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Gitomer's Tittle Black Book* contains plan for success
EDITOR'S NOTE: Each month Jack Covert, president and founder of800-CEOREAD, reviews some of the best recently released business books. 800-CEO-READ, a division of Milwaukee-based Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, is a direct supplier of book-based resources to corporations and organizations nationwide and specializes in identifying trends in the changing business market.
"Little Black Book of Connections: 6.5 Assets for Networking Your Way to Rich Relationships" by Jeffrey Gitomer, Bard Press, 220 pages, $19.95 hardcover.
If you want a refreshing and clever overview of one of the most important parts of business, you can't go wrong with this book. The action plans that Gitomer offers are practical and functional. For example:
"Universal Truth of Connecting: Before you can get what you want, you have to know what you want, and make a game plan to get it. Action Plan: "First create a "what I want" document. A page or two about what you really want in life-success, fulfillment, and achievement. Then make a list of the people you know who might potentially help you. Finally, make a list of people you want to meet that will help you get what you want and who you already know that might help you ...."
In 1982, Gitomer was in the Dallas airport after a imprinted sportswear show. He saw a guy he had briefly met during the show having difficulty with an ATM machine. Gitomer loaned him $100 to get home. This guy, it turns out, was the president of his company, and two months later, he called and asked if Gitomer would print a garment for the 1984 Olympics.
This "good deed" amounted to $750,000 worth of business. Often times, "connecting" or networking is considered in the same category as car sales, but Gitomer makes a distinction, advising a philosophy of helping other people and some goodness might just come back to you.
"The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict" by The Arbinger Institute, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 200 pages, $22.95 hardcover.
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