Friend Of A Friend . . .: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career

(Hardback)

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Handing out business cards Or just joining LinkedIn Not anymore. This is a new and startling look at the art and science of networking. Everybody knows that in order to expand your business opportunities, it's essential to reach out and build your network. But did you know that it's your secondary, or dormant, contacts who will be the most helpful to you Or that too many of us inadvertently run the risk of isolating ourselves into corporate silos And what do the very best networkers do that most of us do not Business school professor David Burkus digs deep to find the unexpected networking secrets that provide both a unique and science-based explanation on how best to grow your universe. Based upon entertaining case studies and research, this is the most up-to-date, practical, and revelatory guide for building one's professional and personal connections in today's fast-paced world. Forget the outdated advice in all the other networking books and learn how to make use of the hidden networks you already have. AUTHOR: David Burkus is a best-selling author, an award-winning podcaster, and management professor. In 2015, he was named one of the emerging thought leaders most likely to shape the future of business by Thinkers50, the world's premier ranking of management thinkers. SELLING POINTS: . Networking is arguably the single most essential skill for advancing any career. This book will be useful to everyone in the working world, regardless of their industry or career path. . Unlike other career books that might touch on the issue of networking or rehash old and familiar advice, Burkus provides a much deeper and more focused look on the topic. He draws on years of research to bring fresh insight into why and how the networking game works in a changing business landscape. . Each chapter wraps up with clear, actionable, prescriptive advice on how to start putting the chapter's lessons to use immediately. . David Burkus is a young, rising business author with a growing media platform. He already does numerous national speaking engagements each year and has a solid media profile thanks to his well-received business articles and podcasts.

Reviews

David Burkus moves beyond feel-good anecdotes to instead build his powerful advice on a compelling foundation of social science and network theory. It will change the way you think about networking. Cal Newport, best-selling author of Deep Workand So Good They Cant Ignore You David Burkus is one of the worlds most highly-regarded young business thinkers and this book shows why. FRIEND OF A FRIEND is packed with unexpected insights about networking, all built on top of a solid foundation of social science. For years, weve all gotten same advice about making and maintaining contacts. This book offers a fresh and human approach. Daniel H. Pink, best-selling author of To Sell Is Humanand Drive Theres a better way to network than hitting up mixers and throwing business cards in peoples face, David Burkus shows you how with some hard-hitting science and fascinating stories to back it all up. Jordan Harbinger, host of The Art of Charmpodcast David Burkus is a gifted translator of social science research. In FRIEND OF A FRIEND, he shares not just tips on how to network more successfully, but also a new, research-based framework to help us cultivate more meaningful relationships. Youll never look at networking the same way again. Dorie Clark, best-selling author of Entrepreneurial You and Stand Out, and adjunct professor at Duke Universitys Fuqua School of Business "A self-help business book that challenges conventional wisdom about networking. As a business professor and contributor to TED and the Harvard Business Review, Burkus (Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual, 2016, etc.) has compiled plenty of anecdotes and case studies about how successful people have networked to form successful alliances, and he backs these stories with some theoretical underpinnings from the social sciences. Perhaps the most counterintuitive but convincing advice he offers is that your network's weaker ties, the people with whom you have rarely connected for years or even decades, might prove more valuable than your closest connections. The reason The people you know best usually know the same people and also know what you know. "Our weak ties often build a bridge from one cluster to another and thus give us access to new information," writes the author. "Even though the strong ties in our life are more likely to be motivated to help us, it turns out that our weak ties' access to new sources of information might be more valuable." Each chapter ends with a set of exercises, "Practicing Online," including a link to a template to download. In providing an overview of "how social networks operate and how they create opportunities in work and in life," Burkus stresses the fluidity that a business landscape that changes so rapidly requires: how teams work best when they have a short shelf life, how positioning yourself to connect seemingly disparate camps pays dividends, and how important it is to know how to work inside your silo and when to step outside. The author extends his argument beyond career pragmatism, suggesting that networking events with the goal of expanding those networks are less effective than opportunities to do something together and really get to know each other. Furthermore, many prosperous business relationships begin as personal friendships, with those who like and trust each other looking for something they could accomplish together. A fresh rethinking of a crucial process in today's world

Author Bio

David Burkus is associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University where he was recently named one of the nations Top 40 Under 40 Professors Who Inspire.Hes the author of four books and has delivered keynote speeches and workshops for Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft and Google. Since 2017, hes been ranked as one of the worlds top business thought leaders by Thinkers50. Helives outside of Tulsa with his wife and their two boys.