Career Warfare - A Book Summary

 This article is based on the following book:
Career Warfare
"10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand and Fighting to Keep It"
By David F. D'Alessandro
Published by The McGraw-Hill, 2003
ISBN 0071417583
216 pages

It is a tough and competitive business environment you live and it is getting more and more difficult to achieve your goals. You have to stand out among your colleagues and competitors. You have to work hard for career advancement, and better compensation.

Whether you are a senior executive, an entrepreneur or an employee, this book will show you the best way to succeed, accomplish your personal and career goals, outshine your competition and differentiate yourself from the pack. David F. D’Alessandro shows you how to stand out from the crowd by developing your own “personal brand”; and provides valuable lessons in the etiquette of reputation building.

What is Personal Brand?
You need to realize that success does not only come from hard work and
appropriately playing the part. To be successful in business and in your
career, you must be able to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack - you need to develop, build and defend your reputation.

Personal branding is a way you manage your career or business. It is a
way of communicating that makes you different and special. By using
these qualities you can distinguish yourself from your peers so that you
can expand your success.

There are 10 rules you can follow for building a successful personal brand
and keeping it:

Rule 1: Try to Look Beyond Your Own Navel - The biggest obstacle in
building a positive personal brand is your own ego. In order to develop an attractive personal brand, you need to have self-respect and you need to respect the people around you.

Rule 2: Like It or Not, Your Boss is the Coauthor of Your Brand - You must realize and accept the fact that early on in your career, your boss will reap most of the rewards for ideas you give, money that you brought in, etc. This is how the corporate world operates. Do not fight the power
structure. Instead learn how to play and live by it.

Rule 3: Put Your Boss on the Couch - Not all bosses will help you. It is
best that you recognize what type of personality your boss has so that you would realize what advantages and disadvantages this person can cause to your brand.

Rule 4: Learn Which One is the Pickle Fork - Good manners are crucial in developing and enhancing your personal brand. Manners are about consideration and respect, knowledge and patience. Practice good business etiquette.

Rule 5: Kenny Rogers is Right - While it is important for you to seize the opportunity to build your brand, it is equally crucial to know what battles to take. Know when to keep on fighting and when to move fold.

Rule 6: It’s Always Show Time - You must realize that reputations are not usually made by big events - sometimes it is those big events that smear your brand. What builds your reputation is your day-to-day behavior in the business setting, such as how you deal with people, how you make decisions, your work habits, etc.

Rule 7: Make the Right Enemies - The best personal brands include courtesy, fairness, tolerance, self-respect and having good and proper manners. However, a small amount of ruthlessness is good for your brand. Your reputation will not suffer much if you fight your enemies, but it will suffer if you lose your self-respect.

Rule 8: Try Not To Be Swallowed By the Bubble - Once you are successful in building your brand and is rising in the ranks, do not lose sight of the forest. Do not be too full of yourself that you will be swallowed by success. It is bad for your humanity, and bad for your career.

Rule 9: The Higher You Fly, the More You Will Be Shot At - Everybody makes mistakes. The higher you are in the ladder of success, the more likely that your mistakes will be ighlighted. Accept the fact that bad press comes with prominence in any field.

Rule 10: Everybody Coulda Been a Contender; Make Sure You Stay One - Set yourself to be distinct from your peers. Since you are constantly being compared to your peers, don’t be afraid to offer something unique or distinctive. Don’t give up easily. Don’t throw in the towel immediately because of a setback or two. Learn from your mistakes and turn it into an opportunity. Don’t lie, cheat or steal. Be cautious of the reputation you are building.

By: Regine P. Azurin
Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

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About the Author

Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

 Regine Azurin

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