Networking Insight

Book Review: The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly

The Dream Manager was written by Matthew Kelly who is an internationally recognized speaker and author. His books have collectively sold more than 1MM copies and have appeared on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. Over the past 10 years, he has given over 2,500 keynote presentations to more than 3MM people.

In this book, the author explores the real life challenges of managing people at a fictional company. In today’s work environment, many employees are disengaged, therefore, creating low morale and higher levels of turnover. Many managers haven't found an efficient method to battle these challenges.  A bigger paycheck or title is usually not usually the answer but rather the fulfillment of personal dreams as well.

In this very interesting book, the author tells the story of a janitorial services company and how its high turnover is creating a lot of financial pressures at the company. The firm needs to fix this problem in order to continue to grow and stay competitive. By understanding the root of the turnover issue, the firm creates an innovative approach that is able to turn around the company. By implementing the Dream Manager Program, the firm is able to help employees reach their dreams. As a result, they become better employees. 

Throughout this book, Kelly explores the positive effect that collaboration has on employees and employers when everyone is working towards common goals and objectives. The Dream Manager is a quick read that will help you to positively think differently about the employee and manager dynamic.

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Business Networking in Five Minutes or Less

7 Keys to Successful Business Relationships

 
Building quality and sustainable business relationships takes time and effort. Below are seven keys to relationship building success.

1. Build trust and credibility 

2. Continually help one another

3. Follow-up and follow through

4. Make quality introductions

5. Respect for each other

6. Develop a personal brand and expertise

7. Get to know each other personally and professionally

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Social Networking Humor

Book Review: Switch by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard was written by Chip Heath and Dan Heath who are the bestselling authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Chip is a professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Dan is a senior fellow at Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. Previously, he co-founded a college textbook publishing firm. In addition, both to them write a monthly column for Fast Company.

The book is broken up into the following sections:

• Direct the Rider
• Motivate the Elephant
• Shape the Path

In this book, the Heaths explore how our mind is controlled by different systems - rational and emotional. Both these systems compete for control creating an internal conflict. Therefore, change can be extremely difficult to implement.  According to the Heaths, if these systems can be united,  then you can achieve dramatic results in life and business.

Throughout the book, the authors share lots of research and compelling stories. With each story, they demonstrate how people changed their mindset to make things happen. Below are few of these stories:

• The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients
• The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping
• The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service

The book shows that you can make change happen by following a pattern of success. You should come away with a new mindset and new ideas of how to change your life or organization. If you liked Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, then you will like Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. 

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Patience is Necessary in Relationship Building

Many people expect immediate results from their networking activities. When this doesn’t happen, they are turned off by the entire process. Like other aspects of life and business, it takes time to develop.

In order to build successful and effective relationships, you need to take the time to build your credibility. The more people get to know and trust you the more comfortable they will be to do business with you and make referrals.

Having patience is a key to success in networking. Don’t expect overnight results. Develop your relationships for the long haul. In due time, these relationships will be very fruitful for whatever needs that you may have. You want to build relationships that you can take with you to any company that you are involved in.

Take relationship building serious and view it as a long term activity. You will have these relationships your entire life so there is no rush.

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How not to network - don't talk jargon!

6 Common Relationship Building Mistakes

While building relationships many people make mistakes. It is important that you are effective and efficient when communicating with people. Also, you want to make sure that you are following certain common protocols so you able to maintain long term relationship. Have you made any of the below mistakes?

1. Forget to follow-up after meeting someone for the first time. It is important that you follow-up within 1-2 days so you are top of mind.

2. Forget to follow through on something promised. It important to do what you say you will do. Otherwise, your brand and credibility are on the line.

3. Don’t dress professionally. When in doubt, dress in professional attire to events and meetings. You want to portray an image of professionalism.

4. Wandering eyes during a conversation. When speaking with others give them your full attention. If you are caught looking around the room, then you be taken as someone who is rude and it will hurt your reputation.

5. No mechanism to stay in touch with network. It is critical that you find a way to stay in touch with your network on a regular basis. Staying top of mind is very important. Leverage technology such as Constant Contact, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, etc.

6. No defined subject matter expertise. Make sure that people know what your expertise is so you can build your brand. You want people to associate you with a particular topic(s).

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Social Networking Humor

Four Reasons the Super Bowl is Good for Relationship Building

Each year, the biggest sporting event in the U.S. is the Super Bowl. In fact, this year’s Super Bowl was the most watched TV show in U. S. history with an average of 111 million viewers.

The Super Bowl is a great time to have fun with family, neighbors, friends, and business colleagues. It is a great opportunity to bond and to get to know people better. Below are four reasons as to why the Super Bowl is good for relationship building.

1. Host your own party – One of the best ways to build relationships is to bring people to you. Hosting your own party is a great technique.

2. Invite business colleagues to your party – Whether you host your own party or attend another one, it is a great opportunity to invite business colleagues to watch with you.

3. Get to know people on a more personal level – Watching sports is a good way to get to know people on a more personal basis. Business talk is usually minimal during these times.

4. Congratulate fans for a win– If you have people in your network who are fans of the winning team, then it is a nice gesture to acknowledge their team winning. In relationship building, it is important to continuously find reasons to reach out to people.

What other reasons can you think of?

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