream and downstream impacts, and have meaningful conversations with your manager about your development and the company’s needs.

A Real Example From My Own Path

Early in my career I was deep in engineering. I loved the technical work, but I could see the growth path ahead was narrow with few leadership openings and long wait times.

Because I’d spent time building relationships across functions, I understood how sales, program management, and customer teams operated. When I realized I enjoyed the commercial side more than pure design, I had the network to make a pivot into a sales-engineering hybrid role.

That move wasn’t handed to me. It happened because people in other functions already knew me, trusted me, and were willing to advocate when an opportunity opened up. The pivot changed the trajectory of my career.

Final Thought

Internal networking isn’t something that just happens, you need to make a consistent and genuine effort at it. It’s about becoming the person who truly understands how value flows through the organization and can make it flow faster.

If you apply this approach consistently, you’ll deliver better results, open new doors, and position yourself as obvious leadership material.

Next Step for You

I’m putting the finishing touches on my book, Business Operations Unlocked: 7 Steps to Slash Costs and Streamline Processes with Technology. It’s built on the same philosophy: go beyond the official playbook, understand how things really work, and use practical tools (including technology) to create measurable advantage.

I’ve set up a page where you can download an exclusive preview of key sections right away, plus get notified the moment the full book launches (it’s weeks away).

Get the free preview here →

And if you want more frameworks like this delivered regularly, subscribe to the newsletter. I share only what I’ve pressure-tested in the real world.

Thanks for reading. Now go have one curious conversation this week! It compounds faster than you think.