Make the connection: your job depends on it

A friend recently faced a career dilemma. After 10 years with a Fortune 500 company her career was stagnating, and she couldn't figure out why. She has an MBA from a top school, a solid work history in the technology she markets, and she wins awards every year for innovation in the workplace. So what was wrong?

A colleague clued her in -- she didn't have a mentor, someone up the chain to champion her. Awards meant nothing when no one at the top could point out to the powers-that-be that she was ripe for promotion.

Most people conduct their careers as if being the best at what they do is the secret formula for advancement. Here's news for all of you: that dog won't hunt. Beyond performance, there are subtle career tactics that can and will make your career soar. This month we look at books to help cultivate those connections and create the relationships every up-and-comer needs.

REVIEWS BY SHARON SECOR

Revving up the Rolodex

A great mentor is one way to make your way up the corporate ladder. Networking, the art of developing valuable connections, is another excellent and necessary strategy. Networking isn't all about career success; it also adds interest and innovation to your work life. Building a network can also safeguard your career and livelihood. That's the message sent by Make Your Contacts Count by Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon. Baber and Waymon make a substantial case for improving your networking skills. The opening chapters help you assess your skills and make a cogent argument for the importance of networking. Too often, the authors argue, people equate networking with slimy sales tactics; someone tries to get to know you to "sell" you something. Good networks, they say, build trust and connect you with people you find valuable at personal and career levels. Filled with terrific tips on how to "brighten" your body language and present yourself honestly and openly to people, this book is a primer on how to form effective personal relationships and put your best foot forward in every business situation, from the ever-awkward convention setting to new technologies like e-mail. Finally, the authors showcase the results of positive networking, highlighting how it brings in new clients, referrals and even jobs. These days, it pays to make every contact count.


It's who you know

If you think you already understand the why and how of networking, pick up Connecting with Success by Kathleen Barton. Barton, a seasoned professional in mentoring/networking, offers a quick overview of the importance of networking but adds tips on developing a workplace mentor in a concise, systematic approach. In short, Barton says no one will hold the door open for you if you won't hold the door open for others. She has filled this book with checklists, reminders and summaries that can fast-forward you to the networking you've meant to do and the mentor you've needed to find. Check out the mentoring agreement she provides along with the excellent worksheets, and you'll agree this book is like a college course in the tools you need for getting ahead.


Mentor IQ

Perhaps you are the prime mover and shaker in a company. If so, you have much to gain by mentoring your employees, according to Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee. Primal Leadership is part of Goleman's popular Emotional Intelligence series. In previous books Goleman argued that understanding our emotional selves allows us to work with the ready capacity to take on tasks and dreams knowing both our strengths and limitations. In this smartly written and well-organized follow-up, the authors make a scientific case for a common sense idea. They say the moods and emotions of leaders spread to those around them, making or breaking the success of a company. Great leaders, their research says, strive to be "socially competent." This means they are empathetic, seeking to understand a broad variety of perspectives but are also aware of organizational needs, networks and currents. Great leaders guide through feedback and are adept at handling conflict. In short, great leaders motivate and inspire others with their own sense of self-worth and the innate emotional bond they forge with others. Great leaders boost the emotional feelings of their employees, mentoring their employees.

No manager or leader should fail to read or follow this powerful book. It concisely puts to rest the lingering myth that employees need to be "managed" like ill-behaved children. Goleman says the office can be a place where equals with varying resources and skills work toward common goals, and he gives many real-life examples of emotional intelligence turnarounds and success stories. Here's a message that makes sense -- help your employees love their work and you'll love it too.

    Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
    By Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee
    Harvard Business School Press, $26.95
    ISBN 157851486X

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Lead 'em with love

The playful title of Tim Sanders' Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends masks a practical and knowledgeable book that should win readers on law school and business school campuses in short order. Definitely focused on a younger tech-savvy crowd, this book should also be required reading for the over-50 set.

Sanders, the Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! is the cooler and happenin' version of Dale Carnegie (remember How to Win Friends and Influence People?). For those who have never heard the phrase, a "killer app" is a new idea that either supercedes an existing idea or establishes a new category in its field. By "love" Sanders means helping others grow to be the best they can be. He says the zero-sum way of doing business has got to go -- knocking off others in negative ways makes you look negative and crabby to your fellow employees. Give in to the love, he says. Make your network a satisfying place to be. His philosophy of business makes sense, feels right in today's complicated marketplace and brings meaning to the workplace.

Sanders relates, with witty and sharp stories, the way he has translated the love philosophy into his own life and business and put the positive vibe into others. This book is not just for the hip but for anyone who wants to positively turn relationships into job success.


Briefly noted

Improvise This: How to Think on Your Feet So You Don't Fall on Your Face by Mark Bergren, Molly Cox and Jim Detmar. Another important tool in the career toolbox is the ability to give killer presentations. This volume teaches you how to think on the spot, come up with lightning quick responses and stay cool and graceful under fire. Written by a trio of Improv actors who work with corporate clients, this book is witty, funny and most importantly, effective.


Sharon Secor is a business writer in Minnesota.

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