By: Porter Gale
Reviewed by: Julie Melaschenko
The Premise: Author Porter Gale’s story of her rise to her role as Director of Marketing for Virgin Atlantic is the jumping off point for an informative and in-depth review of how actively seeking and maintaining contacts can be the key to a successful and rewarding career. Your Network is Your Net Worth is written for those who find themselves at a turning point or transition, but there is clear value in Gale’s message for anyone at any stage of their professional life.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, ‘Develop a Transformational Attitude’ which deals with knowing one’s self – purpose, passion and how to change up your routines to achieve success. Part 2 – ‘Build a Values Based Team’ aims to align your own goals with those of others, using social media, live events and even mentors – ensuring that you are meeting the right people for your goals. Part 3, ‘Cultivate Fields of Creativity’ wraps everything together to make sure that your new goals and the new contacts you’ve identified are firmly entrenched so that you can harvest the benefits of your new network. Each section of the book comes with activities and questions to answer, as well as top tips and real world examples from Gale’s extensive network.
The Bottomline: I feel like the title of this book doesn’t really do it justice. Aimed directly at people in transition (either out of work or unsatisfied in their current role) the title includes ‘network’ because the audience will be looking to their network for opportunities or change. The term ‘net worth’ seems to highlight value, but in a strictly monetary way. This book is more than just how to ask people you know for recommendations or job postings. It’s a bigger picture, global view of how to carry one’s self through every interaction and experience in a personally authentic way – making true connections with like-minded people who become lifelong friends or acquaintances. The underlying message is that making a network is more than just showing up to random events and handing out business cards. It’s more about knowing who you are, so that the events make sense to your goals, you meet new people based on common interests and values, and then the connections you make are more genuine and long-lasting. It puts YOU in the right network. And then the value is priceless. I really enjoyed this book. It’s well-written and easy to read and the examples from Gale’s life and those of her colleagues are extremely interesting. I thought the exercises were simple and useful and the summary and top tips at the end of the chapters were handy as well. This book works much harder than it’s title.
Roundtable recommendation: highly recommended for anyone – in transition or otherwise – a great book for setting a strong foundation, leading to a rich and rewarding professional life peopled with interesting colleagues and acquaintances.
