The Genius of Audacity - Ch 5 of Never Eat Alone

April 3rd, 2007 by digerati

This is Chapter 5 of the Never Eat Alone series at Catch a Gideon. Points from Mr. Ferrazzi are in bold. I’m asking that you react to the quotes through comments. Share you reaction to each as well as your experiences in college and the real world.

Get involved. You feel most comfortable when you’re doing something you enjoy. Being a leader in life takes practice, so practice.

Find something you like to do that you can excel at. Taking a leading role prepares you to take the lead in other areas of your life, when it will not be so easy (since you may not enjoy the activity).

Get therapy. It might help you address your own fears and social anxieties in a more productive way.

You don’t need to be messed up to go to a therapist. Friends have biases and business partners have more. This is a person you are paying to trust them. Therapy can help you realize your goals and what you really want, and also help you take an honest look at what you are doing wrong to get there. I think that’s the hardest part, since we tend to downplay our weaknesses. Instead we need to embrace them and conquer them, and the first step is realizing they are there.

Just do it: meet with one new person per week.

Eventually you’ll meet the right person, whether its a girl, a business partner, or someone with the idea you’ve been looking for.

Fail, fail again, fail better.

I used to wait around for the perfect idea to come around. Then I started just doing things. It’s way better. I screw up all the time, but I learn a little bit every time, and that’s really the point of trying in the first place: to learn. You don’t only learn when you succeed, in fact you probably learn less when you do.

The Madam of Moxie:

State the situation. Go right in and hit them with how you see it in the cold light of day, without being to inflammatory or dramatic. YOu need to know where you stand.
Communicate your feelings — encounters take on depth and sincerity
Deliver the bottom line
Use open questions, they are less threatening

This is a great method for presenting to your boss or a committee. It shows that you understand what’s going on, that you’ve thought about it enough to form an opinion, and that you’ve thought about it from their point of view, which is ultimately what matters.

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Never Eat Alone is one of the best networking books written, period. Buy it now and follow along as Catch a Gideon goes through each chapter of the book.