Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone (And Other Secrets To Success, One Relationship At A Time), Doubleday, 2005, delivers his 21st century networking best practices. Ferrazzi, the youngest man ever to make Partner at the accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche, underscores that networking is about building relationships.

Ferrazzi illustrates that networking is easier once you’ve defined your personal and professional goals and written down a completion time. He invites readers to identify their “blue flame.” It’s the intersection where their life passion and abilities meet, that, when ignited, is a powerful, directional force.

Building relationships is an incremental process. Ferrazzi says that our network “is an overgrown jungle with an infinite variety of nooks and crannies that are being neglected.” “Creating an enriching circle of trusted relationships requires one to be out there in the mix all the time,” he adds.

Ferrazzi speaks of the “Genius of Audacity,” defined as the ability to ask for what we want. Unnerving at times, it’s imperative to advance in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Self-imposed boundaries, fear, and a low risk tolerance portend limited success.

To overcome these restrictions, Ferrazzi advocates finding role models, mastering public speaking, and getting involved, ultimately taking on leadership roles. His recipe for achievement is “a combination of self-assuredness, dogged persistence, and audacity.”

Ferrazzi suggests befriending a super-connector. These individuals are links to an entire new world of people, ideas, and information. Super-connectors include Restaurateurs, Headhunters, Lobbyists, Fundraisers, Public Relations Professionals, Politicians, and Journalists. You can meet dozens or hundreds of people through your relationship with a key connector.

Today, an individual’s power comes from being indispensable and sharing information instead of withholding it. Celebrating one’s uniqueness and defying expectations by shaking it up is also pivotal. “Expressing your vulnerability,” Ferrazzi says, “is the most underappreciated asset in business today.”

“Market yourself and your business by being interesting, having a unique point of view, and building your brand,” says Ferrazzi. “To move others, you have to speak beyond yourself.”

Ferrazzi believes that building relationships in the 21st century will be the conduit through which individuals, searching for meaning and legacy will discover their purpose.

Read Never Eat Alone and you’ll rethink engaging in habitual, clique-filled, lunchtime jaunts to fast food restaurants, or cubicle-confined brown bag meals. Doing so in today’s highly competitive global market, Ferrazzi reminds us, hinders our personal and professional growth.

Celebrate International Networking Week at the Key Entrepreneur Development Center. Join Tim Zaun and friends, Tuesday February 5th at 7 pm for a lively discussion on Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone. Ferrazzi has provided his exclusive, complementary Never Eat Alone DVD for viewing during the evening’s conversation. Help chronicle the event by posing in pictures to be uploaded to Flickr.com for future viewing. Click here to learn more about the book club.