The HBR Guides Collection (8 Books) (HBR Guide Series)

Growth and Advancement

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to dump these people, as they played important roles for

me in other ways. But I needed to be more targeted in

who I let infl uence my thinking.”

Another overarching mistake we often see in execu-

tives’ networks is an imbalance between connections that

promote career advancement and those that promote en-

gagement and satisfaction. Numerous studies have shown

that happier executives are higher-performing ones.

Take Tim, the director of a large practice area at a lead-

ing professional services fi rm. On the surface he was doing

well, but job stress had taken its toll. He was 40 pounds

overweight, with alarmingly high cholesterol and blood

sugar levels, and prone to extreme mood swings. When

things went well at work, he was ...