Avid readers of Zen will know that one of my favorite topics is networking. So I was immediately drawn to read J. Kelly Hoey‘s new book, Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships in a Hyper-Connected World, when Mark Beese recommended it in his latest newsletter. I’ve been following Kelly since the early days of Twitter, so her name was also familiar to me, though not her story. She started her career as a lawyer in Toronto, and has wandered a fascinating path since then. Her book jacket tells us that:
J. Kelly Hoey is a writer, investor, connector, and networking expert, lauded everywhere from Forbes (“1 of 5 Women Changing the World of VC/Entrepreneurship”) to Fast Company (“25 Smartest Women on Twitter”). A columnist for Inc.com, she’s appeared on CNBC’s Power Pitch, and her clients include The New Yorker, Coca-Cola, PBS, L’Oréal, Capital One, and Dove.”
Using her own experiences, as well as sharing direct interviews with other successful friends and peers, Kelly illustrates how to build and leverage various networks, and what works and what doesn’t when it comes to networking. Whether you love to network, view it as a necessary evil, or can’t understand why you need to do anything besides work hard at your chosen profession to get more work, this book is for you. Let’s talk a little bit about what Kelly has to say about networking, and then run, do not walk, to buy this book (available in hard copy and electronic).
Networking is a four-letter word
daria-shevtsova-57340At this point, we’re probably all sick of hearing about networking (in this post alone, I’ve mentioned it too many times already). Kelly herself says that she wishes there was a better way to describe the “activities we undertake to connect and strengthen our relationships with other people.”
Because that’s all that networking really is, right?
Whether you’re doing it in person or online, all networking is about further engaging with people. You are “weaving online and offline interactions into an integrated networking whole.”
But it’s really not all bad. And it turns out that you’re already doing it all the time. There are three things that Kelly says she knows about networking (and I’m paraphrasing here):
Read more: http://www.zenlegalnetworking.com/2017/03/build-your-dream-network-a-book-review/
Please see full publication below for more information.
