Networking Insight

Book Review: The Collaboration Imperative by Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese

The Collaboration Imperative: Executive Strategies for Unlocking Your Organization's True Potential was written by Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese who are both executives at Cisco. As the Vice President of Corporate Positioning, Ron has helped Cisco develop a culture of sharing and collaborative processes. In addition, he is the co-authoer of Momenutm: How Companies Become Unstoppable Market Forces.  Carl is the Vice President of Cisco's collaboration sales and has presented the importance of collaboration to business audiences around the world. 

The book is comprised of the following chapters:

• Collaboration Matters
• A Collaborative Culture Starts at the Top
• Get Real About Communication
• Creating Commitment to Common Goals
• Build Team Trust Fast
• Stop Wasting Time
• Unlocking the Collaboration Toolbox
• Eight High-Impace Collaboration Opportunities
• What is the True Payback of Collaboration?
• The Time is Now

The authors have dedicated much of their professional careers to understanding the impact of collaboration within organizations. Collaboration is not only just about technology, but also about a company's culture and processes.

In order for businesses to suceed today, collaboration across an organization is imperative.  It should start at the top by setting the culture, sharing knowlege, being transparent, and holding everyone accountabie. Once the leader believes in collaboration, it will affect all of the employees. Technology tools can help to bridge the gap across teams so they can connect and work together.

Successful collaboration needs to embraced by every person in the organization. Putting a strategy together is critical for collaborative success. 

The book is an enjoyable read in which the authors explore the various aspects of collaboration with examples from Cisco and other organizations. Throughout the book, the authors interview executives to get their perpspective on collaboration.

The book is divided in the main sections: culture, process, and technology. It is interesting to read how these concepts fit together for the collaborative process.

Each chapter starts with a concept drawing and Executive Summary and then ends with a 60 second wrap. If you want to learn how collaboration can help excel your organization, then this book may be worth reading.

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Seven Ways to Lose Credibility with Your Network

When building relationships, it is very important that you don't do anything that can hurt your personal brand and your relationship with others.  Below are seven ways that you can lose credibility with your network. When this happens, you are in jeopardy of hurting your reputation.

1. You don't do what you way you will do - Follow-up and follow through is key
2. You talk bad about others behind their back - Word gets around and it usually comes back to you
3. You are too negative when speaking with others - Negative people bring others down
4. You lie about an accomplishment - Honesty is an important aspect of relationships
5. You don't care who you hurt to get what you want - Trust is critical for your credibility
6. You send mixed messages about who you are - Be consistent with how you position yourself
7. You use people to get what you want - Relationship building should be mutually beneficial

What else can you think of?

Related Post: 10 Ways to Gain Credibility When Building Relationships

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Don't Lose Sight of Your Networking Goals

It is important that you have goals in mind when building relationships. Otherwise, you will will forget your reasons for networking in the first place. 

Take the time to think about who you want to meet. Once you figure this out, then think about the best ways to meet these people. Should you attend events? Should you ask for referrals from your network? Should you reach out to people on LinkedIn?

Whatever you decide, put a plan in place so you can efficiently maximize your time and the time of others. Think about how many events you want to attend. Think about who in your network can make an introduction. LinkedIn is a great tool to make this happen.

Work on improving how you interact with others. Should you interact weekly, montlhy, or quarterly? What ways can you improve? Seek out performance management tips to guide you in your decisions and thought processes. By understanding how to evaluate your performance, you can set and measure your goals.

Before you ask for an introduction, put some thoughts together as to why you would like the introduction. This will help your contact to make a quick introduction.  With a good introduction, you are mostly likey to get a meeting.

Spend the time setting networking goals so you can see a return on your efforts. It is worth the time and effort planning ahead.

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EFactor Presents: Online Crowd Funding - 11/15

On April, 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startup Act (or JOBS Act) into law. This bill intended to encourage funding of United States small businesses by easing various regulations. It will make it easier for startups and small businesses to raise funds, especially through online crowd funding.

The EFactor event explores the opportunities that small businesses and startups have from the JOBS Act. An attorney will join us to discuss all of the ins and outs of the bill. Besides this keynote, a panel of crowdfunding experts will discuss how they (and you!) can take advantage from the JOBS Act.

After attending, you'll have insights on:

• How your business can take advantage from the JOBS Act
• How to raise fudnng using online crowd funding
• Advice rom experienced entrepreneurs
• And much, much more!

These insights will open up new doors of opportunity by your start-up or existing enterprise!

Speakers

• Annabelle Pereira, Associate, Much Shelist
• Randy Shipley, Co-Founder, SocialGravity
• Sebastian Villarreal, Founder, LendSquare
• Desiree Vargas Wrigley, Co-Founder, GiveFoward

Event Details

• 11/15/12
• 6-9pm
• Much Shelist, 191 N. Wacker, 18th Floor, Chicago
• Price: $10 early bird, $15 regular, $20 at door
• Sponsors: EFactor, Much Shelist, Leavitt Siegal

For more details and to register, go to EFactor.

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Book Review: The Art of Being Unreasonable by Eli Broad

The Art of Being Unreasonable was written by Eli Broad who is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the founder of two Fortune 500 companies. KB Home and SunAmerica. In addition, he is an internationally known art collector and has been profiled on 60 Minutes, in Vanity Fair, and the New York Times. 

Below are some of the chapters of the book:

• The Art of Being Unreasonable
• Forget Conventional Wisdom
• The Value of Being Second
• Risk
• How to Get Results
• Leverage
• Negoatiation
• Competition
• Giving Back

Eli has led an amazing career in accounting, real estate, financial services, and philanthrophy. He wrote this book to share with you his unconventional thinking, which has allowed him to excel in just about every endeavor.

While he has had some failures and setbacks, he has learned and moved on. Successful entrepreneurs learn from their mistakes and become stronger.  With so much success in his life, he has given back countless times with his involvement in art, education, and medicine. Truly, he has made a difference in many lives.

In his book, he shares with you his thought process and his unreasonable principles from negotiating to risk-taking to investing to hiring. By sharing his insight, you understand how his practices have taken him to the top of his industries. 

The book explains some of the following:

• How to ask unreasonable questions
• How to pursue the untried
• How to relentlessly revise expectations upward
• How to be restless
• How to seek out the best in everything

By reading this book, you will get motivated to try something new to get ahead. It is not everyday that you get to read about the extraordinary success of one individual. Learn what you can from the widson of Eli Broad.

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