A bit of a different, and shorter post this week as we head into the holiday season…
After its share of delays and author procrastination, my book finally went live on Amazon yesterday. Since it’s not every day that I get to cross off a bucket list item, I want to tell you a little bit about what’s in it and why.
First, what’s in the book:
Smart Like How: The Hidden Side of Career Success includes content from many of the essays that I’ve published online, newly refurbished and re-organized into five sections. It includes more of my career backstory and context than I’ve written about online that puts the ideas into a somewhat different context than I’ve had on the blog. That it reads more like a book rather than a collection of essays is because I actually wrote most of my content as a book before I decided to start the blog. I think you’ll find that the organization makes it much easier to read than my blog, and obviously you can read it offline via a kindle device, laptop, iPad or Android tablet using the free kindle reader app.
Second, and more importantly, why I wrote this book:
I’ve written about my motivations for creating Smart Like How before, but I feel like it’s worth pointing out again why I choose to write about the things I do. I believed when I started writing last year – and believe more strongly now thanks to the feedback that I’ve gotten from readers – that there is a big gap in the guidance available to people who are just starting their careers. Even really smart people often miss the boat entirely as far as what it takes, and what it means, to be great at their jobs. They punish themselves to work more hours when they should be looking for how to work on things that are more important instead. They don’t understand how their job really adds value to their organizations, and they don’t know how to go about adding value in an effective way. Seeing smart, motivated young people (and a good share of not-so-young people) fall short of their vision of success and happiness despite their sincere efforts is kind of tragic when you think about how much of our lives we spend working. It doesn’t have to be this way.
I set out to write about the things that I thought were truly the hardest about the first stages of a career, based on my experiences and the things I’ve learned from outstanding mentors of mine. It’s the period before you have authority and a long track record that makes you a magnet for success that you need to navigate first. The personal effectiveness skills that you pick up during this period help you build momentum in your career by building value for your company or organization. Without them, it’s a lot harder to have the kind of career trajectory that you want. But with these skills and lessons it’s not only easier to distinguish yourself among your peers, you have a better chance of actually enjoying your work.
I hope that my book, in addition to the blog, helps you do that.
A Request to My Readers
I am always grateful for the feedback that I receive from readers, and I really enjoy responding to the thoughtful emails that many of you have sent to me. If you choose to buy the book, I would greatly appreciate if you could add a review on the Amazon page. The book also makes a great gift for someone you know who might be in a career transition phase…just saying ;)
*One Housekeeping Note*
I’ve gotten a few notes from readers who have signed up for the mailing list but don’t see my weekly emails. In each case, the answer has been that Gmail (oh, Gmail…) routed the email from Smart Like How to the ‘promotions’ tab. I’m told that you can move it to 'Primary' instead, though I haven't been able to do so successfully. Apologies for the inconvenience, and thanks for reading!
All the best,
Christian
christian@smartlikehow.com