Book Reviews: The Glass Hammer’s Top Business Books

This week, we at The Glass Hammer are kicking off a new occasional Friday segment where we review and recommend business-oriented books that might be of particular interest to women working in law and finance. Today we review 3 top business books, so keep reading after the jump. Have a top pick yourself? Write in to let us know what you would like to see us review. Did one of these books change your life? (or end up being used to line your kitty’s litter bin?) Leave a comment and let us know!

“Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life)” by Cathie Black

“One Person/ Multiple Careers: How The ‘Slash Effect’ Can Work For You” by Marci Alboher

“Fire Your Boss” by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine

Cathie Black is the President of Hearst Magazines, a division of Hearst Corporation, which is one of the U.S.’s largest media corporations. A highly experienced media executive, Black writes that her book is “aimed at helping you reach whatever your goal is, regardless of how ambitious you may be in the workplace.”

Tall order, right? I thought so when I started to read, but this book delivers. Sprinkled throughout with pithy, helpful tips (like “Pluck the presidential tomato!”) and real-life case studies, it’s a highly entertaining read that provides down-to-earth and practical advice that anyone can use right away. Black doesn’t shy away from talking about her own missteps in business, which are almost more entertaining than her numerous successes and provide great learning opportunities, whether you are just starting out in the workforce or are mid-career.

The major appeal of the book is Black herself. As I was reading, I kept thinking how much I’d like to have lunch with her and talk for hours. She is wise, funny, honest, and may well be one of the best mentors you will ever find. Above all, this book is tremendously motivating: after you buy it, keep it handy and reach for it whenever you need inspiration.

Contributed by Kathryn Nilsson Reichert

“One Person/ Multiple Careers: How The ‘Slash Effect’ Can Work For You” by Marci Alboher

Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon/ CNN correspondent
Carrie Lane, art consultant/ Pilates instructor
Dan Milstein, computer programmer/ theatre director
Angela Williams, lawyer/ Baptist minister
Robert Childs, psychotherapist/ violinmaker
Ronald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize-winning chemist/ poet, playwright
Oscar Smith, police officer/ personal trainer

These are some of the interesting “slashes” that are profiled in Marci Alboher’s “One Person/ Multiple Careers: How The ‘Slash Effect’ Can Work For You” (Warner Business Books, 2007). Including both inspirational anecdotes and nuts-and-bolts advice, Alboher shows how to customize your dream career with a portfolio of multiple simultaneous careers.

One of my favorite insights is the model of combining Anchors and Orbiters, picking jobs that might have a fixed location, schedule or season (Anchors) and complementing them with jobs that are more flexible (Orbiters). Alboher then shows how Anchors (e.g., a 9-5 corporate job) can become Orbiters when a slash decides to freelance or start a business with those same skills. In this and other ways, Alboher translates how slashes effectively juggle so much, and the benefits and pitfalls associated with slashing. Alboher even has a chapter on working parenthood and the inevitable slash effect of parent/ fill-in-the-blank job.

This is a must-read for anyone considering a slash or already a slash. As an entrepreneur/ success coach/ recruiter/ teacher/ actor/ parent, I felt a sense of community as I read this book, and I got a lot of practical tips on how to optimize my own slash effect.

“Fire Your Boss” by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine

Turning a popular cliché on its head, “Fire Your Boss” (HarperResource, 2004) by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine encourages readers to instead “Work For The Money, The Love Will Follow.” Additional unconventional insights include thinking of your work as a job and not a career, making compensation the number one decision driver in job selection, and intentionally not looking for personal satisfaction in one’s work (because you won’t find it there!).

When I read the above, it sounds like this book is cynical and downbeat. Actually, it is refreshing and liberating. It empowers people to take control of their work lives, to stop using work as an excuse or a substitute for not have a personal life, and to acknowledge the importance of economic security.

I am a big fan of the career development/ self-improvement genre, and I thoroughly believe in following your passion and leading an authentic life. This book is at the top of my recommended reading list because it doesn’t contradict that; in fact it supports it more than many of the career books out there today. The checklist offered for considering job offers is comprehensive and spot on. The anecdotes of people who have used the Fire Your Boss philosophy are compelling and practical. If you embrace the philosophy espoused in this book, it will actually be easier to find passion and authenticity in your life. “Fire Your Boss” ultimately is about how working is just one part of what you do, not all of it. In that way, this book is less about work and more about life.

Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine. Caroline is co-founder of SixFigureStart, a success coaching firm specializing in coaching college students and young professionals into six-figure careers. Contact her at caroline@sixfigurestart.com.