Vital Friends

May 22, 2006
Friendship may be coming into vogue as a topic (to wit, Joseph Epstein's new book Friendship: An Exposé
), but Rath (coauthor of the bestselling How Full Is Your Bucket?
) takes a pragmatic rather than philosophical approach. He explores the inherent value of friendships and says that the need for friends goes beyond commonality or companionship; in particular, he devotes a section to friendship at work, which, unlike many companies and managers, Rath sees as a positive force. Rath's research shows that employees who have a best friend in the office are more productive, more likely to engage positively with customers, share new ideas and stay longer in a job. Citing illuminating cases and surveys (many conducted for the Gallup Organization), Rath shows that many people succeed or fail based on the support and involvement of their best friends. Rath posits eight vital roles friends play: some are champions for each other; some collaborate; some connect people with others; and some build each other up through encouragement and trust. Rath's bullishness on friendship is based on solid research and couched in intelligent prose. 150,000 first printing.

June 15, 2006
Rath is the coauthor of "How Full Is Your Bucket?", which studied the use of positive psychology in everyday life. Here he continues his discussion of the importance of encouraging friendship, particularly at work. Rath argues that friendships in the workplace are vitally important to success. He presents examples and data from a Gallup study he conducted that examined categories of various work relationships and how these affected employee success. The book's extensive appendixes review the background of the survey and include other notes. A companion web site, www.vitalfriends.com, allows readers to assess their own relationships. While the information presented here is interesting, it doesn't break new ground and tends only to emphasize the positive aspects of work friendships. Given Rath's previous work, however, this book will likely be of interest to larger public libraries." -Joel W. Tscherne, formerly with Cleveland P.L."

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