Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues
- Downloads：7224
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-25 11:51:51
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：David Bradford
- ISBN：0593237099
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
A transformative guide to building more fulfilling relationships with colleagues， friends， partners， and family， based on the landmark Interpersonal Dynamics （"Touchy-Feely"） course at Stanford's Graduate School of Business
"Carole Robin and David Bradford are masters at helping people bring IQ and EQ together to satisfy both and be successful。"--Ray Dalio， founder of Bridgewater and author of Principles: Life and Work
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 in which 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 （affectionately known to generations of students as "Touchy-Feely"） and have coached and consulted hundreds of executives for decades。 In Connect， they show readers how to take their relationships from shallow to exceptional by cultivating authenticity， vulnerability， and honesty， while being willing to ask for and offer help， share a commitment to growth， and deal productively with conflict。
Filled with relatable scenarios and research-backed insights， Connect is an important resource for anyone hoping to improve existing relationships and build new ones at any stage of life。
"Carole Robin and David Bradford are masters at helping people bring IQ and EQ together to satisfy both and be successful。"--Ray Dalio， founder of Bridgewater and author of Principles: Life and Work
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 in which 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 （affectionately known to generations of students as "Touchy-Feely"） and have coached and consulted hundreds of executives for decades。 In Connect， they show readers how to take their relationships from shallow to exceptional by cultivating authenticity， vulnerability， and honesty， while being willing to ask for and offer help， share a commitment to growth， and deal productively with conflict。
Filled with relatable scenarios and research-backed insights， Connect is an important resource for anyone hoping to improve existing relationships and build new ones at any stage of life。
Reviews
Stacy
，
Highly recommend this book as required reading for all humans。 Written by the professors who teach Stanford Business School’s #1 most popular class， it offers transformative information on interpersonal skills。 Covers everything from how to take a superficial relationship deeper to how to approach conflict。 Amazing read！
Robert Chang
，
This is a fantastic book， one of the best that I have read on the topic of how to build great interpersonal relationships。 It is based on the landmark interpersonal dynamics （“Touchy-Feely”） course at Stanford University Graduate School of Business。 I especially love the stories presented in the book， and how it weaves them with the lessons as if they are case studies。 Great book all around， and the concepts are worth chewing for many times over。
Alexandra Zhang
，
Best book I’ve read in 2021 thus far; it left me feeling empowered！ Highly recommend this read to build meaningful and exceptional connections with the people in your life。
Christine
，
Interesting book about connections。 Nothing earth shattering or even new but comprehensive and does name things that you’re aware of ie pinches—those things that are annoying but not a big deal and how they can festerBeing direct and straightforward is the key。
Lee Woodruff
，
*These are books I genuinely love and am thrilled to recommend to my friends。 These are Bookshop。org affiliate links， meaning， at no additional cost to you， I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase。 Alternately， if you prefer to rent books at your local library or buy from your local bookstore， I very much support that！
Karen Ng
，
A book about building strong and balanced human relationships without the mentioning of any psychopathy as narcissism， sociopathy and borderline disorder（human that have no empathy and cannot reciprocate kindness/favor）。。。 is quite useless， in my opinion。
Tony Levitan
，
Full disclosure， I have been an adherent of lessons gained from Stanford Business School's Interpersonal Dynamics class — widely-known as "Touchy-feely" — since I was privileged enough to take it as a student in the 1990s。 And， I have been a big Carole and David fan for almost as many years as a colleague， friend， and co-conspirator in spreading the word on building exceptional relationships。The challenge of capturing for the benefit of a wider audience the experiential learning essence gained f Full disclosure， I have been an adherent of lessons gained from Stanford Business School's Interpersonal Dynamics class — widely-known as "Touchy-feely" — since I was privileged enough to take it as a student in the 1990s。 And， I have been a big Carole and David fan for almost as many years as a colleague， friend， and co-conspirator in spreading the word on building exceptional relationships。The challenge of capturing for the benefit of a wider audience the experiential learning essence gained from the course or related forums （e。g。， Leaders in Tech's Intensive Programs & Retreats， where Carole is a Co-founder） seemed not just daunting， but near impossible。 But after reading CONNECT， it's abundantly clear that Carole and David have found ways to make accessible to all the core tenets of their life's work。 Though clear presentation of frameworks and guidelines; powerful anecdotes; exemplary， thought-provoking storytelling; and essential exercises that help a reader put into practice what the authors espouse， the magic that has generated relational epiphanies for so many Touchy-feely participants over the years is there for the realizing。 Feedback is a gift？ Yes， indeed！ And so are David Bradford and Carole Robin for sharing their wisdom and insights with all of us in CONNECT。 As you already no doubt surmise， I strongly recommend this book for anyone in search of greater interpersonal effectiveness。 。。。more
Amber
，
I’ve read a lot of relationship， communication， and crucial conversation books。 This one， more than any others， actually tackles the layers of complexity in contexts where real interpersonal care is needed。 The authors avoid simple answers。 That makes the insights difficult to apply but potentially more rewarding。
John Thurlbeck
，
Thank you very much to Penguin Life for the ARC。Connect is a practical， easy-to-read book that opens up your thinking and why relationships matter and how to make them exceptional。It is a wonderful guide to how anyone can develop effective and rewarding interpersonal relationships。 This book will make you feel and think differently - and for the better！Learning to connect across differences helps anyone develop skills that， as a leadership coach， I see in such short supply - gaining self-knowled Thank you very much to Penguin Life for the ARC。Connect is a practical， easy-to-read book that opens up your thinking and why relationships matter and how to make them exceptional。It is a wonderful guide to how anyone can develop effective and rewarding interpersonal relationships。 This book will make you feel and think differently - and for the better！Learning to connect across differences helps anyone develop skills that， as a leadership coach， I see in such short supply - gaining self-knowledge， building trust， giving and receiving feedback， and exercising influence。If you wish to make your relationships exceptional， this book is a must-read！ 。。。more
Kate
，
Carole’s Interpersonal Dynamics class was the best class of my life。 The communication techniques and frameworks have really transformed my relationships and massively improved by leadership style。 I’m thrilled everyone now has an opportunity to benefit from her teachings。 This book is well-crafted and gives practical tips on how to communicate authentically with an appropriate level of vulnerability and how to manage conflict。 Highly recommend！
Rishabh Srivastava
，
Context: Reading this as a part of an effort to be more open-minded， and less reactive to new ideas。 I listened to the author on a Clubhouse session， and found this bit insightful“Understand people’s experiences。 Suspend judgement long enough to understand why a person thinks or feels the way they do。 You can retroactively pass judge the quality and validity of their idea/experience — but be open at the point you’re being exposed to another perspective”Looking forward to digging into this with a Context: Reading this as a part of an effort to be more open-minded， and less reactive to new ideas。 I listened to the author on a Clubhouse session， and found this bit insightful“Understand people’s experiences。 Suspend judgement long enough to understand why a person thinks or feels the way they do。 You can retroactively pass judge the quality and validity of their idea/experience — but be open at the point you’re being exposed to another perspective”Looking forward to digging into this with an open mind。 Will update if it was useful to me after reading。 。。。more
Chantal Lyons
，
'Connect' confounded my expectations that the content would focus on things like being as solicitous towards friends and family as possible。 Actually， it focuses primarily on the points when relationships reach conflicts。 How to identify and address a smaller conflict before it builds up to a more difficult one; how to manage those more difficult conflicts; and how to come away feeling stronger together after addressing a conflict in a relationship。 What is particularly helpful about the book is 'Connect' confounded my expectations that the content would focus on things like being as solicitous towards friends and family as possible。 Actually， it focuses primarily on the points when relationships reach conflicts。 How to identify and address a smaller conflict before it builds up to a more difficult one; how to manage those more difficult conflicts; and how to come away feeling stronger together after addressing a conflict in a relationship。 What is particularly helpful about the book is its inclusion of fictional and real accounts of conversations between people that are characterised by conflict。 This allowed a "deep dive" into the book's advice and removed any sense of abstractedness。 The authors themselves were candid in sharing their own mistakes and learning moments over the years。I really hope I retain the important points raised in this book。 I certainly learned new things， or at least， things I hadn't actively considered before。 For example， whenever you're in a heated exchange， don't "go over the net" in ascribing intentions and beliefs to the other person; you can never know what's in their head。 Stick to your own feelings， and how the person's behaviour has affected you， regardless of their intent。 I plan to be more mindful of my choice of words and thinking patterns whenever I find myself in that kind of situation in future。 However， I chose not to engage more fully with the book， which at the end of each chapter suggests reaching out to someone in your life who you'd like to deepen your connection with and discuss what you've learned。 I'd rather my learning come out organically， and also， in a pandemic where I am cut off from my close friends and family， it can be harder to have those kinds of conversations online， and it's telling that the stories in the book all take place in person。That leads me onto my main negative point about the book - with the pandemic， it feels less relevant。 The authors/publisher have had ample time to thread in something about how to negotiate and strengthen relationships during this stressful， constraining， and isolating time。 But there's no mention of the pandemic at all。 I get that they want to future-proof the book， but also， Covid-19 is going to change some things forever。 At the very least， I would've loved to see a final additional chapter containing the authors' reflections on how to adapt their advice to living and loving in this bitter time。（With thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review） 。。。more
Jenn Singer
，
Connect is an in-depth look at who to build solid relations ships with others。 It goes beyond the basics and reminds us that there is a give and take balance needed for any relationship to thrive。 As you get to know each other more， you delve into the next level until you truly are connected to the other person。 The book talks about all the aspects that go into a relationship。 What struck me the most was that conflict is needed for any relationship to thrive。 At the end of each chapter， the auth Connect is an in-depth look at who to build solid relations ships with others。 It goes beyond the basics and reminds us that there is a give and take balance needed for any relationship to thrive。 As you get to know each other more， you delve into the next level until you truly are connected to the other person。 The book talks about all the aspects that go into a relationship。 What struck me the most was that conflict is needed for any relationship to thrive。 At the end of each chapter， the author gives time for you to conduct your own self-reflection and gives you tips to help to improve the relationships around you。 This review based on ARC obtained via NetGalley from Crown Publishing in return for a candid review。 。。。more
Savannah
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