Stop Sabotaging Your Career: 8 Proven Strategies to Succeed--in Spite of Yourself

by Lois P. Frankel

Book Overview

From entry-level employees to senior executives, no one is exempt from career derailment. According to internationally recognized business coach Dr. Lois Frankel, the most common sources of unexpected changes in career momentum are not your shortcomings but your strengths--an overdependence on the exceptional abilities that contributed to past success. It is the employee who exhibits the widest array of technical and interpersonal capabilities who...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446697850
• ISBN13: 9780446697859
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding book

I saw this book on sale at the bookstore and picked it up. It is a great book with common-sense advice on how to identify character traits you may have that you may not be aware of that that may be causing you to be passed up for a promotion. It talks about building and maintaining relationships with others and emphasizes that you need complimentary skills in addition to your technical competence. She also recommends several other books, for example, Business Class: Etiquette Essentials for Success at Work by Jacqueline Whitemore. She also identifies the five most deadly character traits: condescension, abrasiveness, belligerence, blaming, and insensitivity. I'm a former legal secretary in the midst of a career change and found this book very enlightening. I highly recommend it for anywone who wants to move forward in his career. The sad thing is that this book would not have done me any good as a legal sec because of the lack of room for advancement or promotional opportunities. The legal field doesn't have a ladder of success to climb for staff. Not only do they have nothing to lose by not learning and applying the principles in this book, but neither do attys. They can be as mean and nasty as they want and will still go far.

Common sense tips about careers

Have you ever been stuck in a job that doesn't seem to fit anymore? Have you been passed over for a job that you thought you would be perfect for? Have you gotten off of your career path, but you aren't sure how? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is probably for you. Dr. Frankel writes about eight strategies that she has developed to overcome the situations above. She states that childhood experiences, mostly the relationship between children and their parents, shape the way that people react to their work situation. Most of us don't realize that our overbearing boss unconsciously reminds us of our bossy mother and that we react to the boss in much the same way that we used to react to our moms. Frankel offers the perspective of thirty years as a "human resource professional, management consultant and executive coach" and her book is filled with real-life examples and solutions. Each chapter gives a detailed explanation of each of Frankel's Success Strategies, along with examples and tips on how to implement it. At the end of each chapter is a list of coaching tips, of which the reader is encouraged to pick two to three to put into practice. The book also includes resources that include a Career Status Check that allows the reader to quickly test if they have any weaknesses in the eight areas, as well as suggestions for websites, books and organizations that can help readers develop the skills they need to succeed in the workplace. I found Frankel's writing style easy to understand and most of her suggestions applicable to my own career. Although there were some cliches used throughout the book, they were not enough to detract from the insights offered by Frankel's life experiences. Armchair Interviews says: Recommended it to anyone who wants some common-sense tips on how to succeed in their career.