Time and time again I’ve seen how important quality relationships are to a startup’s success. I really appreciated the focus on authentic connections in Jordan Fliegel’s book Coaching Up!
Jordan is an alumnus of Techstars, and his company, CoachUp, is a service that connects athletes with private coaches. He started CoachUp because of his life-changing experience with a private coach, and his desire to make that opportunity available to more kids. Jordan is also a cofounder (along with Jeremy Levine, another Techstars alum) of Bridge Boys, a seed investment fund in Boston.
Coaching Up! demonstrates how anyone can use coaching techniques to better connect with, engage, support and inspire other people. It offers concrete advice and a skill set for leaders who want to learn how to more effectively build connections and motivate coworkers, teammates or even family members.
As I noted earlier, the focus of this book is forging authentic connections with people, which is why I highly recommend it for startup founders–or anyone who is leading an organization. Honing your ability to build and develop authentic connections is critical, and Coaching Up! provides some practical insight about how to develop those skills.
