Burning Bridges, a Two-way Road

Questions to consider before burning bridges

• Will your association with these people, no matter how distant or removed, reflect well on your credibility or spread a cloud of doubt over your professional judgement?
• If these people ask you for a professional reference or to connect them with another professional peer, will you welcome this or cringe?
• Do these people have an active interest in your success and interests, or do they have something else in mind?
• If you rank their values and motivation—where would they fall on a continuum ranging from selfless to self-serving?
• Perhaps the most telling, are these people front of mind when you read articles like these?
  • Psychopaths: how can you spot one? (The Telegraph)
  • 10 Signs You're Working With A Narcissist (Lifehack)

Like bridges, professional networking is a two-way road

With the perspective of time I still find comfort in my choice. This process has reaffirmed that professional networking is a two-way road. There needs to be mutual interest in helping and celebrating the successes of one another. When that ceases being true, it is time to cut things off.

Opting to burn bridges does not give license to name, blame, and shame. In my experience, the people blocked from my network had already burned their bridge with me. They choose to: harm over help, diminish and not enrich, undermine instead of encourage, and poison over edify. It was just my turn to complete the process and close the other lane.