Superconnector: Stop Networking and Start Building Business Relationships that Matter

This post is by Larry Wetzel and I read the book. There are many valuable lessons to be learned from this book and not just for those attempting to provide guidance to business owners and entrepreneurs. I have been in the corporate world with positions from Account Executive to Vice President of Sales and have read many books on sales and sales management and have gone to sales/sales management training sessions over a 40+ year career. This book has very good ideas that can be incorporated into the corporate world as well as for business owners and entrepreneurs related to building and maintaining relationships, and networking. It speaks to the best ways to secure business contacts, and build relationships at all levels in the corporate world, that can be used to make B2B sales people very successful. I am recommending this as reading to a sales/sales management consultant friend as the learning he gets from it could be used in his training programs.

The topic of connecting is often oversimplified and it’s rare anyone gets in the weeds. Scott and Ryan do a fantastic job of pulling together some of the best ideas from real Super connectors and presenting a fresh and informed set of frameworks. If you want practical advice and material that can help your career, look no further than this book.

I read this book right before attending SXSW events...and let me tell you how benefiticial it was to me. It helped me to think differently on how I interacted with each person I met. No longer will networking be my uncomfortable mingle format it's all about how I can get a better understanding of how to assist others thereby acheiving something better for myself. I am a sports fan and athlete and without the assist a basket may never be scored, with the line a running back and QB may never acheive a TD and without connecting others to those you know that may assist them, then you may never reap the benefits and power of being a SupeConnector!

Reaching out to other and asking for help does not come natural to me. I get anxiety and let my insecurities get the best of me when I approach people. I’m starting a business and I know whats foundational is the people that I surround myself. This book has been transformative for me. Each chapter has a fine balance of inspiring me to get out there and build my community while being practical and overing takeaways to do that day. I’m feeling a lot more confident about reaching out to potential mentors and advisors. This book will be certainly apart of yearly re-reads.

Scott & Ryan are honest and straight forward in providing advice and tips from those who have already "won" at relationship building - a sound foundation of ideas, from which you can pick and choose what will work for you. Superconnector is full of gems like the generally sound life advice of being habitually generous to those around you, to the slightly counterintuitive ideas that the best Superconnectors are introverts (there's hope for me yet!) and that they are more protective of their time and relationships than one might assume. After reading this book, I'm excited to go down the path of bringing more meaningful business relationships into my life.

I am usually a reserved chap but this book gives a lot of pointers in the direction to bring and gain value in connections. I highly recommend this read if you need to know how to have impact in your networks

Blech. I bought this book hoping that I could use it to help my staff form compelling connections that will support them through their careers (they are mostly millenials, I'm Gen X). The authors' message is simplistic--know yourself and go into relationships seeking to help others rather than just yourself. I would hope that this would be pretty obvious. But what really turned me off is the bro-ish attitude that permeates the book. In chapter 5 there's a lengthy discussion of the guy who buys gifts for "executives he wanted to meet--and their wives." The implication that there are no female CEOs whose husbands (or same-sex partners, etc.) are worth wooing is repugnant. I skimmed the rest of the book but found nothing compelling in the subsequent chapters. Don't waste your money on this. If you want to know more about EQ or self-awareness, there are lots of good articles and books out there. And if you aren't already committed to acting altruistically, I'm not sure that any book is going to convince you to do so.

This book has actually upset me, it is so disorganized. SOOO MUCH fluff. And pretty much of all the advise is conceptual and limited without practical tips, or real world examples. And the sparse real world examples provided are provided from the POV of an already well connected CEO type. Pisses me off.

Das Buch bricht Elemente von Beziehungen bzw. Situationen innerhalb Beziehungen runter auf nützliche und leicht anwendbare Tipps für den Alltag. Einige Aha Momente, die mir eigene Fehler im Umgang mit meinen Mitmenschen vor Augen geführt haben, waren bei mir die Folge

This book is about how to become a superconnector, someone who understands that bringing the right people together can be hugely valuable and has the toolkit to achieve it. The book is relatively short and structured into easily digestable chapters with some useful examples. This book is particularly well suited to people who are just getting started in the professional world and may be of limited use to more experienced professionals. I’m a 35 year old investor and I didn’t find the book hugely valuable having already learned many of the books’ lessons the hard way. It’s also worth noting that to be a superconnector you have to have a reasonable ability with people and also like people in the first place, both of which I struggle with from time to time. I would have found the book more useful if there had been more examples of how to ask more interesting and probing questions to really get to know people. More dialogue examples would also have been useful. It assumes a certain level of competence with people and if you don’t have this then you might struggle to execute some of the book’s strategies. Here are the main points that I took away from the book: • Real relationships trump having loads of superficial online connections • Superconnectors must be self-aware enough to know their strengths and weaknesses • It’s warmth – not competence – that more important when assessing another person • Superconnectors put themselves in other people’s shoes by asking lots of questions. Dig a little deeper than others to differentiate yourself • Superconnectors are selective about who they spend time with by reviewing the value of everyone they meet and choosing how to spend their time • If you’re looking to get to know someone important then it might be an idea to connect with their inner circle first (e.g. top VIPs like politicians and other VIPs) • Superconnectors don’t think in terms of “What can I get out of you?” but in terms of “What can I do for you?” • Be habitual about your generosity and take a long-term view to relationships by not expecting immediate results or reciprocity • Superconnectors talk with a purpose and have certain strategies to extract exactly what information they want • Don’t ask ‘How can I help you?’, especially not too soon in a relationship • Instead ask ‘what are you working on?’ and figure out how you might be able to help them • Don’t make worthless introductions and make sure both parties opt in before making an introduction to avoid annoying people or wasting their time • The best connectors form formalised communities from their informal networks • If you do throw an event make sure to think about the preproduction, production and post production • Use technology to stay on top of your network • One idea is to keep a spreadsheet with all your useful connections and their interests, so you can search easily • If you choose to create content then it’s probably best to try and be a thought leader rather than promoting yourself or your professional interests • In every workplace the most successful people are givers. But you must be smart about what you’re giving and to who or you could become the least successful • Be careful what you ask of other people and don’t be bothered if they don’t reply. Sometimes it’s not about us • An essential part of building a real business is to hire people smarter than you that share your ethics and morals • The best Superconnectors first invest in the relationships that really matter: family, friends, colleagues and neighbours

Excellent

I have been on the hunt for a really good book around how to build connections with people and building your own community. I recently bought a kindle and this book was my first purchase, the book is a real gem on provided step by step instructions on how to creating a community around you that not only benefits you but also your community. I could not put the book down and read it within a couple of days, I have already started using some of the tips and techniques in the book and it is working wonders. Building my own community at the moment which is a bit of a slog but it'll be worth it 100%.. if anyone is looking for a book to buy around building connections and not just networking then this is a good place to start.

A bit scattered and jumbled start, lots of ideas dropped but not fully developed. Some insights shared simply as colloquial quotes without further expansion on the idea. Lots of name dropping and references to other people's books. There are some gems and useful ideas, but it doesn't read like a finished product.