Networking For Life

Thomas Power

Sujets

• Gestion et management

Informations

• Publié par: M-Y Books
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781906986520
• Langue: English

Extrait

NetworkingFor Life
ThomasPower
SmashwordsEdition (or, Published by [M-y books Ltd] at Smashwords)
Copyright2009 Thomas Power

Whatpeople say about Networking for Life

Wonderfulbook! Clearly written from the heart of a master with excellentinformation on the philosophy, habits, attitude and skills for afulfilling and contributing networking lifestyle. This bookexemplifies and supports the magnitude of networking as a positivemeans for making a difference in our world. Donna Fisher, authorof Power Networking, People Power, Power NetWeaving and ProfessionalNetworking for Dummies.

Ina few years, everyone will recognise personal networking as a basicskill, a social literacy without which we will struggle to get by inlife, even less be able to get on in business. Thomas Power hasnetworked himself to death so that you don't have to, and very kindlyput what he has learnt down on paper. It is hard to think of anyonein any career or stage of their life who would not benefit fromknowing this book.
Charles Cohen,author of Corporate Vices, entrepreneur and founder of Beenz.com.

Lotsof people claim to enjoy networking, but alongside Thomas they’reall amateurs: he’s a people collector! Thomas lives networkingand, through his development of Ecademy, he is helping to redefinenetworking. For several years now I’ve been regularlychallenged by Thomas, and through this process I’ve developed astronger awareness of how and why I network. This book gives youaccess to that knowledge. It will also give you the frameworkto think afresh about how you live your life throughnetworking. 
Bill James,director of BT.com and founding director of ThomasCook.com.

NetworkingFor Life gives deep insight into Thomas’s passion fornetworking and its great power to change our lives. Networking hasalready brought me many new opportunities, and Thomas’s bookwill help many others to embrace networking and open up newopportunities for them. The book also reflects what I have come toknow and respect about Thomas: that he is a firm and committedbeliever in the power of people networks, and a leader in theappreciation and development of this power.
Deon Erwee,Entrepreneur and Project Management Consultant, Culture ConsultingLimited.

ThomasPower is the UK’s leading networker. He networks for life soyou don’t have to. I recommend everyone studies both hismethods and results.
David Taylor,author of The Naked Leader.

In Networking for Life ,Thomas Power demonstrates in vivid Technicolor how lives can bechanged by just getting out there and meeting people. Thomas is a funguy, who describes in a fun way how to step over the threshold,become a networker and enjoy the fruits of connecting with others.Anyone who reads Networkingfor Life will learn how tobuild their personal networking balance sheet, with “ give” on one side and take on the other.
Tony Rice, BT.

Emotionalintelligence is an amazing science but seeing it in action isaltogether a different thing. Networking tends to bring thisintelligence to life.
ThomasPower has reached many people through the use of technology yet hehimself does not come across as an early adopter of technology –this may be proven by his preference for a sketchbook as used by VanGogh as opposed to a tablet PC – he does however use videoconferencing and other forms of communication. He is a communicationaddict.
Thispassion has helped Thomas become witness to the change taking placein modern society and in particular in how society does business. Hisexposure to board level decision making by public companies, runningbusinesses in the SME sector, association with various onlinecommunities and contacts from all over the world in a diverse rangeof industries have kept him finely tuned as to what is happening -not what will happen perhaps but what IS happening now.
Thomaswould never have been able to do this without networking or hissuperb business networking tool: www.ecademy.com. His book is atestament to this achievement.
Ed Daniel, Entrepreneur.

Inspite of being an e-commerce expert and running one the world’slargest online business networks, Thomas is a tireless advocate forexceedingly human values – generosity, respect, trust, andpersonal development. As a result, while this book is extremelytimely considering the current economy and the explosion ofinexpensive global communications, it is also timeless in its wisdom.Anyone exploring business networking should read this to help themkeep their priorities straight.
Scott Allen,OnlineBusinessNetworking.com and About.com Entrepreneurs Guide.
Introduction
Why youshould read this book
The businessworld is making a gentle sucking sound. Can you hear it? It’sbeen going on for a couple of years now. The sound is partly made upof the hiss of escaping hype as the dotcom bubble continues todeflate. Another element of the sound is the clicking of dropped jawsas once-proud companies admit to failures of governance, and retreatfrom the stage. And the last part is a kind of whimpering: a mass cryof hunger as people and companies yearn for a new beginning, a newdirection, a new set of hopes.
Networking isthe Next Big Thing that will satisfy the hunger. Networking is also aVery Old Thing that’s always been with us – drivingmarkets, satisfying our personal and social needs, and making ushuman.
This book isabout networking as a business tool, but more importantly as a lifeskill. I believe that networking is the basic skill of our age. Ibelieve it’s the single-most important skill that you need topractise.
I am acommitted networker. It’s stamped on my forehead. In 2002, Ihad 1,300 meetings with people. I live and breathe networking. And Ithink about it, study it, and search for ways to improve the way I doit.
Through thenetworking organisation I co-founded, Ecademy, I encounter thousandsof people and share in their goals, their frustrations and theirjoys. I soak these encounters up. In this book, I distil what I’velearned in many combined lifetimes of networking.
Like mostauthors, I wrote this book because I wanted to read it, and it didn’tyet exist. I’m also privileged to be connected to a greatnumber of people who continually ask me for my tips on networking,and for my philosophy of networking. I’ve tried to do boththings in this book, combining practical approaches to the habits ofnetworking with deeper explorations of why networking is important,and how it is changing our world.
By reading thisbook, you’ll fuel yourself with the equivalent of many hundredsof person-years of networking experience. You’ll learn why youneed to network, and how you can go about networking. You’lllearn that networking doesn’t involve pretending to be anythingyou’re not, going against any of your values or exploitinganyone. On the contrary, you’ll learn that networking is aboutbeing yourself, and enjoying yourself.
But above allyou’ll be preparing yourself for the rest of your career in achanged, accelerated and unpredictable business world. Networkingwill provide you with ways of formulating and achieving your goals.It will expand your horizons, and make your world more fascinating.And it will put food on your table, and light in your eyes.
You’llalso find that as you embrace networking, and integrate networking inyour daily life, that the painful sounds of a wounded business agebegin to fade away. Networking makes a great sound that drowns itout. It’s the sound of us all working together in harmony, witheach other and for each other. Now that’s something worthlistening to – and joining in.
How to usethis book
Markthis book. Fold the pages, underline things, write in the margins. Iwant you to engage with this book while you read it. When we meet (aswe inevitably will), I don’t want to see this book on yourshelf. I hope you’ll have absorbed its message, and taken theparts you need. And if you can’t bear to tear it up, at leastpass it on to someone else for them to read. (You could even leave iton a bus or in a café for a stranger to find: see www.bookcrossing.com .)
Ialso want you to email me. Tell me what you find helpful in the book.Tell me where I’m wrong. Tell me what you want to see in thenext edition. Tell me about how networking is affecting your life andbusiness. Share your experiences of the joys of networking, the mathsof networking, and the rewards of networking. Network with me! Youcan email me at [e-mail] ,or phone me on my mobile at [phone]. Or become a PowerNetworker at Ecademy and book a personal session at my regular Mondaysurgery in central London.
I’vewritten the book in British English. American readers will want toread “specialty” for “specialism”, and can bereassured that when “Dorking” appears in my Fifty Words(see Chapter 2), I’m referring to a town in the south-east ofEngland and not some sexual practice that might be outlawed in one ormore of the States.
I also like toroughly split infinitives, and to finish sentences with words theyshouldn’t be finished with. These decisions won’t winprizes for grammar, but they help me to keep a natural tone.
By the way, Iuse “he” and “she” at random throughout thetext. I haven’t kept score, so if the girls appear to be doingbetter than the boys, or vice versa, don’t read anything intoit.

Chapter1: The Richer Your Networks, the Greater Your World
The power is in the links

NowI'm the king of the swingers Oh, the jungle VIP I've reachedthe top and had to stop And that's what botherin' me
IWan'na Be Like You by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

We spend ourlives in a hurry to achieve. To reach ever higher. Our language isfull of climbing and clambering. We drive ourselves to “peakperformance”, we fear “career plateaux” and wedread being “on the skids”.
Yet you rarelyfind a professional who will admit to having reached the top of hisclimb, and being satisfied with his position. (And yes, we areusually – sadly – talking of “