|
|
Title: Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life)
Purchase
Item
Manufacturer: Crown Business
List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $12.39
|
|
| Customer Reviews: |
| Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) by Crown Business Black is the new boring | | I'm surprised at how poor the writing is for such an accomplished woman. Congrats on your achievements in the business word, write a better book on the next try. | | Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) by Crown Business A Business Major Must! | | Anyone in college should pick this up!!! It has great information on how to deal with co-workers, boss's, interview's, resumes' and much more!!! | | Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) by Crown Business Worth the investment! | | Exceptionally easy read! Absolutely essential! Increased equity with every page turn!! Defintely worth the investment! | | Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) by Crown Business Basic Black | | Great book with great advice! I recommend it for the working woman. It is a quick read. | | Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) by Crown Business Bring Success to Your Career with Ms. Black's | Black, Cathie. Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life). Crown Business: New York, 2007.
By The Small Biz.Guru
In a day and age when people are moving faster than the speed of light, ordering mocha tai-chi lattes with extra-fine skim milk, working 80 hour work weeks, and popping a menagerie of pills, it is refreshing to discover that there are individuals who drive hard, but have not lost focus on what makes them human, encompassing a "360 degree" life. One of those individuals is the president of Hearst Magazines, Cathie Black.
Her book, Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life), gives a first person narrative of the highs and lows of her corporate journey. Although the book is geared towards women, that did not deter this male reviewer from reading it; especially as I am always trying to understand the female psyche. The overall theme of this narrative is to help people in the workforce ascertain how to forge an identity and to follow one's hopes and dreams.
Through-out the nine chapters, Ms. Black lucidly speaks about particular traits upon which every business individual should focus and build upon. Those qualities are: drive, risk, people, fear, power, passion, attitude, leadership, and the power of the present. Each of these behaviors comprises a chapter. Half of the chapters has case studies to putting the teachings into practice and the other half has tips on continuing to progress in the business world.
What seems to be one of the best aspects of the guide is the straight- forward language. Black speaks as a mentor, giving sound advice on how to structure a career in the sense of maintaining relationships with people, dealing with conflict within the workforce, and navigating a difficult job. She encourages the reader to know when to exert oneself, when to break the rules, when to take chances, and surprise people just when they think they have you pegged.
In addition to the work-related information, the idea of balancing work and life is presented in a compelling manner. She refers to it as the "360 degree" life. Work, family, leisure, and mind are all a part of this circular existence. Setting parameters and striving for certain goals allows one to properly regulate oneself. Ms. Black admits that she was a workaholic in her 20's, but, as she matured, she realized she wanted more than to simply advance up the corporate ladder.
As a man fresh out of college and now in the corporate world, my life is a whirlwind. It is very helpful to be mentored by a woman who has risen to the top of her profession. As I have just spent four years strumming through thick text-books telling me what to think, Ms. Black's book compliments this education with her insight into the realities of the business world, emphasizing the need for independent thinking and the taking of well-calculated risks.
Overall, Basic Black is a great read. It is not a gripping page-turner that will keep one captivated for hours, but it does give great encouragement to an individual reading it. The behaviors that Cathie Black presents should be at the forefront of every individual's mind in order to create a sense of peace and fulfillment. Yes, we go to work to pay the bills and achieve a certain standard of living; but as we have heard before, "There is more to life". Ms. Black reaffirms this adage through her life which is filled with constant adjustment. As Black writes, "The most important lesson...is that there is no single set of rules for how to succeed, and that trying to copy what someone else has done won't help." (Black, pg 257).
The Small Biz. Guru
[...] | | Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) by Crown Business Product Description | Cathie Black is the wise, funny mentor that every woman dreams of having. She was a pioneer in advertising sales at a time when women didn’t sell; served as president and publisher of the fledgling USA Today; and, in her current position as the president of Hearst Magazines, persuaded Oprah to launch a magazine. In 2006 she was named one of Fortune’s “50 Most Powerful Women in American Business” for the seventh consecutive year. Now, in the exuberant, down-to-earth voice that is her trademark, Cathie explains how she achieved “the 360° life”—a blend of professional accomplishment and personal contentment—and how any woman can seize opportunity in the workplace.
No matter where you are in your career, Basic Black offers invaluable lessons that will help you land the job, promotion, or project you’re vying for. At the core of the book are Cathie’s candid, personal stories. She walks us through her decision to risk dropping a huge ad agency that handled the USA Today campaign in favor of a small boutique agency run by a wild man. (It was a smash.) She admits that her sometimes brusque style once led to a mutiny of staffers at Ms. (She learned to be more flexible in her managerial style.) She offers a clear-eyed look at what happened during the twenty-eight months between the launch and the close of the much-
buzzed-about Talk magazine. And throughout, she offers fascinating glimpses of media and business personalities, such as Rupert Murdoch, Tina Brown, Frank Bennack, Vic Ganzi, former CosmoGirl! editor Atoosa Rubenstein, Bonnie Fuller, and the legendarily difficult Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today.
Above all, Basic Black is motivating. It provides a close-up look at the keen judgment, perseverance, and optimism that have propelled Cathie Black to the top of her game, along with the kind of straight-up practical advice you get in a one-on-one session with a career coach. You’ll find out how to handle job interviews, which rules to break, and why you should make your life a grudge-free zone. Equally important, you’ll be inspired to pursue your passions and achieve your very best. |
MacSB Macworld dinner
MacSB Macworld dinner at Chaat Cafe (Tuesday, January 15, 2008) - Upcoming: “Join Mac small business developers for discussion of Apple software creation and running a small independent business. We will inevitably discuss the announcements from Steve Jobs' keynote and share tips for small, independent businesses.”
Also see Niall Kennedy’s post on the subject. (Niall is the organizer. Big thanks for putting this together.)
Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:27:41 GMT
|
iPhone Apps Have to Pay Their Way
Fraser Speirs: “Possibly the worst business decision we could make as Mac developers is to devalue iPhone applications to the same level as Dashboard widgets.”
This is an important discussion—thanks to Fraser for starting it.
Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:22:10 GMT
|
Five years of Atomic Bird
atomicbird: “Five years ago today Atomic Bird made its public debut. At the time I had never run a business and didn’t know what to expect. I distinctly recall hoping that maybe I’d manage to bring in a few bucks here and there, but having little basis for making realistic projections. It soon became enough to live off of, and it’s still going.”
Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:51:51 GMT
|
The Value of You
Fraser Speirs: “My ticket would have cost £2000-2500 instead of the £560 I paid. My lunch partner was having none of this. His response, which I’ll never forget, was along the lines of: ‘Well, how valuable is a meeting with the best minds at your most important business partner?’”
Mon, 20 Aug 2007 01:32:05 GMT
|
The big iPhone review
Ars Technica: iPhone in depth: “The iPhone is now out and promises to revolutionize the way we use our phones forever. You don’t have to love it; you don’t even have to like it. You will, however, be witness to a great upheaval in the mobile communications business because of it.”
Tue, 10 Jul 2007 05:20:44 GMT
|
"Going Indie" CocoaHeads at WWDC
Theocacao: “I’m pleased to announce the ‘Going Indie’ CocoaHeads on Wednesday, June 13 at the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco from 7pm to 9pm. This meeting will focus on how aspiring independent Mac developers can convert their passion into a real, functioning business.”
Sat, 09 Jun 2007 02:11:09 GMT
|
One year as an indie Mac developer
Code by Kevin: “...my software business qualifies as a success, albeit a modest one. In that light, I’d like to share a few insights that have helped the growth of my business.”
Fri, 18 May 2007 23:06:14 GMT
|
On hybrid apps
inessential.com: “In my career I’ve heard lots of predictions—Apple will go out of business; soon there will be only six or seven websites; the browser is dead; we’ll all be running ‘thin clients’; Java will replace C/C++ everywhere—that I haven’t believed.”
Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:46:22 GMT
|
Mac small business dinner January 10 in San Francisco
Niall Kennedy: “Next week’s dinner extends the tradition of MacSB meetings held during each year’s Macworld and WWDC conferences in San Francisco, bringing together small software businesses within the Mac developer ecosystem to meet face-to-face, reflect on Apple announcements, and share tips and war stories.”
RSVP via Niall’s weblog or on upcoming.org.
Fri, 05 Jan 2007 23:43:29 GMT
|
CocoaRadio interviews Rory Prior of ThinkMac Software
CocoaRadio: “In this podcast, Rory Prior of ThinkMac Software in the U.K. talks about coming to the Mac from Java among other learning experiences. While his application, NewsMac, was one of the first RSS news readers on the Mac it’s only fairly recently that he’s joined the ranks of Cocoa developers. He also offers some advice to operating a Mac software business from the U.K.”
Thu, 03 Nov 2005 19:09:53 GMT
|
MacSB gathering at WWDC
Mike Piatek-Jimenez has set up an informal gathering of MacSB folks at WWDC.
(MacSB stands for Macintosh Small Business—it’s a mailing list for independent Macintosh developers, a place to talk with other developers about the business of Mac development. The name is pronounced max-bee.)
Mon, 09 May 2005 23:35:03 GMT
|
Bare Bones Embraces Automator
Apple: “Automation is no stranger to BBEdit itself. Version 8.0 of the product introduced Text Factories, a visual tool for creating a series of transformations on text. Text Factories let you use BBEdit as an automation solution from start to finish. Automator lets you bring multiple applications to the party.”
Fri, 29 Apr 2005 22:21:27 GMT
|
Startups Are Missing the Mac Opportunity
Business 2.0: “The startup buzz is back in the Valley. Entrepreneurs are at work again, dreaming up new ideas and new ways of doing old things. And even as they put their neurons through a grueling test, they are still hanging on to conventional notions of platforms and market share.”
Wed, 16 Mar 2005 23:25:48 GMT
|
The Builders of Basecamp
O'Reilly Network interviews Jason Fried of 37signals: “We built Basecamp because we needed it. I’m a big believer in investing in what you know and what you need. We invested our time, energy, and focus into building a product that we knew we needed to run our own business. When you build what you know, and when you use what you build, you’ve got a head start on delivering a breakout product.”
Tue, 15 Mar 2005 18:26:17 GMT
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
