Wendy Murphy - Strategic Relationships at Work

Advance Praise for Strategic Relationships at Work

Receiving and providing mentoring are crucial for professional growth at any age, but too often we leave these learning opportunities to chance. This much-needed book offers a smart, practical plan for taking charge of our own development by building authentic relationships throughout our careers.

John R. Ryan, President and CEO,
Center for Creative Leadership

Navigating a career that hops organizations, shifts focus, and grabs opportunities to learn and shine isnt the exception these days, its the rule. Murphy and Kram show us why you cant go it alone, no matter how talented or hardworking you are, and that the best route to cultivating great mentors is learning to be a great mentee.

Sheila Heen, coauthor of Thanks for the Feedback
and Difficult Conversations

In Strategic Relationships at Work, Wendy Murphy and Kathy Kram have created a perennial resource for people at all phases of their careers. With their engaging examples, practical guidance, and years of experience woven together, they take a fresh look at how we make critical developmental relationships and connections at work and how we can all become better at forging these connections.

Randy Emelo, President and CEO, Triple Creek River

We survive alone, but to thrive we need otherswe need relationships with people who care about us and for whom we care. Murphy and Kram show us why and how to develop a network of people who can help us liberate ourselves, pursue our purpose, and become the person and performer we want to be. Life is tough enoughmake it easier by reading this book and following the authors insights.

Richard Boyatzis, PhD, Distinguished University Professor,
Case Western Reserve University; coauthor of Primal Leadership

With all the buzz about differentiating mentors from sponsors, the authors of this book remind us that it is all about cultivating meaningful relationships at work and in other important domains of our lives. These noted scholars bring the best of contemporary research to inform their very practical, story-rich guide to the variety of developmental relationships we form with peers, bosses, protgs, sponsors, mentors, and coaches. Individuals at all stages of their careers will be able to use the many tools they offer, and organizations will learn from the best practices they report.

Deborah M. Kolb, PhD, Deloitte Ellen Gabriel
Professor Emerita for Women and Leadership,
Simmons College Graduate School of Management

Thousands of books provide wisdom on the boss-subordinate relationship. The authors of Strategic Relationships at Work have mined a vast collection of research-based insights on the mentor-protg relationshipwhich is often as critical as boss-subordinate--to provide us with desperately needed practical advice this set of key career issues demands. An important guide for 21st-century career progress.

Leonard A. Schlesinger, PhD, Baker Foundation Professor,
Harvard Business School; President Emeritus,
Babson College; former Vice Chairman
and Chief Operating Officer, Limited Brands

Whether you are an expert or a novice about mentoringwhether you are a mentor, a mentee, or someone who aspires to be either, this book has everything you need. With a strong research footing, a compelling guide to action, and plenty of tools, this is one-stop shopping for building mutually rewarding developmental relationships.

Douglas T. (Tim) Hall, PhD, Morton H. and
Charlotte Friedman Professor in Management,
Boston University School of Management

This astute book reminds us that not only do relationships matter, but that it is necessary and possible to leverage them through planning, developing, and nurturingwith genuine interest and reciprocity. It is remarkable how professors Murphy and Kram have managed to weave together many strands of research with a practical and personal tone. Not only do they provide great ideas about what any individual can do to aid in career growth, but also sophisticated advice to companies about how to build programs to stimulate sponsorship, mentoring, and other developmental relationships.

Allan R. Cohen, PhD, coauthor of Influencing Up;
Distinguished Professor of Global Leadership, Babson College

A magnificent prescription for taking charge of your own professional and personal development through the power of strategic personal relationships and self-reflection. Your success as a rising manager or executive is ultimately up to you, enabled by your inner circle of colleagues.

Kenneth W. Freeman, MBA; Dean, Boston University
School of Management; former Chairman and CEO,
Quest Diagnostics

By applying entrepreneurial principles to mentoring, Murphy and Kram have upended the classic definition of the mentor/protg relationship. Strategic Relationships at Work demonstrates the new path to personal and professional growth is best achieved by career entrepreneurs willing and able to identify, build and nurture key relationships and networks among multiple mentors to maximize career success. Unique, insightful, and provocative.

Kerry Murphy Healey, PhD, President, Babson College;
former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts

Despite the easy access of social networks and the hundreds, if not thousands, of friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter, successfully navigating careers and companies can be lonely and fraught with uncertainty. As this book clearly and forcefully demonstrates, to become truly competent and successful, everyone needs to create his or her own boards of advisors who can help to anticipate and avoid obstacles to success. This is a must-read for all who seek to advance in their careers.

Elaine J. Eisenman, PhD, Dean, Babson Executive Education

Finally, a book that any manager can use to explain that time spent on developing and cultivating relationships is crucial to achieving business results in the 21st century. In our hyper-networked society, only relational managers will succeed and see their businesses survive. Dr. Kram and Dr. Murphy lay that truth bare.

Robson Goulart, MBA, Organizational Development Consultant,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Copyright 2014 by Wendy M. Murphy and Kathy E. Kram. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-182478-1

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