The Connect Effect

Building Strong Personal, Professional, and Virtual Networks

Michael Dulworth

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9781576754627
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781609944247
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Communication
• Index: Business

Networking is not mere socializing—it is a vital personal and professional development skill. An effective network can make you more knowledgeable, help you address critical issues, accelerate your career, and even improve your health and well-being. As a recent article in MIT's Sloan Management Review reports, "What really distinguishes high performers from the rest of the pack is their ability to maintain and leverage their networks." Networking is simply too important to be left to chance.In this book, Michael Dulworth shows how to take a conscious, systematic approach to networking. After a short quiz to measure your "networking quotient" (NQ), The Connect Effect identifies three distinct kinds of networks: personal, professional, and virtual. Dulworth examines their specific characteristics and offers strategies, tools, and resources for building up and making the best use of each one. Stories from Dulworth's twenty years of experience running networks, as well as interviews with top executives, researchers, and thought leaders, provide insights and advice about how networks function in the real world.Few of us are born networkers, but anyone—introvert, extrovert, or in-between—can learn to master this important skill. And as you build your networks and the connections between members multiply, you'll find that the benefits you gain grow exponentially. This extraordinary return on your networking investment is what Dulworth terms "The Connect Effect"—and in this book he shows how it can enrich every aspect of your life.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Introduction: The Power of Networks
• PART ONE: Becoming a Highly Effective Networker
• 1: What’s Your Networking Quotient?
• 2: Network Early, Network Often
• 3: Building Your Network
• 4: What’s Your Personal Brand?
• 5: Entering the Network Zone
• PART TWO: Harnessing the Power of Different Networks
• 6: Networking Peer-to-Peer
• 7: Tapping Organizational Networks
• 8: Joining Communities of Practice
• 9: Virtual Networking
• Conclusion: The Future of Networking
• Resource A: Choosing Your Board
• Resource B: Online Networking Sites
• Notes
• Index
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• About Berrett-Koehler Publishers