It’s Who You Know: How a Network of 12 Key People Can Fast-Track your Success.
Janine Garner, Wiley, 256pp, $27.95
Janine Garner (From Me to We) sets out a model of networking in which gathering hundreds of LinkedIn contacts, Facebook friends and Instagram followers is de rigueur but insufficient. She argues this explosion in digital connections has been mirrored by a decrease in the authentic connections you need.
Assembling smaller groups of people with greater precision and clarity ought to be the goal, Garner says. She prescribes building your “Core Four” of promotor, pit crew, teacher and butt-kicker, which can be further subdivided into 12 roles such as cheerleader, influencer and mentor, among others.
It’s an empowering way to conceive of a necessary activity that can otherwise have a shady or desperate connotation.