Riding off the coattails of Tim Ferriss’s latest blog post, I decided to reveal two books that surface when my successful friends and I discuss networking principles.
The more I get to live life, the coined saying, “It’s not WHAT you know… but WHO you know” rings truer every time I hear it.
How To Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie hits the mark with this 15-million bestseller from 1937. How To Win Friends unloads how to be personable, relatable, and a people person - all essentials when networking. Carnegie gives real world examples (even if he is talking about Theodore Roosevelt), with relevant principles which still echo timelessly today.
Never Eat Alone
Author Keith Ferrazzi unveiled this gem in 2003. Ferrazzi’s 31 concise chapters each focus on a specific technique or concept, from “Managing the Gatekeeper” or “Warming the Cold Call” through to following up, “pinging” and defining oneself to the point where one’s communication is “the e-mail you always read because of who it’s from.” In addition to variations on the theme of hard work, Ferrazzi offers counterintuitive perspectives that ring true: “vulnerability… is one of the most underappreciated assets in business today”; “too many people confuse secrecy with importance.” This book was recommended by an entrepreneur friend of mine that said, “Donovan, if you want to get better at networking, get Never Eat Alone.” I did.
Popularity: 24%
1 response so far ↓
1 Stuart K // Aug 16, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Hmmm. Dale Carnegie is often overlooked for more modern adaptations that excite by snazzy titles. That book is awesome.
Leave a Comment