The Alliance

The Alliance

by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, Chris Yeh
Released July 2014
Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 9781625275790

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Book description

The New York Times Bestelling guide for managers and executives.


Introducing the new, realistic loyalty pact between employer and employee.

The employer-employee relationship is broken, and managers face a seemingly impossible dilemma: the old model of guaranteed long-term employment no longer works in a business environment defined by continuous change, but neither does a system in which every employee acts like a free agent.

The solution? Stop thinking of employees as either family or as free agents. Think of them instead as allies.

As a manager you want your employees to help transform the company for the future. And your employees want the company to help transform their careers for the long term. But this win-win scenario will happen only if both sides trust each other enough to commit to mutual investment and mutual benefit. Sadly, trust in the business world is hovering at an all-time low.

We can rebuild that lost trust with straight talk that recognizes the realities of the modern economy. So, paradoxically, the alliance begins with managers acknowledging that great employees might leave the company, and with employees being honest about their own career aspirations.

By putting this new alliance at the heart of your talent management strategy, you’ll not only bring back trust, you’ll be able to recruit and retain the entrepreneurial individuals you need to adapt to a fast-changing world.

These individuals, flexible, creative, and with a bias toward action, thrive when they’re on a specific “tour of duty”—when they have a mission that’s mutually beneficial to employee and company that can be completed in a realistic period of time.

Coauthored by the founder of LinkedIn, this bold but practical guide for managers and executives will give you the tools you need to recruit, manage, and retain the kind of employees who will make your company thrive in today’s world of constant innovation and fast-paced change.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Contents (1/2)
  3. Contents (2/2)
  4. Ch 1: Employment in the Networked Age (1/4)
  5. Ch 1: Employment in the Networked Age (2/4)
  6. Ch 1: Employment in the Networked Age (3/4)
  7. Ch 1: Employment in the Networked Age (4/4)
  8. Ch 2: Tours of Duty (1/8)
  9. Ch 2: Tours of Duty (2/8)
  10. Ch 2: Tours of Duty (3/8)
  11. Ch 2: Tours of Duty (4/8)
  12. Ch 2: Tours of Duty (5/8)
  13. Ch 2: Tours of Duty (6/8)
  14. Ch 2: Tours of Duty (7/8)
  15. Ch 2: Tours of Duty (8/8)
  16. Ch 3: Building Alignment in a Tour of Duty (1/4)
  17. Ch 3: Building Alignment in a Tour of Duty (2/4)
  18. Ch 3: Building Alignment in a Tour of Duty (3/4)
  19. Ch 3: Building Alignment in a Tour of Duty (4/4)
  20. Ch 4: Implementing Transformational Tours of Duty (1/5)
  21. Ch 4: Implementing Transformational Tours of Duty (2/5)
  22. Ch 4: Implementing Transformational Tours of Duty (3/5)
  23. Ch 4: Implementing Transformational Tours of Duty (4/5)
  24. Ch 4: Implementing Transformational Tours of Duty (5/5)
  25. Ch 5: Employee Network Intelligence (1/3)
  26. Ch 5: Employee Network Intelligence (2/3)
  27. Ch 5: Employee Network Intelligence (3/3)
  28. Ch 6: Implementing Network Intelligence Programs (1/4)
  29. Ch 6: Implementing Network Intelligence Programs (2/4)
  30. Ch 6: Implementing Network Intelligence Programs (3/4)
  31. Ch 6: Implementing Network Intelligence Programs (4/4)
  32. Ch 7: Corporate Alumni Networks (1/4)
  33. Ch 7: Corporate Alumni Networks (2/4)
  34. Ch 7: Corporate Alumni Networks (3/4)
  35. Ch 7: Corporate Alumni Networks (4/4)
  36. Ch 8: Implementing an Alumni Network (1/2)
  37. Ch 8: Implementing an Alumni Network (2/2)
  38. Conclusion
  39. Appendix A: Sample Statement of Alliance (1/2)
  40. Appendix A: Sample Statement of Alliance (2/2)
  41. Appendix B: Mission Alignment Exercise: People We Admire
  42. Appendix C: Getting Started at Your Company
  43. Notes
  44. Index (1/3)
  45. Index (2/3)
  46. Index (3/3)
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About the Authors (1/2)
  49. About the Authors (2/2)

Product information

  • Title: The Alliance
  • Author(s): Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, Chris Yeh
  • Release date: July 2014
  • Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
  • ISBN: 9781625275790