Harvard Business Review on Managing Your Career in Tough Times (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)I came across this book by accident. Book like this one don't land on display tables of major bookstores. There's no bright, glossy cover. In fact, the cover layout looks like a downsized edition of Harvard Business Review. The book includes just eight articles from previous HBR issues. They're not new. But they *are* unique.
The best chapters:
"Courage as a Skill," or "How to decide when and how to speak out." Sometimes you can't afford to keep silent but often you can still keep your job.
"The Right Way to be Fired" offers excellent advice to contrast the tenure mindset with the assignment mindset when thinking of jobs. If you're at a level where you get contracts, they say, think of your contract as a pre-nup and plan for the possibility of divorce or dissolution. They don't add that our infrastructure of health and unemployment benefits are tied to a tenure mindset, even as the corporate world moves to an assignment mindset.
The chapter on resilience includes the fascinating insight that corporate resilience differs from individual resilience; a team of resilient individuals is not the same as a resilient team.
The chapter on story-telling is a gem. I've encouraged my own clients to develop a "spin" on their stories but this chapter goes much further. Telling your story means presenting your background in terms of your new career, without lying or embellishing.
I also liked the chapter on telling your career story and of course Herminia Ibarra's now classic article, "How to Stay Stuck in the Wrong Job." Ibarra's essay has now evolved into one of the best career change books you will find anywhere.
Flaws? The first chapter is a little bland - more of the "same old, same old" about holding your job in a recession while still cultivating a Plan B. In my experience, while these moves may help, often politics and favoritism take over during turbulent times. Additionally, one author encourages readers to review their Myers-Briggs test scores along with their 360 feedback to gain insight. The 360 feedback may be helpful but Myers Briggs doesn't seem much better than astrology. In fact, one article in this book recounts an executive's visit to an astrologer, with results that turned out to be even more accurate than any Myers Briggs would be.
Highly recommended for career coaches and counselors as well as anyone with an interest in career issues, practical or theoretical. Just two or three of these articles will be worth the price of the book.


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Now is the Time to Do What You Love: How to Make the Career Move that Will Change Your Life Review

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(More customer reviews)Now Is The Time To Do What You Love is a practical guide for those who are looking to make a career change. Whether you are just starting to explore options or you are further along and want to ensure you haven`t forgotten anything in the decision making process, this book is very helpful. It provides insight into new careers and considerations for going back to school including online learning as an option. As a woman in my mid 40`s with more than 20 years experience in Staffing and Recruitment, I knew that I was burnt out and yet wanted to continue to help people. A number of people suggested I get into Coaching. Although my mind was already churning, this book was the catalyst for positive change in my life. You`re not going to get what you want by complaining about it. You need to take the steps to get you there and Nancy Whitney-Reiter can do that in just 233 pages. Just 6 months later I am now doing what I love which is Coaching people through positive change. I now have a lifestyle, not a workstyle. My core values are aligned. I share similar views as the Author and in fact believe in this book so much so that I have purchased copies for family members and clients. It is also listed as recommended reading on my blog. As the back cover says what are you waiting for!

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Unlock the Hidden Job Market: 6 Steps to a Successful Job Search When Times Are Tough Review

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(More customer reviews)As a Human Resources professional who has landed every job in his career -- now going on 25 years -- through proactive networking precisely the way this book describes, I am delighted to see the process so well documented. This book does not uncover profoundly new angles on landing a job; however, it clearly describes the steps needed even in these tough times, and especially for those who have had frustrations using traditional methods. Using the techniques in this book moves the job-seeker "upstream" into conversations with hiring managers in the planning stages before a job is posted publicly - and that's how almost all jobs are being filled right now.
In a world of instant virtual access to people and information, and net-enabled social networking, the steps described in this book are clearly detailed and made easy to plan and execute -- even for those who may not consider themselves strong networkers. Given the amount of time you may devote to finding a job using the futile "sit at home, search the internet and blast resumes" approach, this guide has 100's of tips on how to use that time more wisely, and in ways that will actually help you land a job.

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"Over 70% of all jobs are never published. This book will help you discover and land these jobs!"–John Challenger, CEO, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.Your perfect job will never be advertised.But you can find it–or create it.Even now. Especially now!TOP CAREER EXPERTS SHOW HOW TO:Uncover hidden opportunitiesHelp companies design the perfect job for youNetwork without sounding phony, lame, or desperateReinvigorate a dead-end job searchBreak free from the frustration and tyranny of online job boardsGet the interviews that count and run them like a proLeap-frog salary levels or change professionsTurn your experience into hot new skillsNegotiate compensation from a position of strengthFix a broken careerGet the great job nobody else knows about!

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Remember Every Name Every Time: Corporate America's Memory Master Reveals His Secrets Review

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(More customer reviews)Overall this book will achieve its intended purpose of helping me remember names; however, this book has many weaknesses. First and foremost, the first 3 or 4 chapters were 100% worthless. He states how important it is to remember names 50 different ways and using quotes from many different people. My response to that is: "I know it is important to remember names... that's why I bought the book." A short simple introduction would have been adequate. My next criticism is that 90% of the book is fluff. This book could be summarized in a page and be just as effective in 10 pages. If I knew which pages to skip, I could have read the book and gotten the same result out of it in 1 hour. To summarize this whole book up for those of you out there, he recommends two methods. FACE (focus, ask, comment, and employ). To remember someones name you focus on them and ask them a question about their name (ie. How do you spell it), comment to them or yourself about the name and cross reference it in your head (I have a sister named amy), and then employ the name (ie. Goodbye Amy). I will admit that this method works; however, It's not very impressive and not worth wasting an hour to read what I just wrote in one sentence. The second method (advanced method) is where the book adds value. He calls this method the NAME method where you Nominate a facial feature, Articulate about it (it is big, hairy, etc), Morph the name (ie. Turn Amy into Aim or a target) and then Entwine (you picture this Target on her body part such as a mole). He does have some examples and some practice photos to help master this method. Overall, I have just summarized the entire book. I hope I can save some people some money and tell the author that he needs to learn something about brevity.

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"I'm sorry, but...I can't remember your name." Even the boldest corporate leaders are terrified of forgetting an important name at a crucial moment. They know that forgetting a name can cost them an important deal -- and that remembering it can cement a lifelong business relationship. That's why they have studied with Benjamin Levy, whose astounding memory feats have made him one of America's most highly sought-after corporate entertainers. Now, for the first time, Levy steps off the stage and out of the boardroom to share his surefire techniques with you. In Remember Every Name Every Time, Levy takes you step by step through his time-tested, executive-approved memory program. With his techniques, you'll effortlessly remember the names of people you've just met for the very first time, no matter how rushed the introduction, no matter how stressful the circumstances remember one name, five names, thirty or more names at events ranging from high-powered board or client meetings to business dinners and employee gatherings remember even the most difficult names and the most nondescript faces -- for the long term. Realistic business scenarios, bite-size summaries, and dozens of full-color photographs help you hone your skills. In case you ever do forget a name, Levy even offers savvy tips on how to handle the situation with grace and aplomb. Rounded out with firsthand advice and anecdotes from some of Levy's world-renowned CEO clients, who reveal why remembering names is a vital skill in today's economy, Remember Every Name Every Time gives you the tools you need to create a great impression at any business occasion and send your career soaring higher than you've ever imagined possible.

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Making Change Happen One Person at a Time: Assessing Change Capacity within Your Organization Review

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(More customer reviews)"Making Change Happen" is good, as far as it goes. The discussion of people and their ability to fit in a changing organization and promote the change is good. If you are buying this book to guide in change planning and implementation, it provides some good groundwork information. But it is not sufficient, by itself. This author uses supervisors' assessments of "change readiness", etc.. Other books and articles provide more rigorous and objective testing of staff change readiness, etc. The author also does not deal with the morale and organizational impact of forced reassignments and "outplacement" (lay-offs or firings). He even strongly implies that the staff that remain will have higher morale during the process. Obviously, he is a consultant. He has never been close to the workforce in an organization that is in the midst of an organizational change process, or one that has had lay-offs or firings in the proceeding months or years. Nor has he read the research on how those impact morale, retention of business knowledge, and, ultimately, productivity. In that sense, this book reminds me of the Hammer and Champy "Reengineering" books of the last decade; pregnant with potential, but lacking a connection with critical components of the realities of what is happening in the corporation.

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Manager Mechanics: People Skills for First-Time Managers (Capital Business) Review

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(More customer reviews)After reading a quick snippet on Eric's book in the paper, we ordered a copy to preview for possible use. I am the Dean of Students for a Quick-Service restaurant company with 100+ stores. We are always on the look out for books to use in courses or even just to add to our "Suggested Reading List."
Eric's book is a quick read that gives a bird's eye view to new managers. This book would be helpful for people who are just kicking off their career and need a quick reference guide on what to expect.
The book is written with humor and insight that makes it enjoyable.
Having this on the shelf of a new manager's office alongside some deeper reference guides and a Rolodex for the suggested resources.
As a member of HR, I think Eric did a good job at pointing out how helpful that resource can be with dealing with employee concerns.

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In a fun, fast, accessible format--Manager Mechanics serves as both "mentor" and guide for newly minted managers who find themselves confronted with a wide-range of questions from how to hire and fire, to how to manage friends and balance budgets. Manager Mechanics comes to the rescue by giving first-timers the practical knowledge and political insights they need to perform successfully in their new management role, with a particular focus on people skills and good judgment. New and seasoned managers will gain techniques and proven approaches for leading their teams, hiring top talent, navigating company politics, avoiding career-limiting mistakes, and producing high-quality, well-planned results. The "Key Points" sections at the end of each chapter summarize the most critical skills and solidify the manager's fresh knowledge.

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Tough Management: The 7 Winning Ways to Make Tough Decisions Easier, Deliver the Numbers, and Grow the Business in Good Times and Bad Review

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(More customer reviews)Martin's seven "ways" are actually admonitions. As he would be the first to point out, they are much easier said than done. In fact, he wrote a book to explain how to "make tough decisions easier, deliver the numbers, and grow business in good times and bad." Here are the admonitions:
1. Communicate clearly.
2. Force the hard decisions.
3. Focus on results.
4. Remain flexible.
5. Prove your value to the company.
6. Force collaboration.
7. Practice tough management without being tough.
There are no head snappers among the seven. The substantial value of this book is derived, rather, from responses by more than 2,000 senior executives and managers in 50 countries who participated in an NFI Research survey. They completed a brief survey segment every two weeks over a period of 24 months. That is a key point because, over time both circumstances and respondents' reactions to them change. The final survey results thus have much greater credibility. Martin operates a global idea exchange and research engine with a network base of more than 2,000 senior executives and managers from more than 1,000 companies in more than 50 countries, including half of the Fortune 500. Those who read his book are invited to visit his Web site: www.nfiresearch.com or info@nfiresearch.com.
Martin devotes a separate chapter to each of the seven admonitions. I especially appreciate the provision of a survey summary and a "Voices from the Front Lines" section in each chapter. For example, in Chapter 3 ("Focus on Results"), survey respondents were asked:
"In general, how well does your supervisor delegate to you, in relation to enabling you to execute against your organization's strategy and direction?"
The results:
Very well54%
Somewhat well30%
Not very well 9%
Not at all well 3%
"In general, how well do you delegate to your subordinates, in relation to enabling them to execute against your part of your organization's strategy and direction?"
The results:
Very well50%
Somewhat well47%
Not very well 3%
Not at all well 0%
Then four "voices" from the "front lines" are provided. There is comparable material within each of the other six chapters. Credit Martin for succeeding brilliantly with the organization and presentation of so much survey information within an eloquent and brisk narrative. Well done!
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out David Maister's Practice What You Preach, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee's Resonant Leadership, Michael Ray's The Highest Goal, and James O'Toole's Creating the Good Life.

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Based on more than two years of surveys of more than 2,000 senior executives and managers, Tough Management may be one of the most important and practical business books of our time. Bestselling author, weekly columnist, and sought-after speaker Chuck Martin has tapped into his research firm's vast network of business connections to discover that 80 percent of executives and managers are experiencing increased levels of work stress.

On the bright side, Martin has found that tough times have brought out the best in the world's most successful leaders and managers. And now, in his groundbreaking new book, he offers a refreshing bottom-line approach to what really matters in today's difficult market--and what really works in today's demanding workplace.

The seven skills every manager should know:

1.Focus on Results

2.Force the Hard Decisions

3.Communicate Clearly

4.Remain Flexible

5.Prove Your Value to the Company

6.Force Collaboration

7.Don't Be a Tough Guy

Using these practical, powerful, and proven techniques, Martin reveals how other business leaders have met the demand to do more, deliver more, and increase more--without raising stress levels. By focusing on actual results and forcing the hard decisions, you can learn to communicate and collaborate while remaining flexible. It's one of the few business books available that provide real solutions to real challenges. Because when the going gets tough, smart managers get Tough Management--and get real results.

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