The Unseen Network: How Chance Encounters and Professional Communities Can Shape Your Success
With over 20 years of experience in digital leadership, entrepreneurship, and social impact, Caleb Gardner has worked for a variety of prestigious organizations in the public and private sectors.
During the second Obama Administration, Caleb served as the lead digital strategist for President Barack Obama's political advocacy group, OFA. He brought his unique insights to growing one of the largest digital programs in existence, with a millions-strong email list and massive social media following—including the largest Twitter account in the world.
Along his career, Caleb has benefited from chance encounters and the collective power of mission-driven groups.
This article will be helpful for anyone who feels unfulfilled by their current job and is looking for ways to attract new opportunities. It's also useful for those who want to grow their network or build or scale a community.
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The two most pivotal roles of Caleb Gardner’s career happened by chance.
Although he built his career on strategic expertise, notably as the lead digital strategist for President Obama's political advocacy group OFA, Caleb’s story is one that embraces the things you cannot plan for.
In my conversation with Caleb, we talked about the power of strategic positioning, meaning intentionally putting yourself in certain places, and also the beauty of unexpected opportunities that can change your life.
Embracing the role of a catalyst, Caleb has been creating intentional spaces for people committed to making a positive difference in the world through his 18 Coffees community.
Since I wanted to illustrate how someone can be a curator of serendipity for others, Caleb and I also discussed how he built the 18 Coffees community, how he evolved it, and where it stands 10 years later.
Strategic Positioning
Back when Twitter was called Twitter, Caleb Gardner noticed he had common interests with another user of the platform. After discovering that person also lived in his city, they met, and their friendship blossomed based on those common interests. Then, while Caleb was getting his MBA he started to recognize his interest in the prestigious PR company Edelman. Coincidentally, that friend from Twitter worked at Edelman, provided him with a reference, and Caleb got the job. At that time, Edelman was the biggest company Caleb had worked for, and it's where he learned how to operate with excellence in the corporate world. He also credits Edelman's extensive alumni network as a source of influential friends and colleagues, many of whom he remains friends with today.
A few years later, Caleb was catching up with an old coworker that he also shared common interests with (notice a theme here?), and while discussing their work his friend said something clicked for her. That realization was that Caleb would be perfect for the job of Social Media Director for President Obama's political advocacy group. It was in that job that Caleb eventually rose to become Digital Director of the innovative and widely-admired campaign.
To tie it all together, Caleb and I were introduced after multiple people told us that we shared the mutual interest of building businesses and communities for social impact and that we should meet. That was almost 10 years ago now and as friends we've helped each other throughout various points in our careers.
With three stories of unexpected yet transformative relationships, I was curious to hear Caleb's advice on how someone can position themselves for such opportunities. Additionally, knowing that life requires strategic planning at times (I am writing a book on how to strategically build momentum after all), how does one plan and make decisions that can positively influence their career?
Caleb's answer was half strategy, half serendipity.
"I've always found it beneficial to be in spaces I naturally want to be in or am curious about, but to surround myself with hard-working, genuine, and kind people. The combination of those two things always leads to serendipity," Caleb explained.
He went on to say that you should still have a vision for where you want your career to go, or a narrative about the kind of work that you want to do, but encourages allowing yourself to have delightfully unpredictable experiences by keeping your mind and your schedule open to them.
Let your Purpose and Fulfillment Guide You
Caleb pointed out that obtaining a position at a specific company or achieving a particular title is possible through hard work and strategy. However, instead of focusing on a title, he suggests to "take on work that is motivating, fulfilling, and intellectually challenging." The reason is to address the age-old question of purpose.
"If you're working at a prestigious company or hold an impressive title, but don't find joy in your work or feel like you're making a meaningful contribution, then what's the point?" Caleb asked.
Furthermore, Caleb noted that like-minded individuals are the ones most likely to open doors to new or different opportunities that genuinely interest you.
Citing the importance of building relationships in order to attract new opportunities, Caleb advised, "When you find people that you like working with, that you respect, that challenge you, and that push you to be better and think bigger - those are people you want to keep around and stay friends with."
Adding to this, Caleb mentioned, "Maintaining a network of those kinds of people can open doors that you didn't even expect, and that were never part of your original narrative."
He concluded his thoughts on the topic by admitting that surrounding himself with inspiring and purpose-driven people has not only been a positive influence but also a “career gold mine” for him.
Encourage Others to be a Leader
During my conversation with Caleb, I had an 'aha' moment about the benefit of strategically aligning yourself with rising stars.
First, it's important to note that joining the work of established leaders or organizations is a fundamental tactic to build momentum. It enhances your credibility and visibility, and demonstrates your ability to work in a team.
However, Caleb gave an example that made me consider the potential benefits of identifying and supporting a rising star. While there's a risk that the rising star’s progress may falter, there's also the chance to accompany someone who exceeds everyone's expectations on an extraordinary journey.
For instance, Caleb mentioned how it was people's belief in the well-spoken senator named Barack Obama that was a key driver in his swift ascent to the presidency. Notably, those who worked with Senator Obama believed in him so strongly, they encouraged him to run and worked tirelessly alongside him throughout his campaign.
Imagine being part of Senator Obama's team when they switched gears to a presidential campaign - what a rocket ship that must have been!
While you might be championing a specific cause, don't hesitate to identify and support rising stars—those you genuinely believe in. If you align with what they're doing, join their mission or actively support their work. You never know where those emerging leaders will end up. In the case of people who worked with Senator Obama, that rising star went to the White House.
The concept of lifting up another individual, reminded me of the concept of building upon existing foundations. In my interview with pioneering prison reform advocate Bianca Tylek, she shared that in her early days she didn't want to start her own organization and spent a long time looking for a way to nest her work and expertise into an existing organization, because she wanted to amplify the existing work of a leading organization rather than duplicate efforts by starting anew.
Building A Community With the People It Serves From The Beginning
Ten years ago when Caleb started his global strategy firm 18 Coffees, he recognized that it was impossible to possess all the subject matter expertise required for their clients' complex innovation and transformation work.
Caleb knew they needed to work with people who had a diverse range of top-notch expertise, but he couldn't bring all those people in-house.
He explained, "The world was moving so fast that there was no way that we, as a small core team of people founding the company, could keep up with that." This realization led to the idea of organizing a community of people who shared their belief in using consulting to make the economy more inclusive and sustainable, and could also work together on projects.
The 18 Coffees community of partners was born and this intentional network allowed 18 Coffees to scale their operations more quickly and take on larger, more innovative projects.
Caleb, inspired by the Obama organization's mantra of respect, empower, and include, adhered to a core principle of community building: operating by guidelines.
With those principles in mind, and a focus on mutual value exchange, Caleb and his team asked themselves, “What do these experts want professionally? What do they want personally? What do they want to learn? Who else do they want to connect with? What can we offer them that is a mutual value exchange?"
Caleb explained the initial phases of community building, saying, "When we were building the 18 Coffees Community Partnership program, we got our Community Partners in on the ground floor of conceptualizing it: from the programming, to the value created in online engagement, to even the name "community partner." He added that by including them in this process from the beginning, it created a ‘stickiness’ amongst the partners.
This wasn't retention driven by a gimmick or a discount offer. It was the partners' involvement in the process and seeing their feedback being taken into account, that kept them engaged.
The 18 Coffees community now consists of consultants, designers, educators, facilitators, marketing specialists, recent graduates, fundraisers and CEOs, and is a professional network that enables individuals working at the intersection of business and social impact to collaborate. This collective of progressive changemakers is dedicated to supporting causes, campaigns, and companies that inspire them.
Continuing with examples of how acquaintances can unlock life-changing opportunities, members of the 18 Coffees community frequently assist each other in finding new jobs. For instance, one member helped another secure a tech internship with Nancy Pelosi, the 52nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Don’t be Afraid of Trial and Error
What I love about the 18 Coffees story was how Caleb and his team built a community with the inherent understanding that the community must first and foremost be beneficial for the partners involved.
In fact, a fundamental component of community building is guiding your evolution based on the needs and feedback of your community.
Caleb proudly shared their openness to evolution through trial and error. "There were some things we tried and thought everyone was going to love - but then no one used it. And then there were other things that came up organically from the group and we doubled down on them and provided more value in that area for our partners.”
He finished the thought by saying the community partners make their team smarter, because once they know what the partners need, it's a challenge for them to improve and be better at what they do in order to support them.
Blending Intent with Opportunity
Caleb's journey weaves together the power of strategically positioning yourself with like-minded people, and the magic of serendipity. His proactiveness in maintaining relationships with people who are purpose-driven, uniquely skilled, or that he has enjoyed working with - attracts new opportunities directly to him.
Adding to his personal approach of relationship building, Caleb's emphasis on mutual value exchange within a group of people is a reminder that great things can be achieved when individuals unite for a shared cause. Together, the 18 Coffees community can all take on bigger and more complex projects, and achieve long-lasting systemic change.
Want to see Caleb in action?
Listen to Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People Podcast: Caleb Gardner: Being @BarackObama and Leading in a Turbulent World
Watch Newsweek online: Dorie Clark and Caleb Gardner: Leadership in a digital age