Summary of Henry Cloud's The Power of the Other is a self-help book that demonstrates the ways that people influence each other. It describes how to cultivate healthy relationships in order to get the most benefit from interpersonal relationships.

Individuals can improve themselves beyond certain limits only if they have emotional connections with and receive feedback from others. Healthy relationships improve physical and mental development, as well as shape the mind’s methods for managing how the body handles information and energy.

A relationship can take one of four forms. It could be a complete lack of connection, a connection based on negative emotions, a connection based on falsely positive emotions, or a true connection based on healthy emotions and trust. Leaders are especially prone to disconnected relationships because they learn to rely only on themselves or have few opportunities to be vulnerable in order to improve relationships. A negative emotional relationship…