Networking Smart: How Managers Build Relationships for Personal and Organizational Success

A major secret to getting ahead in business today lies in the art of developing, maintaining, and using people networks. Indeed, it's no exaggeration to say that the ability to build strong personal relationships and effectively manage networks of people can both make your career and enable you to assure the success of your organization. And yet, says networking expert and trainer Wayne Baker, far too many otherwise savvy businesspeople fail to recognize, much less take advantage of, ALL the networking opportunities that are open to them. If you're looking to broaden, sharpen, and enhance your networking and relationship-building skills, this book will provide you with the sophisticated information and practical techniques you need to create powerful networks both inside and outside of your own company.
Avoiding the kind of bland, familiar advice found in traditional guides to networking - many of them written more than a decade ago and geared to a different set of business realities - Networking Smart offers provocative and imaginative strategies you won't find anywhere else.

Wayne E. Baker is associate professor of business policy and sociology at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business.