How Remarkable Work Can Expand a Leader’s Referral Network

In a recent LinkedIn post, Callum Laing discusses how professional opportunities can grow when a person’s work prompts people beyond their immediate network to talk about them. This article reports on Laing’s post and examines the referral strategy he describes; it is not written by Laing.

“CV’s are for the beginning of your career. Referrals are how senior people get ahead”

Laing says he heard that line while interviewing someone for Veblen board positions, calling it “a great line.” He uses it to introduce a broader argument: referrals may matter, but the scale of who is discussing someone can matter too.

Three circles of professional visibility

Laing maps professional awareness as three levels radiating outward from an individual. At the first level, a person is known by their immediate contacts. He estimates that the average person is known by 200 people, and argues that the odds of one of them being the ideal employer, partner or investor are limited.

The second level begins when people who know someone start discussing that person with people they do not know. According to Laing, doing work that others consider remarkable can help trigger those conversations. He presents this as a way to increase the number of potential connections and opportunities, rather than as a guarantee of a particular outcome.

Why conversations beyond a network matter

Laing describes the third level as people with no direct connection to an individual discussing them with other people outside that network. In his view, this can make a meaningful difference because a prospective contact may hear about someone whose skills or work fit a need they already have.

“Right now someone is out there looking for exactly what you can offer and they will pay a premium for the solution. The problem is they don’t know you exist.”

He argues that this dynamic is not mysterious, but a consequence of reaching more people: the more conversations an individual’s work generates, the greater the chance that one reaches someone looking for that specific solution. Laing’s post does not offer data for the network-size estimate or quantify the likelihood of an opportunity; it sets out a practical way of thinking about visibility and referrals.

Starting with service

Laing closes by asking readers to consider what they are doing that is remarkable. For those who find that question difficult, he suggests starting elsewhere:

“Who can I help best?”

As Laing frames it, consistently helping the people one can serve best may itself become the source of remarkable work—and, in turn, conversations that travel beyond existing contacts. His central point is that professional visibility can be built through useful contributions that give others a reason to talk about someone.