What I thought I would get

Lameness. Super Connector? Really? That’s what I want people to call me? It sounds like an appliance; one with a typical cheezy name.
I thought I would get the usual spiel about networking but then—total switcharoo!

What I got

A book about self-awareness!?! Emotional intelligence? Lifestyle design? Seriously? I began to understand, exactly, how wealthy people invent fantastic events in the alps: all-expense-paid wine and cheese soirées.

We don’t all have that type of generational wealth. However, we’re creative; the principals in the book can be applied at any economic level.

I learned how to stoke great conversations with those worthy of connection and how to diplomatically drop out of a dead-ass conversation where the person sounds like a walking sales kit.

This book confirms old- school “networking” is not well equipped to build real relationships and that obtaining a sales prospect isn’t relationship-building. That’s why we feel so gross about it; we’re overthinking it.

Super Connector states the actual purpose of networking is “to build mutually beneficial relationships with other people and to maintain that relationship for the long term.” (hint: it does not happen quickly. You’re in it for the long haul, and you’ll learn to value and appreciate that pace.)

This book encouraged me to reaccess my interpersonal communication skills, my ability to check in with empathy, and insight into the effort others take to make their community pop, lock, and shine.

You don’t have to be a Super Connector, at all. Knowing how true connection works and exploring new possibilities for mutuality could work out just as well.

Gone.

As I get older, I realize that I feel more intelligent. Surprisingly, it’s not because of the books I read. I feel more intelligent because of the knowledge of my network—which I Designed. You can only create so much for yourself—we all know this. Black folks, we’ve been strategically disconnected. If we are to repair years of repression and aid our creative legacy, we have to value each other and continue to design new ways to connect.