Description

‘A practical and timely book’ – Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO, Thrive Global

‘Valuable for everyone’ – Julia Samuel, bestselling author

Biting your tongue?

Bottling it all up?

From marriage to management challenges, learn how to change your relationships from exasperating to exceptional with this expert guide.

The ability to create strong relationships with others is crucial to living a full life and becoming more effective at work. Yet many of us find ourselves struggling to build solid personal and professional connections, or unable to handle challenges that inevitably arise when we grow closer to others. When we find ourselves in an exceptional relationship — the kind of relationship where we feel fully understood and supported for who we are — it can seem like magic. But the truth is that the process of building and sustaining these relationships can be described, learned, and applied.

David Bradford and Carole Robin taught interpersonal skills to MBA candidates for a combined seventy-five years in their legendary Stanford Graduate School of Business course Interpersonal Dynamics. Now, they share their insights with you, including:

– Why relationship-building is not the process of being with ‘the right person’ but rather creating the kind of relationship you want
– Why deepening a relationship takes risk
– The importance of vulnerability, curiosity and empathy in building relationships
– How the modern world can help – and hinder – our ability to connect

Filled with time-tested strategies for giving feedback, negotiating boundaries, and working through disagreements, Connect will be an important resource for anyone hoping to improve existing relationships and build new ones at any stage of life.

Publisher Review

Carole Robin and David Bradford's Connect is the senior executive must-read from the gurus of our time -- Bill Meehan III, Raccoon Partners Lecturer in Strategic Management, Stanford University GSB There's no better time to learn how to create more meaningful interactions and relationships, and Connect helps us do just that. Based on the legendary Stanford Graduate School of Business course, this book is written by two Interpersonal Dynamics masters. The more people who read this, the stronger our families, organizations, communities and institutions will be -- Alexa von Tobel, Managing Partner of Inspired Capital and New York Times-Bestselling Author of Financially Fearless These intimate conversations between outwardly successful people, privately tormented by anxieties about their relationships and reputations, are engrossing and moving. A book with important implications for institutions whose atmosphere is polluted by misunderstandings and incompatibilities -- Theodore Zeldin, author of 'An Intimate History of Humanity' Decades in business have shown me that building high-trust relationships is one of the most important keys to success, whether in negotiations or on the basketball court. With practical insights into relationship building in both personal and professional environments, Connect is the best book in its class -- Irv Grousbeck, entrepreneur, co-owner of the NBA Boston Celtics and professor at the Stanford Business School One of my goals, and the reason I founded MasterClass, is my fervent commitment to democratizing access to the world's best. I am thrilled that the immensely valuable lessons in Connect are now available to millions of people. I encourage anyone who cares to develop stronger and more meaningful relationships anywhere in their life to read this book -- David Rogier, Founder and CEO at MasterClass I owe most of what I have accomplished in both my career and in my personal life to the lessons I learned in the course on which Connect is based. I can't wait to give a copy of Connect to my teammates, my family, and my friends -- Dara Treseder, CMO, Peloton and Board Director, PG&E At LinkedIn, we made "Relationships Matter" one of our core values because the personal connections you make persist across jobs, companies, and careers. Connect offers a compelling and highly accessible roadmap for building relationships that lead to professional success and personal fulfilment. I highly recommend this book -- Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and co-author of 'Blitzscaling' and 'The Alliance' Learning to connect across differences and develop relationships in which we can actually see and hear others for who they are is becoming an imperative for nations and individuals alike. Connect is a carefully structured set of concepts and practices that readers can apply to everything from their marriages to their management challenges. It's a treasure! -- Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America Relationships are crucial to our happiness, and David Bradford and Carole Robin have spent decades teaching grateful students about them. This wide-ranging book, which builds on their famous course, will help anyone make their relationships exceptional, whether at home or in the workplace, and help them to lead better, more fulfilled lives. Connect is really valuable for everyone -- Julia Samuel, author of Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass It's never been clearer that meaningful relationships are critical to a fulfilling and healthy life. Connect is a practical and timely book I highly recommend that shows us that by learning to connect with ourselves, we can more easily connect with others and build thriving relationships -- Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive Global