Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success

I often read Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist blog, so I was thrilled to get to review an advanced copy of her new book, Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success.  I've always enjoyed her blunt, in your face, take on the workplace as well as her ability to upend the traditional mindsets in the office.  And the book delivers all of that and more.  While the focus of the book is on younger people, I enjoyed reading Trunk's advice and then comparing it to how different it was from what I was given.  Here are only a few of the hundreds of gems:

"Create Uncertainty."  The only way to get unstuck from your career is to create instability ... uncertainty is really another word for opportunity.  (Diane's comment -- the words "uncertainty" and "instability" used to freak me out.  But, looking back the best opportunities all came when I was forced into uncertainty and instability.)

Take an adventure.  The bottom line about adventure is that there's little difference between a good entry-level job nd an adventer.  Both are about learning, trying new things, and making sure you don't starve.  (Diane's comment -- yep, I probably would've learned a lot more working in a bar in tahiti than I did as a legal secretary. And all that extra money I made to pay for lawschool.  I probably could've handled another $10,000 in loans, and had a lot more exciting stories to tell.)

Find the right manager, not the right position.  (Diane's comment - all you have to do is watch one episode of The Office to know this one is true.)

Her message for people who say they can't stomach office politics:  "you will die a slow, painful career death."  This is because it exists in every office and you need to build allies.  Because if you don't network, no one will be helping you.  (Diane's comment - As a huge proponent of networking, I couldn't have said it better myself. )

Towards the end, Trunk tosses in a lot of very intriguing chapters - i.e. You only need $40,000 to be happy; The new American Dream is about time, not money; and Marrying for money is out, marrying for flexibility is in.  My only complaint is that I wish there were more on these concepts, but perhaps for a future book?

Trunk's style is very open and she freely admits her foibles and mistakes (and her husband gets a big thumbs up for letting her include stuff about him too!).  This helps make it a very enjoyable (and often amusing) read. For anyone starting out in a career, this is a "MUST-read".  But, I also think managers and more senior employees should take a gander too.  It might shake up some of your beliefs, but it also might help you better understand why young people think a bit differently about their careers.

Comments

Great summary! I too thought it was cool to include the stuff on her husband (but still wonder if he knew what exactly made it to the book :p).

My review is here: http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/586

Jason Alba
CEO - http://www.JibberJobber.com