Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

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The son of a small-town steelworker and a cleaning lady, Ferrazzi first used his remarkable ability to connect with others to pave the way to a scholarship at Yale, a Harvard MBA, and several top executive posts. Not yet out of his thirties, he developed a network of relationships that stretched from Washington’s corridors of power to Hollywood’s A-list, leading to him being named one of Crain’s 40 Under 40 and selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the Davos World Economic Forum. Your goal as you move through the world should be to create a force field inside of which people feel safe to play by different rules. Model the traits that support serendipity – curiosity, generosity, passion, and humility. Create social opportunities, like the dinners.., and allow others to build trust” p.260 The key is to always be looking to expand your circle of friends and acquaintances. Ferrazzi explains that the best way to do this is to connect your inner circle with someone else’s circle. This way, you double the amount of people in your circle and those that you can call upon. Rule #3: Update your Relationship Action Plan as you complete your initial goals. Having an up-to-date plan for where you want to go next in your career (and who you should network with in the process) is useful no matter how much you’ve already achieved.

Relationships are critical to career advancement and professional success. The Relationship Action Plan (RAP) is a written plan that details not only how you plan to achieve your professional goals, but who should be in your professional circle to help you get there. Success in any field, but especially in business, is about working with people, not against them." /KF, p.7In the course of the book, Ferrazzi outlines the timeless strategies shared by the world’s most connected individuals, from Katherine Graham to Bill Clinton, Vernon Jordan to the Dalai Lama. I agreed with most of Ferrazzi's ideas, but not with one he presents at the very end. He proposes that there's no such thing as a work/life balance, because if you like the people you work with and the work you do, there's no need to distinguish between work and personal life. I don't buy this, because although you can become friends with colleagues and business partners, it's not always possible to work with your family and friends, the people that we most enjoy spending our time with. Ferrazzi believes that the process of deciding your goals is really important. He explains that the process helps you find direction in your life. Ferrazzi outlines the three step process as follows: What is the Relationship Action Plan from Never Eat Alone? How can it help you advance your career and reach your professional goals?

Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations" by William Ury - As a complement to "Never Eat Alone's" emphasis on building connections, "Getting Past No" teaches effective communication and negotiation techniques in challenging situations. Ury's book provides valuable insights into resolving disagreements and fostering collaboration. Follow up, or fail: In such a fast-paced, digital world, it's incomprehensible that only a small percentage of us decide to follow up once we've met someone new. When you meet someone with whom you want to establish a relationship, take the extra little step to ensure you won't be lost in their mental attic.”If you take mentoring seriously, and give it the time and energy it deserves, you'll soon find yourself involved in a brilliant learning network. You'll be the recipient of more information and more goodwill than you ever imagined, as you play the role of both master and apprentice in a powerful constellation of people all simultaneously teaching and being taught.” CONCLUSION Key takeaways People Who Are Taking Networking To A New Level". FastCompany.com. 2014-09-19 . Retrieved 2016-05-09. Next to all of your goals, write down who you think you’ll need to network with to achieve them. For example, if your goal is to work at a particular company, write down that business’s hiring manager. Power, Rhett (2018-06-06). "How Co-Elevation Positions Your Organization to Do More (With Less)". Inc.com . Retrieved 2019-12-29.