In her new book, "Pull: Networking and Success Since Benjamin Franklin", business historian Pamela Walker Laird, looks at the archetypal American, entrepreneurial success stories...from Ben Franklin to Bill Gates...and explodes the self-made myth.
In looking at the biographies of self-made men, and women, she finds that that 100% of these success stories are a result of access to mentors and/or networks.
In her book, she identifies that real business is a social process...where learning the trade, getting leads, making connections, closing deals, getting promotions...all require social interactions. It is not enough to "know" your trade. One cannot perform a trade in isolation. You can't make deals if you are unknown, and you can't be accepted as a person worth talking to...without the benefit of social capital. One's chances of closing a deal vastly improve if they can share a golf game, a beer, or a taxi with decision-makers.
In previous columns in The Prospecting Professor, I have written about the power of networking in the stories of Bill Gates, Ben Franklin, Bob Woodward, and others. It is fascinating to consider that ALL success stories are a result of mentors, networks and the access to social capital.
It is at our mother's knee that we acquire our noblest and truest and highest, but there is seldom any money in them.
op
Posted by: Cheap Air Max | October 13, 2011 at 03:56 AM
don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
sd
Posted by: Air Max Shoes | October 13, 2011 at 04:43 AM
The nomination of the winner depends on the capability and spirit of the personality to finish the race.I like the post very much as it contain informative in knowledge.I like pics of Chelsea shares of the beauty of running in Madison, Wisconsin.I want to congratulate the winner for the nomination race.I want to know suggestion from others.
Posted by: Cheap Air Max | October 21, 2011 at 02:44 AM
A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.
Posted by: Onitsuka Tiger on sale | January 16, 2012 at 07:59 PM