Now let me qualify, my #1 networking book of all time is still "Work the Pond" and that's because it's readable by every adult on the planet. Its' shorter executive style format focuses on their patented "positive networking" methods and is accessible to non-working folks too. It's the science of networking. But THIS book is the #1 BUSINESS networking book. As Allison says, her book is about building a "profitable network". This book is for those seeking employment or to develop a career where business theory turns into profitable* reality.
Today in a social media obsessed world, where every grad is told "now you have the education, start working on 'brand you' ". What they mean is... you need a networking plan. Allison goes right back to basics about your smile, eye contact, dressing for success to the fundamentals of being approachable, the ROI of networking events to understanding core values like the concept of 'character Vs behaviour' .
Every College and University graduate is told about the "Hidden Job Market" and the importance of "Informational Interviews". Instead they should be given this book, it's all in these pages. All you MBA and B-School types, you don't have a choice. This is required reading for business success. Period.
I often talk about why not to "fake it 'till you make it" but how to "be it until you are it". This is how to do find out what kind of professional you want to become and how to become them - the author's "seven steps to business confidence" could be a book in itself. People often ask me why I don't write a book about the fundamentals of networking, about my personal secrets. Ladies and gentlemen, 99% of my secrets are in this book.
Great example, 7 entire pages on how to create your conversational pitch script - how to be fluid and authentic when talking about your business. Over 15 pages on email, phone, mobile and face to face etiquette. If the book had one weakness, I would have liked to have seen more integration of net-media. LinkedIn and the like. But the chapter entitled "Don't confuse 10,000 followers with a profitable network" is not too shabby. So, if you work for a living, or want to. Buy it. Read it. Live it. And Profit.
This book has been on the often over-hyped best seller lists for months. I often put books on this list down, frustrated and disappointed.
Not this book.
Some readers complain many concepts in this book aren't new, my main man Willy Wonka and his crew were always trying to teach me how to break bad habits like gluttony , envy , chewing gum or watching TV . Leaders in the time management, diet and money management sectors always tell us to "write down how we spend our time, what we eat and how we spend money every single day" - with analysis and reflection we can make change. They've been saying that for a long time and it works that's why they're famous. But maybe, it's only part of the solution.
We all have triggers in our life, negative and positive. We react to those daily triggers with responses that have become habit because the result is positive and pleasing. Adults don't change habits easily, many won't be able to at all because the triggers never go away and we need our positive pleasure at the end of the habit. This book teaches the reader how to understand the trigger, change the response to get the same reward. A tricky thing but there are dozens of story from live, business and history that vividly tell this tale of cause and effect.
I love that this book is BS-free. "Companies aren't families, they're battlefields in a civil war". Worked at a company like that once? Me too. We needs solutions, not coping mechanisms. A powerful year in my career was when I grew to hate institutional and professional arrogance and bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake. Hate it like murder. It's why I started reading management /leadership books and started this blog. Many people won't find their way to real work-excellence because their jobs aren't about life or death, so they aren't forced to want to do better. There's a story in this book about how silo's and bureaucracy actually killed people in a subway fire in London England. The stories told are powerful, they will stay with you and help you think about how you can make change in your own work and life.
This book continues the focus on where neuroscience and the brain meets business strategy and marketing. I am the grocery shopping for my family - the book's tale of how we are controlled by supermarkets like rats in a capitalistic maze read like my weekly routine. It offends and impresses me how hard they are working to make me break the list I bring each week!
The book's many valuable touch points on networking include a great chapter on the power of weak ties. I know that it's tied to the power of LinkedIn which allows us to find "people like us" quickly in the business world, and time is money right?
Some great business lessons from the dozens of stories...
-how the music industry uses the power of the familiar
- how athletes use the power of training to get instant response from their minds/bodies to succeed
- how businesses capture the power of "one small thing" that affects every part of the business to positivity influence major change
- how to harness the power of peer pressure and how to make it work for you was brilliant and again, really down to earth
It's a fabulous read that will no doubt spark your creative mind to take a lot of notes for today and turn them into business improvement and revenue tomorrow.
Would love to hear your comments on the book!
In the mean time here's Charles talking about the book in his own words... enjoy!
This is a book for those who are curious, about what the future has in store for us in the coming age of "austerity".
A slight deviation from the New York Times, Globe and Mail, Financial Post, Harvard Business Review best seller lists I frequent...I'd almost forgot where I started this journey! In 2008 I asked about 50 of my greatest mentors to give me one or two books that got them to where they are. They gave me a list of 200, and in less than two years I read them all. My business book addiction has been a wonderful journey but I had to remember...to follow my mentors and not the best seller lists.
It's hard to put aside the artistic alchemist that is Atwood. She writes like Yo-yo ma works the Cello, classic but engaging, moving and educative. And her twitter mastery? Don't get me started but let's park the Canadian adoration and focus on the curiosity...the business payoff...why you should read it.
First off, I love that this book goes eons beyond the concept of monetary debt because like so many things in life, the thing....isn't the thing. It's much, much more. To understand, as always you need to back. Waaay back, proto-debt. Monkey stuff. Atwood does, and it provides great context.
Wonderful lessons from history, stories of Roman tax collectors and why Robin Hood was such a hero for stealing from the Sheriff...
I've been fascinated by the topic since debt shows first came on the scene this decade. I'm not proud to admit it but in the awkward phase when my good friends earned vastly different salaries we use to play poker for a common valued currency - winner slaps the losers in the face.
Looking at the concept of debt and the justice of payback from the view of several world religions is fascinating. Consider debt in the archetypes of truly momentous literary icons like Shakespeare's Shylock, Dicken's Scrooge and the great legend of Faust.
Is it delightful that a modern day Scrooge considers the concepts of Environmental debt and ends up in 2012 Toronto at a dinner party? It's delicious ! Add in recurring themes of two wonderful games that have been played throughout history:
1) Try and Collect
2) Kill the Creditors
and you have a read that is part history, part fiction, part reflection and you have the kind of stuff that stuff business books will never be able to use to engage your brain....if business books are the meat and potatoes of brain food, this is the molecular-gastronomic-amuse-bouche: it's the deconstruction of something important and powerful that will influence your life and work.
If business was smart enough to stop and think. This is what it would dream.
Looking for a summer read/ audio listen? You just found it.
And now he's messing with my work / life. He is leading the rethinking of fundraising - read this article renaming the "non-profit" sector as the "social-profit" sector. Sure he didn't come up with the concept but he a leading voice on the value of charity - to transform that nebulous word philanthropy into common-sense instead of only dollars and cents.
He's rebranding... me! I've struggled with explaining the reason for my existence. You see, I love to capture money. Oh man I love it. And I live to network and connect. But not for myself, I exist to empower the passionate, fight for the innocent, the helpless, the powerless. As a younger man, this was my mission statement. My adult statement has been about passion for years....but thanks to Mr. Alofs I have found a tribe - I'm a Passion Capitalist!
Why is this book worth your time and money? Paul has spent years distilling the message, pruning the stories and each chapter has that new-school business book summary of takeaways. He is a CEO leader who has written a book for other time-pressed leaders. It's a new way to think about business, your career, your cause...
This is not about good to great, it's about great to BEST. Theories are ideas, stories are proof! And they have layers of wisdom. I love the many stories he tells in this book. Practical stories of winners, failures - why they won and lost even when one looked like the other; Thomas Edison, JK Rowling were bad bets to start.
Not only did I get to attend and listen to some great speakers but by an odd twist of fate I got to walk and talk with Marcus Buckingham on the way into the Convention Centre and he honoured me by calling me out in his keynote about the power of a personal story. A lifetime business-book-lover high for yours truly.
And most of all, I set up and got to interview my 2012 super-author Susan Cain for an upcoming article (stay tuned).
My deepest thanks to "The Art of" crew, you truly are THE premier speaker destination, and to Karim Kanji for choosing me to attend this powerful Leadership experience.
In 2008 I listened to this first book on audio and it started me down a path of self discovery and love of business books.
Then I read took the Strength Finder 2.0 test and found out a couple insights into my business character that were SO powerful and different, they changed the way I thought about myself and how I do business. It is my hope that you pick this book up and it helps you. The "Strength Based" movement is not just simple, but one of the keys to finding a more rewarding business life, and frankly a damn fun one too.
Speaking of fun, the most awesome read ( again I ate these on audio in just days including copious notes taken on the subway ) was his three follow up books ( First, Now , Go ) that help you take what you've learned about you - and rip your business a new workhole.
Ok, I've calmed down now. But you get my point.
Again, this is a short post but it's because I've been recommending these so long the people I sent them to have bought copies and shared them with others. Recently I learned someone I helped embrace a strength-based life bought copies of the Strengthfinder for all 100 employees of their company.
If it's in your budget, certainly if you are an entrepreneur or leader in a sector then MAKE time to attend the Art of Leadership on June 5. But whatever you do, don't miss picking up at least one of these books and as always, if you want to talk about them and what you've learned, coffee's on me.
Frankly. The book was still one of the leading voices and still my number one most recommended to understand the what, the why and the tone of business + social media.
The cycle wasn't over, the book wasn't overly stale. There was money left to squeeze Scott.
Scott does a lot of talk about authenticity in the book. He walked that talk with his actions not his words.
I tip my hat to you sir. ( and tweet it too ) And I'll share your message every chance I get.
Do you feel the earth shaking? You should.
Every College and University graduate is told about the "Hidden Job Market" and the importance of "Informational Interviews". Instead they should be given this book, it's all in these pages. All you MBA and B-School types, you don't have a choice. This is required reading for business success. Period.
