The best way to become good at small talk is not to talk small at all.
Why go to all the trouble of meeting new people if you’re not going to work on making them a part of your life?
Lifetime corporate employment is dead; we’re all free agents now, managing our own careers across multiple jobs and companies. And because today’s primary currency is information, a wide-reaching network is one of the surest ways to become and remain thought leaders of our respective fields.
We human beings are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others’ activities. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others. – the Dalai Lama.
We all have our own loves, insecurities, strengths, weaknesses, and unique capabilities. And we have to take those into account in figuring out where our talents and desires intersect. That intersection is what I call your “blue flame” – where passion and ability come together. When that blue flame is ignited within a person, it is a powerful force in getting you where you want to be.
I remind myself how people with a low propensity for success whose behavior is guided by fear, have a low propensity for success.
Charm is simply a matter of being yourself. Your uniqueness is your power.
You’ve got to create a community of colleagues and friends before you need it. Others around you are far more likely to.
Touching is a powerful act.
Spectacular achievement is always preceded by spectacular preparation. – Robert H. Schuller.
Nothing infuriates reporters and editors more, I’m told, than to get a pitch from someone who clearly has no idea what their publication is about or who their audience is.
There are three things in this world that engender deep emotional bonds between people. They are health, wealth and children.
A network functions precisely because there’s recognition of mutual need. There’s an implicit understanding that investing time and energy in building personal relationships with the right people will pay dividends. The majority of “one percenters” are in that top stratum because they understand this dynamic – because, in fact, they themselves used the power of their network of contacts and friends to arrive at their present station.
Pick the three most interesting points about your story and make them fast, make them colorful, and make them catchy.
Hi, this is Keith Ferrazzi. I’m just calling back because I haven’t heard from Michael.” Here again, without being too pushy, you begin to create the presumption that his return call is imminent and expected.
Competitive edge in the industrial era was won by constantly reengineering process and systems. Today it’s won by improving relationships.
And the rule in life that has unprecedented power is that the individual who knows the right people, for the right reasons, and utilizes the power of these relationships, can become a member of the “club,” whether he started out as a caddie or not.
Learning is best achieved through relationships – having the right conversations with the right people in the right context – and collaborative action.
Business cycles ebb and flow; your friends and trusted associates remain.
Uncertainty is where new value is created. Everything you want in life is on the other side of all your excuses for not trying.
Take a deep and boundless curiosity about things outside your own profession and comfort zone.