People are the Name of the Game

Everyone knows that relationships are important in business and in life and there are scores of networking books in the marketplace. But nonetheless, people fail to spend sufficient time building efficient and effective social networks and therefore suffer in their careers. This book, based on a Stanford case study and the extensive experience of someone who was the youngest person to serve on Stanford University's Board of Trustees and who has been able to raise substantial investment funds in a difficult environment, describes not just the foundation of his success but offers practical advice about what you can do---tomorrow--to begin building a more successful career.

Everyone knows that networking is important for business success, but few people do it adequately or effectively. That is because people sometimes see networking as an odious task, as something that they are not good at doing, and as not being authentic. So there is a dilemma--on the one hand, people know that relationships matter--research shows that network skills are crucially important for promotions and earning more money--but on the other hand they do not do it. Ross Walker not only nicely illustrates some important networking principles--such as becoming central, bridging unrelated groups, and spending time on relationships--but also provides practical answers to frequently-asked questions so that you can begin building your networking skills immediately.

Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, where he has taught since 1979. Pfeffer received his B. S. and M.S. from Carnegie-Mellon University and his Ph.D. from Stanford. He has taught at the University of Illinois, the University of California, Berkeley, and has been a visiting professor at Harvard Business School, Singapore Management University, London Business School, and IESE. Pfeffer is the author or co-author of 13 books including Power: Why Some People Have It--and Other's Don't, The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First, Competitive Advantage Through People, the Knowing-Doing Gap, and Hidden Value: How Great Companies Achieve Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People. He has given lectures in 37 countries as well as for numerous companies, associations, and universities in the United States. He teaches a popular MBA elective course at Stanford entitled, The Paths to Power, from which this material is drawn.