Dear readers,

I’d like to ask for your help.

This year, I realized a lifelong dream when Harvard Business Review Press published The Alliance: Managing Talent in a Networked Age, the
book I co-authored with my friends Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha.  The
book became a New York Times bestseller (on the advice list, but hey,
it’s still the Times!) and had a warm reception from critics, and most
importantly, actual managers.  If you haven’t had a chance to read it
yet, you can download an excerpt for free (or buy a copy) at the book
website:
http://www.theallianceframework.com

The gist of The Alliance is that employers and managers need
to rebuild the relationship they have with their employees.  Rather
than free agents, employees should be treated as allies, in a
relationship of mutual trust, mutual investment, and mutual benefit.

To help leaders and managers adopt the ideas in The Alliance, I’ve co-founded a new consulting firm, Allied Talent ( http://www.alliedtalent.com ).  So far, we have developed two workshops to help build more adaptable, innovative organizations.

One workshop teaches managers how to strengthen their relationships
with star employees.  We teach them how to have better career
conversations and to organize each employee’s work around a personalized
mission objective with a specific expected timeframe.  Achieving the
objective transforms both the company’s business and the employee’s
career, and provides a springboard for defining a follow-up mission.

The other workshop teaches managers how to coach their team to
develop professional networks and leverage them both for career
development and for solving business challenges.

In short, we’re developing managers for the 21st century, which my friend Reid has dubbed the Networked Age.

We’re already working with a number of organizations, including several fast-growing startups, as well as non-profit organizations like the Wikimedia Foundation, to help them attract, manage, and retain the top talent they need
to achieve their missions.

Now I need your help to change the way managers and employees think about work by spreading the ideas of The Alliance.

Of course we’re looking for clients, but we are also looking for
venues to build thought leadership: writing, speaking, interviews,
webinars, etc.  I, my co-author Ben, and Allied Talent’s CEO Chip Joyce
are all available for these opportunities.

The ask:

• Would your organization — or an organization you work with —
  be interested in learning more about The Alliance and our training
  programs?

I’d love any and all introductions, suggestions, and well-wishes you’re willing to provide!  Here are a couple of resources you can share with folks who might be interested:

• Our website is alliedtalent.com — you can download an Executive Summary of the book from the homepage.
• Naturally, we have a LinkedIn group called “The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age”