I've been saying it for awhile now -- your career is your most valuable financial asset and managing it correctly can earn you millions of dollars in extra income throughout your lifetime. This is one reason I like Career Intensity so much -- and why I'm excited to be giving so many of the books away.
Well today I'm reviewing another career-related book: What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You by Pamela Lenehan. And the good news for all of you is that it's another winner that deals with this all-important topic.
The first thing I have to get out of the way is the subtitle of the book which is "Advice from Senior Female Executives on What You Need to Succeed." Yes, the book does have a lean towards career guidance principles for women, but I found that the book (and especially the first few chapters) to be a good one for men as well (or for men who manage women or are married/dating women in the workforce). I got a lot out of it myself, as you'll see below, so it's not entirely for women.
Author
Let's start with the author. In short, she's very qualified to write about this topic. Here's a quick bio of Pamela Lenehan:
Pamela F. Lenehan is a senior executive with broad strategic and financial experience in corporate and investment banking environments. She founded Ridge Hill Consulting, LLC to work with senior executives and boards of directors to define and implement corporate strategy. Prior to starting Ridge Hill Consulting, she was Chief Financial Officer of a high tech start-up and Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Treasurer of Oak Industries, a $500 million NYSE-listed manufacturer that was sold to Corning.
Lenehan spent 20 years in financial services: she was Managing Director at Credit Suisse First Boston and started her career at Chase Manhattan Bank lending money to growing technology companies. She is on the boards of directors of two public companies, Avid Technology, a $1billion software company and Spartech Corporation, a $1.4 billion plastics manufacturer. She is on the board of The Center for Women & Enterprise, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women to become economically self-sufficient through entrepreneurship. She earned a BA in Mathematical Economics, Cum Laude and With Honors and a MA in Economics from Brown University.
Summary
From the pages I received with the book (PR stuff that gives background, details of the book, etc.), here's a short summary that I feel accurately tells what this book is about:
Drawing on more than 30 years of business experience, including being a partner in a major investment bank and an officer of a public company, Lenehan wrote What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You to highlight the hard fact that the two people who should be interested in your career – you and your boss – won’t have an open dialogue about many of the issues you need to understand.
The piece goes on to bullet-point the main thrusts of the book:
- Actively managing your career.
- Learning how to communicate in the language of business.
- Effectively using your time while networking and on task forces.
- Finding leadership opportunities and good mentors.
- Developing a personal style that projects confidence and competence.
- Handling the nuances of dating, emotions, and office politics.
- Understanding the rigors and rules of business travel.
- Balancing work and family comfortably.
My Thoughts and Rating
Overall, I liked this book. It's packed with practical guidelines for how to make the most of your career. In particular, the first five chapters are gold (worth the price of the book alone if you apply them) and cover the following topics with wonderful insights and tips:
- Why You Don't Know What You Don't Know
- Manage Your Own Career: No One Else Will
- The Key to Effective Communications
- Interactions at Work
- Building Bridges Inside and Outside the Company
The best part about each of these chapters is that Lenehan ends them with two bullet-pointed lists. The first covers "career-enhancing moves" while the second lists "career-limiting moves." If you wanted to be ultra-lazy, you could simply read these and as long as you applied them, you'd be much, much better off than probably 90% of the people in the workforce.
The second half of the book is good, but not nearly as excellent because it's not for a general audience. It's this part that is geared primarily for women, discussing issues such as what to wear, dating, and controlling your emotions. There are some tidbits here for men (such as balancing work and family), but most of it is written for women. It's still good stuff -- it's just that most men won't be interested in it.
However, the first part of the book alone is worth the price of admission. In the end, I liked Lenehan's advice and practical, tip-oriented approach. As such, the Free Money Finance rating for What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You (based on my 0 thru 10 rating system) is: 7 Stars.
Want to know more about this book? Then stick around. I'll be posting several times about it to give you an even better insight into why I liked the book so much.
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