Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends and Colleagues

Absolute gem of a book.

“Connect – Building exceptional relationships with family, friends and colleagues” by David Bradford and Carole Robin is an excellent read. It opens a gateway to exploring and maintaining relationships. Few takeaways include: 1. 15 per cent rule to move 15% from your comfort zone in the learning zone with another by maybe doing the following: a. Being vulnerable, b. Self-disclosure - who goes first? c. Self-realisation 2. Use feedback mechanism effectively to address the behaviour dear and not the intent! 3. Let the emotions flow but own it and target effective implementation by a. Getting the other person to take the feedback seriously. b. Sharing all the issues c. Resolution d. Repair 4. Conditions, where people are more likely to change, are when their resistance to change is lesser than the product of dissatisfaction in seeing the cost of old behaviour, vision to see the benefit of new behaviour and taking the first steps. I recommend this to all who want to improve their relationships with fellow human beings.

Purchasing experience is good as expected. Book itself is not great: very transparent high level idea that could be explained as an essay l not a book length

This advice in this book can transform any relationship but it will require some work. As you read it you will recognise in yourself things you can do to improve your relationships. I find the book to be relatable and realistic. I definitely recommend it.

Connect is an operator’s manual for human social experience. Everyone can learn to be more effective, fulfilled and helpful to others through this magnificent contribution. Improvement in this domain translates into more accomplishment everywhere. This book is clear, straightforward and impactful. Thank you for bringing it from your landmark course to the benefit of everyone.

I was already a Carole Robin fan, but I was skeptical that all she has to teach could somehow be condensed into a book. I was completely wrong -- this is a powerful book. It manages to summarize a host of important concepts around how to access and communicate feelings, how to build and strengthen relationships, and how to use those skills to be more influential and effective. The book bring these concepts alive with stories and scenarios, and shows how they can be applied to both professional and personal life. I've used the concepts in these books and they've had a hugely positive impact on my life. Through some of my toughest times, they've helped me understand and process my feelings, and become vulnerable with family and friends in a way that felt safe and brought me closer to them. They've also helped me build stronger working relationships, demonstrating the power of vulnerability even in a professional setting. And that's coming from someone who just a few years ago would've thought it was crazy to talk about my feelings at work. It's rare that a book has the potential to be transformative and life-changing, and I'd put this book in that category.

Relationships are hard, demanding and complex. That is why they are so beautiful and worth investing time on it. This book provides a complete toolkit on how to approach each different kind of relationship to achieve harmony and meaningfulness. Fortunate are those who were able to have Stanford in-person classes with these couple.