Book Reviews

Book reviews posted here are provided by Lori O’Malley, the SSB Career Consultant for Graduate Studies. All books reviewed are available for check out in the career library housed at 102 Gundersen.

The Etiquette Advantage in Business by Peggy and Peter Post (2005).

Don’t let the thickness of the book discourage you from taking a look! While you may not have time to read the entire volume, this is the perfect reference guide for dealing with a wide variety of situations and interactions in the business world.

I recommend this book particularly since it deals with etiquette from a business perspective; however, I found the section titled “The Job Applicant” to be a little lacking – you can get all this information just hanging around my office and asking questions.

BUT, the section titled “At the Workplace” addresses the skills necessary to effectively and properly interact with coworkers, subordinates and superiors as well as issues of hosting work related meetings. Included in this section is a chapter on being a smart manager and the power of positive reinforcement up and down the corporate chain. I found the section on the “perfect meeting” particularly relevant and insightful. I believe if followed, this plan can help even the newest employee keep from making some serious mistakes on the job.

Another important section, “Rising to the Occasion”, explores ideas behind pleasing your customers. It covers issues from making the first contact to keeping contractors happy. Of course you can’t make everyone happy all the time, so dealing with angry customers and knowing when to let clients go are also discussed. The “occasion” may include giving gifts to customers and employers which of course varies according to the culture involved (both in being abroad and in the corporate culture).

For those who don’t get out much…of most help is the detailed description of table settings and dealing with meals and parties in a business setting. Even I learned a few new things in this section! You’ve got to check it out!

My guess is, if you have this book on your shelf at work, folks (including your boss) will come to you for etiquette tips, which is not a bad way to get to know people!

How To Speak Business English Like An American by Amy Gillett (2006).

I love this book! In fact, I love all the books in this series by Gillett!

This book is a fun easy way for international students to learn the idioms Americans use in our daily working lives. There’s no embarrassing class to take; just read the book, do the chapter reviews and practice saying phrases along with the provided CD.

Although the book has some funny illustrations to go along with the idioms – my favorite is “my stomach is killing me”, it has some examples for tricky situations. It provides phrases on issues including talking about financial issues, dissatisfied customers, taking credit for good results, and firing an employee. It also has a bonus set of idioms commonly used in negotiating purchases and requesting a bank loan.

I highly recommend this book for international students studying in the U.S.!

Nice Girls Don’t Get The Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers by Lois Frankel (2004).

How many times can a person say “I love this book!” and really mean it? I love this book – one, because you can get through it in about 15 minutes, and two, because it brings a lot of things to light that you might need to think about.

For example, number 55 on the list is “being invisible”. I fight that quite a bit in my own career. It’s about taking credit for good work and making sure people notice your good work – in an artful and polite way. This gets to the heart of what I call “promotability”. If your boss doesn’t know about the great things you’re doing you will be overlooked for promotion time and time again. It’s not good enough to go over these in your annual employee review – it’s got to be more frequently than that, however, it has to be done correctly. Why do you think I make a point of inviting the Dean of the Spears School of Business to our PD events? So she can see us looking good and working hard!

It also talks about minimizing your work, letting people waste your time and giving up your career goals too early. Most of these things are serious and will cause you to think about how you present yourself in business situations (and others). A few of the mistakes are things we know, but perhaps don’t pay enough attention to – like how your hair style adds or detracts from your “promotability” and the importance of not decorating your office space like your living room.

This book is great and since you can get through it so quickly, why not pick up a copy?

Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi (2005).

I actually received a copy of this book from the author at a conference. So if you check it out of our library be sure to return it – it’s an autographed copy.

Ferrazzi is a young guy (okay, make that young to me) with a LOT on his resume. His personal story is intriguing and is filled with tales of hard work, resulting in a lot of success. The secret to his success is his ability to reach out to others, establish relationships and keep them. The book tells his personal stories and those of his friends in their quest to network to the hilt.

I actually routinely put one of his tactics to use. It’s called “pinging”. Pinging is a quick casual greeting done in your own style to remind people you’re still here and interested in them. E-mail is my favorite method of pinging – it’s quick and cheap. I “ping” a lot of alumni enabling me to keep track of where our graduates go. This should mean something to you as the cycle of helping continues – I help them while they’re here, we keep in touch, then they help me help you! Get it? It’s called networking!

Ferrazzi now has his own consulting company, lives on both coasts and I subscribe to his web mail – that should be recommendation enough!

The Exceptional Presenter by Timothy Koegel (2002).

I’ll start by saying I’ve seen this guy do a presentation – he IS the exceptional presenter! So it makes sense that he could put out a book describing his own methods and sell it. The book is simple to read and in a “workbook” type format which I appreciate.

If you’ve heard people in the PD class talk about using the “claw” – this is where I got it! The “claw” is a certain way of calling attention to something on a screen that you are discussing – it’s not really pointing, its better than pointing. I’ve also used the presentation assessment form as an assignment in the PD class for students to review their own presentation styles.

The book delves deeper than little catchy gimmicks though. It discusses the importance of a well organized presentation, the cost of being less than exceptional, and understanding your audience. All are important aspects to consider.

In your graduate program you will be called upon to make numerous presentations. Each one is important as each serves as preparation for work life after graduation and, in the case of those students participating in case competitions, your presentation may serve as your introduction and first interview with a potential employer.

This guy knows what he’s talking about!