Professional Connections Quotes

With whom is one supposed to do business in this country?

Paul Otellini, the former CEO of Intel, I worked with while I was still with VMware. I knew Ram Shriram through the tech industry.

I grew up in Hollywood. My father always told me that this is a job. These events are filled with people you work with; it's not like glam-schmooze time. That's why I only like events that celebrate people I have a connection to; otherwise, it's someone else's night, and I don't need to show up in a dress to try and steal their attention.

Business always requires personal relationships.

People who say they have a best friend at work are seven times as likely to be engaged in what they're doing. And if they don't have a best friend at work, the odds of being engaged are just 1 in 12.

Without any kind of real ego on my part, I just thought, I'm going to approach the people I admire and see if they want to do something together.

Friends and acquaintances are the surest passport to fortune.

The working environment in L.A. is really refreshing, really good. Because in Malaysia, it's a small country - you end up working with the same people that you like and that you know.

Parties in Washington are a natural extension of the working day.... Everybody uses everybody.

Approaching people for work has not worked for me. People who came to me with work has worked.

I rarely meet other young actors.

I've had job stability for years at a time. You really develop great relationships with the people you work with.

The biggest thing I learned at Wisconsin was, it's all who you work for, not where you work or what level.

I do a lot of schmoozing.

I am not in touch with other writers. I don't have very much contact with other writers. I don't get invited to these things or I don't go to them. I hate panels. I speak to librarians and to conferences of English teachers. That's what I do: teachers and librarians. And high school kids.

Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.

On a personal basis, when I decided to become a writer, about the last reason I did it was because I thought I'd meet interesting people and make new friends. But that has turned out to be the very best part.

Ask people who have the job you want how they got it.

At one time I thought the Editor of the Lancet would kindly publish a letter from me on the subject, but further reflection led me to doubt whether so insignificant an individual would be noticed without some special introduction.

Many, if not most, career opportunities come to you through people you know. So the more people you know, the more opportunities you have. Improving your social network is a great example of a system for moving from lower odds to better odds without having a specific goal.

Well as I said in France I didn't get auditions, and it's very difficult to get an agent in France because they conduct the business in a strange way.

I have even shaken hands with Mr. [William Randolph] Hearst. A man who is in politics is required to shake hands with almost everybody without requiring a certificate of character.

There is a need for new talent in the industry but newcomers don't know whom to approach and how. Social media has become a bridge.

I walked away from the Jive Records situation, but I still have a great relationship with a lot of the workers and a lot of people who were in that system that have moved on to other places. I felt like being there; it totally wasn't understood what the Raheem DeVaughn movement was about.

One of the challenges in networking is everybody thinks it's making cold calls to strangers. Actually, it's the people who already have strong trust relationships with you, who know you're dedicated, smart, a team player, who can help you.