Everyone Communicates, Few Connect

http://www.scribd.com/doc/28231498/Everyone-Communicates-Few-Connect-by-John-C-Maxwell


Check out the Link Above for a great excerpt out of John Maxwell's book about connecting. To give you a taste, here are a few of the thing that meant something to me out of the book.

What I mean when I say “connect”? Connecting is the ability
to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your
influence with them.If you want to become more productive and influential, learn to
become a better leader because everything
rises and falls on leadership. And the best
leaders are always excellent connectors.

People whom I saw connect with others had better relation-
ships, experienced less conflict, and got more things done than
those who didn’t connect. Have you ever heard of someone who is
said to live a “charmed life”? Usually those are people who have
learned how to connect.


Jennifer Williams, who had just moved into a new neighbor-
hood, said that she went out of her way to meet new neighbors, talk
to them, discover their occupations, and learn the names of their
children and pets. As she did, people began to come together.
“Wow,” one neighbor told her, “until you moved in, we rarely talked,
didn’t know each other, and would never sit out in the evenings and
socialize. Here you’ve been for less than two months, and you know
everyone!” Jennifer says it’s because “people want to be made to feel
connected and a part of something.”9 I agree, but I also recognize
that she is a connector!

The ultimate throttle on growth
for any great company is not markets, or
technology, or competition, or products. It is the one thing above all others—the ability to get and keep enough of the right
people.”The ability to connect with others begins
with understanding
the value of people.

I believe that almost everything we become and all that we
accomplish in life are the result of our interaction with others.

CONNECTINGPRINCIPLE: Connecting increases your
influence in every situation.
KEYCONCEPT: The smaller the group, the more impor-
tant it is to connect.