Vital Friends

From the Publisher

What?s the quickest way to ruin a friendship? Do great friendships have anything in common? Are close friendships in the workplace such a bad thing?

These are just a few of the questions that #1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath asked when he embarked on a massive study about the impact of friendships. Along with several leading researchers, Rath pored through the literature, conducted several experiments, and analyzed more than 8 million interviews from The Gallup Organization?s worldwide database.

His team?s discoveries produced Vital Friends, a book that challenges long-held assumptions people have about their relationships. And the team?s landmark discovery that people who have a best friend at work are seven times as likely to be engaged in their job is sure to rattle the structure of organizations around the world.

Drawing on research and case studies from topics as diverse as management, marriage, and architecture, Vital Friends reveals what?s common to all truly essential friendships: a regular focus on what each person is contributing to the friendship rather than the all-too-common approach of expecting one person to be everything.

The book includes a unique ID code that provides access to the Vital Friends Assessment and website. This groundbreaking test reveals which friends play each of the eight vital friendship roles in your work and life.

Tom Rath?s fast-paced and inviting storytelling takes a mountain of important research and makes it remarkably accessible and applicable. By the time you finish reading Vital Friends, you?ll see your coworkers, family, friends, and significant other in a whole new light.

Biography

Tom Rath is coauthor of the #1 New York Times and #1 BusinessWeek bestseller, How Full Is Your Bucket? With more than 500,000 copies in print within its first year of publication, his book has spent 15 months on the domestic bestseller list. Now available in more than 10 languages, Rath?s book has also been an international bestseller.

After 12 years with The Gallup Organization, Rath now leads Gallup?s Workplace Research and Leadership Consulting worldwide. He also serves on the board of VHL.org, an organization dedicated to cancer research and patient support.

Rath earned his bachelor?s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan. He is currently pursuing graduate degrees at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Publishers Weekly

Friendship may be coming into vogue as a topic (to wit, Joseph Epstein's new book Friendship: An Expose), but Rath (coauthor of the bestselling How Full Is Your Bucket?) takes a pragmatic rather than philosophical approach. He explores the inherent value of friendships and says that the need for friends goes beyond commonality or companionship; in particular, he devotes a section to friendship at work, which, unlike many companies and managers, Rath sees as a positive force. Rath's research shows that employees who have a best friend in the office are more productive, more likely to engage positively with customers, share new ideas and stay longer in a job. Citing illuminating cases and surveys (many conducted for the Gallup Organization), Rath shows that many people succeed or fail based on the support and involvement of their best friends. Rath posits eight vital roles friends play: some are champions for each other; some collaborate; some connect people with others; and some build each other up through encouragement and trust. Rath's bullishness on friendship is based on solid research and couched in intelligent prose. 150,000 first printing. (Aug. 1) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Rath is the coauthor of How Full Is Your Bucket?, which studied the use of positive psychology in everyday life. Here he continues his discussion of the importance of encouraging friendship, particularly at work. Rath argues that friendships in the workplace are vitally important to success. He presents examples and data from a Gallup study he conducted that examined categories of various work relationships and how these affected employee success. The book's extensive appendixes review the background of the survey and include other notes. A companion web site, www.vitalfriends.com, allows readers to assess their own relationships. While the information presented here is interesting, it doesn't break new ground and tends only to emphasize the positive aspects of work friendships. Given Rath's previous work, however, this book will likely be of interest to larger public libraries. Joel W. Tscherne, formerly with Cleveland P.L. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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