Infectious by Achim Nowak - Book review

Infectious

How to Connect Deeply and Unleash the Energetic Leader Within

By: Achim Nowak

Published: January 2, 2013
Hardcover: 232 pages
ISBN-10: 1581159242
ISBN-13: 978-1581159240
Publisher: Allworth Press











"We communicate at a furious pace - yet we connect less and less", writes performance coach, leadership guide, and author of the insightful and very practical book Infectious: How to Connect Deeply and Unleash the Energetic Leader Within. The author describes how despite the rapid expansion of technology, and increased communication between leaders and followers, they make fewer and much less effective connections.

Achim Nowak recognizes that establishing and developing personal connections are crucial to building successful leadership. The author points out that despite the desire of leaders to communicate more with others, both in person and electronically, they are not nurturing any real deep and personal connections. Achim Nowak offers the many connection inhibiting beliefs and habits that prevent real connections from taking place.

The author makes clear that without deep and meaningful connections, leaders will never achieve the level of success for themselves, for their followers, and for their organizations that the seek. To overcome this challenge, Achim Nowak presents the concept of connectability as an essential leadership tool that can be learned by anyone.



Achim Nowak (photo left) understands that connections are made in stages, and with different levels of intensity and depth. The ability to connect, according to the author, can be learned, and engagement with others improves with practice.

To achieve deeper connections, Achim Nowak shares his Four Levels of Connection. Along with the four levels, the author provide she necessary tool set to achieve better engagement and connections with other people. The Four Levels of Engagement are as follows:

* The Talk Level: Creating meaningful conversations
* The Power Level: Putting your personal power to work
* The Intent Level: Being alert, acting with purpose, and with firm goals to achieve
* The Energy Level: Connection at the heart and soul level for deep relationships

For me, the power of the book is how Achim Nowak combines a deep and rich framework and philosophy for building connections, with the practical tools and practices to make those deep and lasting connections a reality. The author breaks down his Four Levels of Connection into easily understood sections, complete with examples of the principles in action in the real world. Achim Nowak presents ideas that are tested and proven effective over fifteen years of coaching and leadership training.

With the levels of engagement and connection understood in theory, the leader is then able to utilize the tested tools for establishing deeper connections. Each chapter is subdivided into subheadings and subsections to further develop the tools and skills needed to ever deepen the connection with others, Numerous charts and graphics provide additional visual aids to further facilitate the learning and understanding of the tools for connections.

I highly recommend the very hands on and highly effective book Infectious: How to Connect Deeply and Unleash the Energetic Leader Within by Achim Nowak, to any leaders at all levels who are seeking a real world proven, and readily applicable set of tools and skills for enriching interpersonal connections. instead of simply communicating with others, you will instead find yourself connecting with people in new and exciting ways.