Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 650.13
EAN: 9781595620071
Edition: 1
ISBN: 1595620079
Label: Gallup Press
Manufacturer: Gallup Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: June 29, 2006
Publisher: Gallup Press
Release Date: August 01, 2006
Studio: Gallup Press
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
What's the quickest way to ruin a friendship? Do great friendships have anything in common? Are close friendships in the workplace such a bad thing?
These are just a few of the questions that #1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath asked when he embarked on a massive study about the impact of friendships. Along with several leading researchers, Rath pored through the literature, conducted several experiments, and analyzed more than 8 million interviews from The Gallup Organization's worldwide database.
His team's discoveries produced Vital Friends, a book that challenges long-held assumptions people have about their relationships. And the team's landmark discovery - that people who have a "best friend at work" are seven times as likely to be engaged in their job - is sure to rattle the structure of organizations around the world.
Drawing on research and case studies from topics as diverse as management, marriage, and architecture, Vital Friends reveals what's common to all truly essential friendships: a regular focus on what each person is contributing to the friendship - rather than the all-too-common approach of expecting one person to be everything.
The book includes a unique ID code that provides access to the Vital Friends Assessment and website. This groundbreaking test reveals which friends play each of the eight vital friendship roles in your work and life.
Tom Rath's fast-paced and inviting storytelling takes a mountain of important research and makes it remarkably accessible and applicable. By the time you finish reading Vital Friends, you'll see your coworkers, family, friends, and significant other in a whole new light.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without
It was a little light -- I had used StrengthsFinder 2.0 (much better) -- Less research and more subjectivity here. Rath needs to do more work with these surveys before this makes its mark.
Rating: -
In Vital Friends, Tom Rath makes two main points.
* One is that having friends at work is very beneficial to the employer. With a best friend at work, you are much more likely to be productive. Without a best friend at work, there's only a 1 in 12 chance you'll feel engaged! With three good friends at work you are 96% more likely to be extremely satisfied with your life. (All the numbers are from a Gallup poll.)
* The second point he makes is that you can't expect all your friends to be all things to you. He says different friends fullfill different needs and describes the different types of friends:
o Builders
+ Motivators and coaches
+ They push you
+ They know our strengths
+ They provide moral support
o Champions
+ Stand up for you
+ Sing your praises
... Read More
Rating:  -
I've heard of good friends, close friends, old friends, casual friends, best friends, even "just" friends, but I had never heard the word "vital" to describe friends until this book. And that is exactly what Tom Rath proceeds to explain, that having friends, real, meaningful engaged relationships, is absolutely vital to our health, our well-being, and our personal and professional success. Not "a good idea" or "important" but actually "vital"- absolutely necessary.
He starts the book by stating that so much of the focus on personal and professional success is on self-improvement. But is that really the key? His answer is, "The energy between two people is what creates great marriages, families, teams, and organizations." In fact, his first chapter is entitled, "Who Expects You to be Somebody?" where he wisely observes that it is almost always the influence of meaningful people in our lives that drives us to achievement.
The second chapter, "The Energy Between," ... Read More
Rating:  -
My book club read Vital Friends last week. The men responded well to it; the women seemed lukewarm. All of us liked the book's values.
Rath's survey study reveals surprising connections between productivity and policies promoting friendship at work. Rath also developed a structure for analyzing dynamic components common among friends, a structure available on-line.
Our book club men found the analysis especially revealing when applied to their personal lives. Our women were less inspired, perhaps because thinking about friendship was not such uncharted territory.
I liked Vital Friends much better after talking about the issues it raises. The bottom line: thinking aloud about friendship is important to both private and public well-being.
Rating: -
Learn how valuable your friends are, and then go one step further by developing friendships with your co-workers.
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