There is a growing trend for individuals to expand beyond one career. The old model of “one job, one company” for life is out the door. Today we are giving away 5 copies of Marci Alboher’s new book “One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success“. She introduces us to the individuals who define themselves as ’slashes’. What are ’slashes’? It is a person who expands beyond one career, one job.

Whether they are a policeman/landscape designer, lawyer/chef, actor/web-designer these individuals do not limit themselves to one career. This allows them to live a more fulfilling life by pursing their passions, and not allowing one career/job wear them out. It’s not surprising that this population of the workforce is growing because in reality is anyone truly one dimensional? I find it hard to believe so.

Marci has adopted the “slash” as well - a former lawyer and now a author/speaker/coach. This book is a must read for those who aren’t happy with their current situation in life and want to pursue multiple careers.

From Publishers Weekly

For those already slashing through multifaceted professional lives, Alboher’s collection of profiles of people juggling multiple roles may offer the comfort of knowing others are doing the same. For those recently separated from a job or seeking greater fulfillment from life, Alboher’s fascination with people working through dual existences may reveal an alternate path to success. Like the psychotherapist/violin maker she interviews, Alboher has abandoned an easily described career as an attorney to become a journalist, author, speaker and writing coach. Her book is less about making career changes than changing how one defines a career and making adjustments for a more satisfying life. After focusing a bit too intently on how multilayered careers get their start, she segues into more action-oriented advice, including experimenting with different identities before making career-altering changes; how to keep income flowing; and how to market oneself once one adds a slash or two to one’s job description. When the disparate threads of one’s life are woven together in this way, she argues in this creative and satisfying guide, “the whole of you comes out.”

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success” (5 copies available) answer this:

What “slashes” would you ideally like to be known for? In a perfect world what would you pursue in multiple fields? Or if you already are leading a multiple career life, what is it?

Comment by 9pm CST on Friday March 30th and be entered to win! 5 winners will be randomly selected.

Unfortunately we aren’t running a giveaway this week. We’ll return next week with our typical Friday giveaways!

No one likes working with or for an asshole.

Does your work have a No Asshole Rule? If not they should consider it says Bob Sutton, a professor at Stanford and author of “The No Asshole Rule”. Why you ask? Here are some of the facts:

• Negative interactions have 5 times stronger impact on individuals than positive interactions. An asshole around the office can be detrimental to employee’s productivity.
• Assholes drive people out of organizations and suck the life and effectiveness out of those who stay.
• Can cost your company in the regions of hundreds of thousands of dollars (from time spent by HR professionals, outside employment counsel, recruiting and training new employees, ect).

Inspired by his popular article from the January 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review (Harvard subsequently snubbed a request from Bob from publishing this book due to its title), “The No Asshole Rule” drops the facts and relentless truths about assholes. It comes down to this: they need to be shown the door. It doesn’t matter if the individual is your ‘best’ worker – if they are an asshole they have to go. As you read in the bullet points above there are no benefits from keeping an asshole around.

One section that is extra helpful is the advice on how to cope and survive nasty people and workplaces. The truth is at times you can’t escape assholes. Circumstances may force to stay at a job or be placed on a temporary project which involves working with assholes. Therefore, you have to arm yourself with the knowledge of how to deal with them. One of Bob’s tips: develop indifference and emotional detachment. Yes, that’s right. It’s totally against what most business books promote (i.e. passion and vivacity towards work) but it’s the truth. Sometimes that is the only way to self-preserve in a crappy situation.

“We are all given only so many hours here on earth. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could travel through our lives without encountering people who bring us down with their demeaning remarks and actions?” - Robert Sutton

Are you living by the No Asshole Rule?

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “The No Asshole Rule” (5 copies available) answer this:

Provide an example where you have had to deal with an asshole. What was the experience like? How did you deal with them?

Comment by 9pm CST on Sunday March 18th and be entered to win! 5 winners will be randomly selected.

Update: Winners have been selected! Thanks for all the great comments and a special thanks to Renee from Hachette Book Group USA for participating in this weeks giveaway.

Jeffrey Gitomer is a familiar name in the business book world. He is the author of the top selling book on sales “The Little Red Book of Selling” and the follow up, “The Little Red Book of Sales Answers”. He is back with a new addition to his “Little Book” series with a guide for attitude. In his new book, “Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude: How to Find, Build and Keep a YES! Attitude for a Lifetime of SUCCESS”, Jeffrey hits us with a step-by-step guide for building and mastering an positive attitude. Today we are giving away 10 copies!

Everyone will benefit from a positive attitude in their life. For one, life is too short to keep a negative attitude about things. Thinking positively will help you enjoy life to its fullest. Second, having a positive attitude is contagious to those around you. You’ll find that people will want to spend more time with you if you keep a positive demeanor. There are no downfalls of maintaining a positive attitude.

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude: How to Find, Build and Keep a YES! Attitude for a Lifetime of SUCCESS” (10 copies available) answer this two questions:

Comment by 9pm CST on Friday March 9th and be entered to win! 10 winners will be randomly selected.

Update: Winners have been selected! Thanks for all the great comments and a special thanks to Rebecca from BuyGitomer, Inc. for participating in this weeks giveaway.

Harry Beckworth, one of the worlds most respected brand strategists has been helping companies in such areas as positioning, branding and other various client relations. He wrote the top selling “Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing” back in 1997 which was one of the first books focused on selling services. He is back again with “You Inc.: The Art of Selling Yourself” which is based on his 30 years of business experience.

As Harry says, “Living is Selling” so it is vital that you master the skill of selling yourself. He provides an endless amount of anecdotes and priceless tips on areas such as: speaking and listening, attitude and beliefs, and tactics and habits (for instance: how to remember names!).

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “You, Inc.: The Art of Selling Yourself” (5 copies available) answer this two questions:

Since we were late getting this post up, comment by 9pm CST on Sunday February 25th and be entered to win! 5 winners will be randomly selected.

Update: Winners have been selected!

David Allen is the best-selling author of “Getting Things Done” and “Ready for Anything“. Hailed as the “Henry Ford of the Digital Age”, David has coached CEO’s and top executives of the Fortune 500 companies and more than 500,000 people in his 25 year career of teaching people a smarter, more productive way to work and live. David Allen’s site offers great resources such as Free Articles, Podcasts, a Newsletter, and tips and tools. With 278 positive Amazon.com reviews and accolades from Fast Company, Fortune, and the WSJ this book has received the stamp of approval. Think of it as the definitive guide on productivity.

Visit the David Allen Co. store to purchase the book directly.

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “Getting Things Done” (10 copies available) answer these two questions:

Comment by 9pm CST today and be entered to win! 10 winners will be randomly selected.

Update: Winners have been selected! Thanks for all the great comments!

Don’t forget tomorrow we are giving away 10 copies of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done“. This book is flying of the digital shelf right now. It’s currently the #8 top selling book on Amazon.com. “Getting Things Done” is the definitive guide for organizing your life’s to-do list and being more productive. If you are feeling stressed and need a new system for organizing tasks and managing your time this book is vital!!

One tip that can be quickly implemented into your life:

• Two-Minute Rule: if there’s anything you absolutely must do that you can do right now in two minutes or less, then do it now, thus freeing up your time and mind tenfold over the long term.

Update: To be entered in giveaways all you have to do is answer the question we post in the comments section. Check this previous giveaway for example.

Today we are giving away 5 copies of the popular “Beyond Code: Learn to Distinguish Yourself in 9 Simple Steps!”. As the global workforce has expanded and internet connections sped up over the past 10 years there has been a squeeze on professional jobs. Certain positions in the IT industry have become ‘commoditized’. The need to stand out and distinguish yourself is your only hedge against the changing dynamics of the job market.

As we’ve learned in other books such as “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel Pink, we can’t rely on what worked in the past – change is needed. You’ll be become irrelevant if you don’t take personal branding in your own hands. In “Beyond Code” by Rajesh Setty you’ll learn ways to become invaluable to your employer. Although it was written for the IT professional in mind, it’s chock full of advice, examples, and interviews that anyone will find beneficial. As Tom Peters says in the forward, “Read this book as if your life depends on it. It does.”

Check out the Life Beyond Code blog Rajesh maintains. It has some great material that expands beyond the book.

Book Description:

“Through his work with hundreds of technology professionals, Rajesh Setty has had a bird’s eye view of careers that soared and careers that stalled. In the IT arena, Setty noted that while some people succeeded beyond imagination, most people seemed to get stuck about ten or fifteen years into their careers. After careful observation, interviews and insights, Setty realized that the top performers in the IT services industry definitely had a different set of standard practices for distinguishing themselves. To share their secrets, Setty created Beyond Code.

In Beyond Code, Setty explains that today’s tech pros are facing the crisis of commoditization and that in order to thrive, it is imperative that they learn to stand out. Moreover, Beyond Code functions as a blueprint for professionals who want to go from acceptable to exceptional.

Beyond Code explains how technology professionals can supercharge their careers by winning what Setty calls the Inner Game and Outer Game. Complete with exercises, examples, and insights, Beyond Code provides a recipe for technology professionals to raise above the commodity crowd and become remarkable.”

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “Beyond Code”(5 copies available) answer this question:

Comment by 9pm CST today and be entered to win! 10 winners will be randomly selected.

Update: Winner’s have been selected! Rajesh was impressed with all the great comments that he selected everyone that commented to win!

Today we are giving away 10 copies of the controversial book “The Halo Effect” by Phil Rosenzweig. Phil, a professor at IMD Business School in Switzerland, thinks that todays business publications are failing us. The leading magazines and best selling books promote the idea that if you mimic the companies they highlight then you will achieve success too . Phil believes these theories are flawed. It is more complex than that.

The Halo Effect, or the activity of exaggerating the merits of companies on the upswing, and magnifying its faults when it falters, is rampant in management books and business magazines. If we let the Halo of the company performance affect our judgements, then we restrict our ability to assess the strengths and weaknesses in a objective manner. Phil’s blog continues the discussion of current examples of the Halo Effect by the media. Check it out!

In a brilliant and unconventional book, Phil Rosenzweig unmasks the delusions that are commonly found in the corporate world. These delusions affect the business press and academic research, as well as many best-selling books that promise to reveal the secrets of success or the path to greatness. Such books claim to be based on rigorous thinking, but operate mainly at the level of storytelling. They provide comfort and inspiration, but deceive managers about the true nature of business success.

The most pervasive delusion is the Halo Effect. When a company’s sales and profits are up, people often conclude that it has a brilliant strategy, a visionary leader, capable employees, and a superb corporate culture. When performance falters, they conclude that the strategy was wrong, the leader became arrogant, the people were complacent, and the culture was stagnant. In fact, little may have changed—company performance creates a Halo that shapes the way we perceive strategy, leadership, people, culture, and more. The Halo Effect is widespread, undermining the usefulness of business bestsellers from In Search of Excellence to Good to Great.

The Halo Effect is a landmark book that replaces mistaken thinking with a sharper understanding of what drives company performance. It’s a guide for the thinking manager, a way to detect errors in business research and to reach a clearer understanding of what drives success and failure. For managers who want to separate fact from fiction in the world of business, The Halo Effect is a much-needed antidote to the conventional thinking that clutters business bookshelves.

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “The Halo Effect” (10 copies available) answer this question:

Comment by 9pm CST Wednesday February 7th and be entered to win! 10 winners will be randomly selected.

Today we are giving away 10 copies of the recently released “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything“. Flickr, YouTube, Linux, Wikipedia are instantly associated with the Internet social movement of collaboration on a mass scale. This movement is creating a ripple effect change on the way businesses run in the twenty-first century.

The Internet has turned into a platform which enables companies to host their R&D labs (InnoCentive), create better software than what large corporations offer us (Firefox or any open source software), and assemble innovative and original television content (CurrentTV). It is evident that peer production communities are here to stay for a while. How will you leverage this within your company? Read this book to find out.

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything”(10 copies available) answer this question:

Comment by 9pm CST today and be entered to win! 10 winners will be randomly selected.

Update:Winners have been selected!

We have some great book giveaway’s coming up in the near future. Starting with tomorrow’s giveaway!

10 copies of “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything” by Don Tapscott this Friday February 2nd

There have been a lot of interesting releases on the subject of mass collaboration/wisdom of crowds/leaderless organizations over the past few years - Wikinomic’s being the most recent. It’s a hot subject that been getting a lot of attention from the media with articles such as this one and this one.

From Wikinomics.com:

In the last few years, traditional collaboration—in a meeting room, a conference call, even a convention center—has been superseded by collaborations on an astronomical scale.

Today, encyclopedias, jetliners, operating systems, mutual funds, and many other items are being created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. While some leaders fear the heaving growth of these massive online communities, Wikinomics proves this fear is folly. Smart firms can harness collective capability and genius to spur innovation, growth, and success.
A brilliant primer on one of the most profound changes of our time, Wikinomics challenges our most deeply-rooted assumptions about business and will prove indispensable to anyone who wants to understand the key forces driving competitiveness in the twenty-first century.

Based on a $9 million research project led by bestselling author Don Tapscott, Wikinomics shows how the masses of people can participate in the economy like never before. They are creating TV news stories, sequencing the human genome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding a cure for disease, editing school texts, inventing new cosmetics, and even building motorcycles.

10 copies of the “The Halo Effect” by Phil Rosenzweig on Monday February 5th

“The Halo Effect” is an iconoclastic look at management theories. Who is in the cross hairs of his critique? Business magazines such as Business Week and Fortune. Both are guilty of applying simple phrases to explain the success and failures of companies they feature. This oversimplification leads to delusions on parts of managers who want to emulate success in their own companies. Phil also takes aim at such books as In Search of Excellence, Built to Last, and Jim Collins best selling Good to Great. “The Halo Effect” definitely rocks the proverbial ‘business book’ boat.

From Publishers Weekly:

This tart takedown of fashionable management theories is a refreshing antidote to the glut of simplistic books about achieving high performance. Rosenzweig, a veteran business manager turned professor, argues that most popular business ideas are no more than soothing platitudes that promise easy success to harried managers. Consultants, journalists and other pundits tap scientifically suspect methods to produce what he calls “business delusions”: deeply flawed and widely held assumptions tainted by the “halo effect,” or the need to attribute sweeping positive qualities to any company that has achieved success. Following these delusions might provide managers with a comforting story that helps them frame their actions, but it also leads them to gross simplification and to ignore the constant demands of changing technologies, markets, customers and situations. Mega-selling books like Good to Great, Rosenzweig argues, are nothing more than comforting, highbrow business fables. Unfortunately, Rosenzweig hedges his own principles for success so much that managers will find little practical use for them. His argument about the complexity of sustained achievement, and his observation that success comes down to “shrewd strategy, superb execution and good luck,” may end up limiting the market for this smart and spicy critique.

This week we are giving away 3 copies of “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful” by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith. Marshall has been an executive coach to over 70 CEO’s and is one of the leading authorities on helping leaders succeed in making positive changes. This is book is a popular item at #30 on Amazon.com’s top selling list.

From Publishers Weekly:

Goldsmith, an executive coach to the corporate elite, pinpoints 20 bad habits that stifle already successful careers as well as personal goals like succeeding in marriage or as a parent. Most are common behavioral problems, such as speaking when angry, which even the author is prone to do when dealing with a teenage daughter’s belly ring. Though Goldsmith deals with touchy-feely material more typical of a self-help book—such as learning to listen or letting go of the past—his approach to curing self-destructive behavior is much harder-edged. For instance, he does not suggest sensitivity training for those prone to voicing morale-deflating sarcasm. His advice is to stop doing it. To stimulate behavior change, he suggests imposing fines (e.g., $10 for each infraction), asserting that monetary penalties can yield results by lunchtime. While Goldsmith’s advice applies to everyone, the highly successful audience he targets may be the least likely to seek out his book without a direct order from someone higher up. As he points out, they are apt to attribute their success to their bad behavior. Still, that may allow the less successful to gain ground by improving their people skills first.

To be entered into today’s book giveaway, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” (3 copies available) answer this question:

Comment by 9pm CST today and be entered to win! 3 winners will be randomly selected.

Update: Winners have been selected!

Adam from Houston, Tx
Rajesh from Cherry Hill, NJ
Liz from San Francisco, CA

Congrats all and thanks to Yolanda from FSB Associates!

Winners of the copies of “Made to Stick”:

Michael from Canada
Frank from Seattle, WA
Sarah from Durham, NC
Nicholas from Raleigh NC
Michael from Methuen MA
Ashley from Alpharetta, GA
Sheridan from Dallas, TX
Andrew from Durham, NC
Lauren from DC
Ryan from Somerville, MA

Thanks for everyone participating! And especially thanks to Sabrina from Random House!

Don’t forget to check back this Friday (January 26th) we have another great book up for grabs!

Today we are giving away 5 copies, now 10 copies of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Fail. Brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath have written an entertaining and useful guide on how to get your ideas/messages to stick with your audience. Filled with countless examples and backed by extensive research, Made To Stick is a top 100 seller on Amazon. Many are predicting it to be 2007’s Freakonomics. This book is sure to ‘stick’ with your attention.

Read our review of Made To Stick.

To be entered into today’s book “Made To Stick” giveaway (10 copies available) answer this question:

Comment and be entered to win! 5 winners will be randomly selected.
Update: now we’ll have 10 Winners! Anyone who gets there ’sticky’ message/idea in by 9pm CST will be entered to win!


Winners will selected shortly…

You don’t want to miss tomorrow’s giveaway. We are giving away 5 copies of recently released and must read book of the year, Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.

Check out our review of “Made to Stick” here.

From Publishers Weekly:

Unabashedly inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s bestselling The Tipping Point, the brothers Heath—Chip a professor at Stanford’s business school, Dan a teacher and textbook publisher—offer an entertaining, practical guide to effective communication. Drawing extensively on psychosocial studies on memory, emotion and motivation, their study is couched in terms of “stickiness”—that is, the art of making ideas unforgettable. They start by relating the gruesome urban legend about a man who succumbs to a barroom flirtation only to wake up in a tub of ice, victim of an organ-harvesting ring. What makes such stories memorable and ensures their spread around the globe? The authors credit six key principles: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions and stories. (The initial letters spell out “success”—well, almost.) They illustrate these principles with a host of stories, some familiar (Kennedy’s stirring call to “land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth” within a decade) and others very funny (Nora Ephron’s anecdote of how her high school journalism teacher used a simple, embarrassing trick to teach her how not to “bury the lead”). Throughout the book, sidebars show how bland messages can be made intriguing. Fun to read and solidly researched, this book deserves a wide readership.