Never Eat Alone – Worth the read?

I just finished reading (listening to) Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. I listen to a lot of books; this is the first one to prompt me to write about what I learned. You’ll understand why this is interesting if you’ve already read the book.

Never Eat Alone is an easy listen, I’ll assume it’s an easy read as well. I have no intention of doing a full book review, but I will share some of what I learned. Before purchasing this book, I read some reviews. I normally read only three or four, but this time I read dozens. I just couldn’t stop reading them. There was nothing in the middle, the book was literally loved or hated. I come down on the love side.

Many of the haters seemed to find Keith a braggart or promoting elitism. After reading I can see how in the wrong context you could find Keith both a braggart and an elitist, but I don’t see it that way. The author is simply sharing what worked for him and what realistically could work for you. His story is not one of elitism, in fact it’s the opposite. It’s the story of poor kid does good. He just didn’t do it all on his own. His ‘luck’ started with his father’s ability to set aside pride and ask people he knew for help. Keith’s luck continued as he learned to connect people; to share what and who he knew not for his own advancement but for the advancement of everyone involved. This is truly the essence of networking; people helping people.
I guess on some level I’d like to believe we can all do it on our own, without help from anyone. The reality is that we need the help of others. This book will help you cultivate a network of folks that you can help and that can help you.

One of my favourite quotes

“By giving your time and expertise and sharing them freely, the pie gets bigger for everyone.” – Keith Ferrazzi

I don’t consider myself a great networker, I now understand the error of my ways. Give it a read or a listen. You won’t be disappointed.

Here's a link to the Never Eat Alone - Audible and the paper copy.