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Professionals aged 21-40 face unprecedented headwinds as they seek rewarding, remunerative careers. In the authors' surveys and interviews, this demographic reports great frustration in getting their ideas and proposals accepted, being able to influence the organizations they work in, and winning the recognition they feel they deserve. In a culture where boasting rights are based on how many social media connections you have, many younger professionals have lost the art of building the "critical few" trusted relationships that really buoy your career. They also often miss an important paradigm shift: You used to build relationships to later be able to add some value; but now, you must add value first if you want to attract others into a relationship with you. Corporations also struggle to engage and motivate this new generation of knowledge workers. In addition, top executives at leading companies such as Citibank, PwC, and Cognizant tell the authors that they have an urgent need to engender greater internal connectivity--trusted relationships between colleagues--in order to create a collaborative culture that sparks innovation. The book has two overlapping value propositions: first, to the individual professional; and second, to the leadership of companies and institutions who employ them.
The book provides a powerful success formula to help professionals gain influence in their organizations and accelerate their careers. They don't accomplish this through a relentless, self-centered focus on personal achievement. Rather, they do it by building a network of trusted relationships with key stakeholders; adding value to everyone around them and to their organization; and making sure a key "multiplier" is in place, that is, a sense of meaningful, engaging work.
