Book review: Brazen Careerist
There’s this thing about reading your favorite columnists: when they write books you can be pretty confident that you’re gonna enjoy the read. This has been true for me with Thomas Friedman, Malcolm Gladwell and now with Penelope Trunk.
Penelope is a columnist with the Boston Globe (read her column here and her blog here) and she writes about career advancement stuff. And her advice is really, really good. She definitely approaches the topic from a GenX point of view and that’s probably why I like her writing style and advice so much.
The book has some standard advice and a lot of unexpected advice–tons I agree with, some I find a bit questionable but plausible. I haven’t read The No Asshole Rule yet, but I enjoy Sutton’s blog. My bet is that if you dig Sutton, you’ll dig Trunk.
Brazen Careerist starts out by describing a career path that was familiar to me, and probably to you too, if you’re also a GenXer. You cruise (or stumble) through college and then bounce around oddball jobs (I did). Maybe you move back into your parent’s house for a while (I did). You try different careers on for size (I did retail, English teacher overseas, human resources, organizational development, student financial aid, admissions/marketing). Maybe you have a “quarter-life” crisis in your late 20’s or so (I was an early bloomer for once and had mine at 22). Maybe you got the heck out of the country you were born in so you could shake out the wrinkles and see what’s out there (I did).
The book goes on to describe great tactics for navigating the political landscape of the workplace, how to manage your boss, how handle discrimination (and how that handling has changed across generations). There’s strong acknowledgment of how my generation and the one following, GenY, assimilate and leverage technology at work and at home. Trunk also mentions how many of our generational counterparts will actively seek out work that resonates with their values rather than work at a job they hate, even if it fills up the bank account.
There’s a lot to love in this book. I think it’d be a great read for just about any GenXer struggling to find a place in the world–they’ll see that they’ve got a shared experience and they’re not really freaks after all. GenY folks graduating from college could really benefit from the book as a guide to what to expect, and how to deal with, the workplace they’ll encounter. It’s an easy and fun read–especially when you see yourself in the pages.
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POSTED IN: book reviews, career, coaching, communication, management, work life
1 opinion for Book review: Brazen Careerist
Michael Morton
May 17, 2007 at 6:09 am
Awesome timing!
I saw this book in the “New Arrivals” section at a book store this weekend. I skimmed it and Jotted myself a reminder to buy it in a week or two (finishing up Good to Great and then The Dip).
I think I’m a Gen Y person (I’m 28 and beginning my fourth year in my marketing career) so I’m glad you think it will help me!
Thanks for the review Brendon!