Happy Monday!

I'm writing this several days before the Super Bowl. I hope as you read this my Super Bowl Prediction is accurate. Colts 31, Saints 21. (Wow. That could be very dangerous to publish!)

This week our focus here is on relationships and how to nurture them. That's the focus of this week's article, and it will be the focus of next month's teleseminar for our Remarkable Leadership Learning System Members (get a f/ree sample of membership today).

This week's resource recommendation is a fabulous book, and I am recommending it to you one day before its publication date because of a relationship. More than a year ago, I met Sally Hogshead, the author of this book. Because we have slowly built our professional relationship, she sent me an early copy of the book, which allows me to give you a sneak peak. It is great! Make sure you read the full recommendation; it will be in your best interest.

Beyond the weekly article and recommendation, I want to do something today to nurture our relationship. I'd like you to update your information with us. We know people move, change jobs and all sorts of things - we also know that we may not have your mailing address. By updating our records, we can do a better job of connecting with you and doing all we can to help you Unleash Your Remarkable Potential. When you update your records for us, if you give us your mailing address, we will send you a CD of my Remarkable Leaders Ask Great Questions workshop - a $59 value. So use this link to go update your info right now and claim your f/ree CD!

Enjoy this issue, have a great week, and remember that . . .

. . . You are Remarkable.

Yours in learning,

Seven Ways to Nurture Professional Relationships

Early in my consulting career I started telling people the consulting business is a relationship business. I was right, just a little short sighted.

Actually all business is a relationship business.

All work is a relationship business.

All leadership is a relationship business.

And while our focus in this article is on business or professional relationships, I believe you could say, at some level, life is a relationship business.

Regardless of how you would say it, it is hard to overlook the importance of relationships in all of our professional endeavors.

Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation
By Sally Hogshead

We buy products because we are fascinated in some way. We enter professions, pick jobs and choose friends (and mates) because of fascination. We pick movies, television shows and books because of  . . . fascination.

This book arrived in my mail courtesy of the author. When I met Sally more than a year ago she was working on this book. We talked about it. I was fascinated. When I picked up the book, I knew Sally hit a home run.

The book is divided into three parts:

Fascinate or Fail - a discussion of what fascination is, why it is important and more.

The Seven Fascination Triggers - a chapter on each

The Fascination Plan of Attack - a way to use the knowledge in this book to consciously and strategically build greater fascination.

It's a logical sequence, and, personally, I am so glad the last section is there. The first sections are so full of ideas, I needed help sorting it all out and deciding how to apply everything I learned. The third section is like having a consultant at your side, helping you apply what you have learned.

As I read this book, I knew I would be recommending it to you, so I tried to categorize it in some way. It reminds me of some of the recent business blockbusters like Made to Stick, Freakonomics or any of Malcolm Gladwell's books in that it is filled with a wide variety of examples that make it more interesting and relevant.

And while it is like those in that way, it is uniquely its own. Sally brings an expressive writing style and her personality to the book that is, well, fascinating!

Sally comes from a marketing background, and this book is listed on Amazon as a marketing book. Clearly if you have a professional or passing interest in marketing you will want to read this book. The value, however, extends far beyond that point.

If you want to be more persuasive or influential in any sense, this book gives you clues and specific tools to help you diagnose your ability to fascinate now, and how to raise that level in the future.

I recommend this book very highly. While it is only February, I am sure this will be one of my five favorite reads of the year. If you are on Facebook, you can join the book's page.

Would you like a copy? Let me see if I can help. Just write a comment below about why you want or need this book (or even better why you are fascinated by it) - and how you plan to use it. The best submission in the judgment of my team by February 9th at 5 pm ET will get the book, and perhaps it will even be a signed copy.

What are you waiting for?