PMISV Monthly Book Club | It's Not Just Who You Know by Tommy Spaulding

PMISV Monthly Book Club | It's Not Just Who You Know by Tommy Spaulding

 

The Monthly Book Club is a forum for talking about books that touch on the widely varied challenges of project and program management.

 

 

 

About the Book

It's Not Just Who You Know by Tommy Spaulding

In It’s Not Just Who You Know, Tommy Spaulding—the former CEO of Up With People—has written the new How to Win Friends and Influence People for the twenty-fist century. Success—in business and in life—is all about relationships. In this powerful guide to reaching out to others, Spaulding takes Dale Carnegie’s classic philosophy to the next level—how to create lasting relationships that go well beyond mere superficial contacts and “second floor” relationships. Tommy Spaulding learned at a very young age that he was not destined to be an academic star. He may have gotten a 4.0, but only if he added his high school and college GPAs together. The reason he found academics so challenging, he discovered later, is that Tommy is dyslexic. But his dyslexia didn’t hold him back—in fact, it helped him to develop the talents he did have. For Tommy is a natural leader; he realized early on that he had a unique ability to connect with others, whatever their age or

background. As a teenager, he was given a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People by his father, and it quickly became his bible. He became a national finalist for the DECA Entrepreneurial Business competition in high school, and ran successfully for senior class president. He went on to become the CEO of Up With People, one of the largest nonprofit international leadership organizations in the world. At every step, Tommy learned that the secret to getting ahead was reaching out for the support and insight and influence of others. None of us achieve great success alone. We need the help of other people. In this candid, revealing book, Tommy expands upon the principles that Dale Carnegie outlined 75 years ago, and shows us how to take them one step further to accomplish the impossible in our lives and careers. To invite others to be genuine partners in our lives and success, Tommy explains, you have to first be interested in other people. It’s not just who you know, or what they can do for you, but what you can do for them. Motives matter. Establishing a deeper connection is about authenticity, not manipulation. Reciprocity, not selfishness. Every relationship is a two-way street; we never know when a chance encounter can change the direction of our life. In the bestselling tradition of Dale Carnegie’s classic, It’s Not Just Who You Know shows how each and every one of us can use the power of netgiving—of helping others—to expand our world and achieve our goals, and make a difference in our job, our career, and our community.

About the Author

TOMMY SPAULDING founded the Leader’s Challenge (the largest high school civic and leadership program in Colorado) and was the CEO of Up With People, one of the largest leadership nonprofit organizations in the world. He is the founder and CEO of Spaulding Companies, a consulting firm based out of Denver. He lives in the Denver metropolitan area with his wife and family.

Registration

• Required and limiting attendees. First come first serve.
• Zoom link to be distributed to registrants on the day of the event. Look for a Zoom invitation the day of the event from scotchlas@gmail.com. Feel free to set that not to go to your junk mail.

 

About the SV Monthly Book Club : 

 

List of Books for 2026 and prior years : Click Here for more information

The SV Monthly Book Club is a no-cost forum to discuss books and publications that touch on various topics about project and program management. It recurs on the 3rd Thursday each month, virtually. There is no club membership, and anyone can join the discussion forum of the month. To attend the forum, please pre-register (for free) and be sure you have pre-read the book of the month. Registration is necessary as we are limiting the number of attendees, so that everyone has a chance to express their opinion and listen to others.

This is a professional event. While we are open to opinions from all angles during the book discussions, please be respectful to the host and all attendees.

About the Event Leader

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marc Scotchlas - Event Host (Contact Marc)

Serving at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Marc completed a career in the Navy and after retiring in 2018, joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as Shot Director at the National Ignition Facility. After managing operations at the world’s premier laser facility that has achieved ignition, he has taken on several other challenges including recapitalizing more than twenty thousand square feet of laboratory space, saving more than $330,000. Residing in the Bay area, he is perpetually expanding his horizons.

  

Additional Information

PDU: Up to 5.0 PDU to complete the pre-reading; 1.0 to participate in the monthly meeting. PDU claim code available to attendees at end of event.

♦PDU claiming instruction

 

Recognize that PDU credit may be partial if you've read only the part of the book that you will read, or that full credit can be taken later after the discussion event is complete and you have completed the entire book.  There's no drop-dead requirement by the discussion date for reading, but the discussion is much fuller if you've read the entire book.