Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Despite this book's subtitle stating that it is a "Guide," I felt this book was more of a memoir than a how-to. It has components of both, and succeeds as neither.

Some of Black's anecdotes about her rise to the top were memorable -- most notably the one in which she very publicly gives one of her superiors a giant tomato from her garden, in order to make an impression on him.

But Black doesn't succeed in turning the anecdote into a lesson. It's just a story about a stunt she pulled to publicize herself -- and in the telling, it comes off as a lame stunt at that. (She also kept referring to the tomato as a "vegetable," which drove me nuts.)

Oddly enough, a few chapters later, she talks about a hopeful interviewee who sent her a four-foot-tall potted plant as a thank-you gift. Black makes fun of the gift and advises against readers doing something similar. I don't get it. Why is it clever for Black to go to a big meeting and give somebody a giant tomato, but it's stupid for a potential new hire to send Black a large plant?

Basic Black is full of muddles like this. In another anecdote, Black talks about the first executive resort getaway she organized after joining Hearst. She tells us that she booked the getaway at a Florida resort that was "not your father's resort," and yet she doesn't give other details to show why the place was so different, special, and fabulous. She does mention that the decor features sweeping floor-to-ceiling draperies.

Later, she describes making a speech to the Hearst execs, and makes a big deal about her rallying cry of, "It's time to shake the dust off the curtains at Hearst!" At which point, she gestured to the resort's big curtains.

Uh, OK. So that was it? You pointed at the curtains, AND...?

And nothing. That's the end of the story. Apparently she is to be congratulated for booking a resort that had fantastic curtains, and then working the curtains into her speech. The book doesn't go any deeper into the Big Curtain Metaphor to provide any advice for the reader. The anecdote falls flat.

As does much of the book. I found very little in it that was interesting or worthwhile. The "Devil is in the Details" chapter was probably the best one. It broke out, in list form, various dos and don'ts of maintaining and upgrading one's career and personal relationships.

But there is very little actual "advice" in this book, so don't be fooled by the subtitle, or by a quick flip-through -- those little red-boxed bits of "advice" peppered through the text were more like lame fortune-cookie fortunes, empty aphorisms.

I enjoyed this book as a corporate skills review. Cathie Black's book gives good information on basic business life skills. This book gives advice on how to handle the corporate environment and what to do to avoid some office politic pitfalls. However, the subtitle of the book "the essential guide for getting ahead at work (and in life)" does not hold true to the final story. This book does not talk about life outside of the corporate circle Cathie Black lives. Unless you are a recent new corporate entry, most of this book is leadership review. This book helps to iterate what is learned over years of working. Cathie's work stories tend to become tired by 3/4 through the book and her experiences seem limited to some degree. I recommend this book for young, fresh out of college corporate women. They will learn some basic leadership skills from this book.

As a highly successful working woman and mother, I'm always interested in hearing from other successful working women--and I thank Cathie Black for her attempt. I'm tired of books written by men. And even though women have the money and buying power, there aren't enough books out there for us. Yet, this book disappointed me. Cathie Black's book is black and white: an over-drive of ego. Her stories center around her brilliance. She comes off as self-obsorbed and shallow. Where are the business books written by women that have walked our path--eager to share their stories as a woman, mother, wife? Don't tell me to be driven and take risks. I do that every day. Don't bore me with your love story with yourself. Surely she could do more for women than canned testimonials and naming a book afer herself. I wish you would have dug deeper, Cathie.

Many people who are unhappy with their jobs or just eager to move up have used company time to work on their résumés. And they've probably gone on to photocopy those résumés on the office machine. And some of them have almost certainly left the original at the copier, where, as luck would have it, it gets found by a senior executive who knows exactly what it means.

Cathie Black did all that. The difference between her and the yutz who regales his friends with his stupidity over brewskis at the corner tap is that Cathie Black is the CEO of Hearst Magazines --- and that she tells this story on herself at the start of her book. Right away you know: This is not a woman who has airbrushed her career.

I can personally testify to that. Over the years, I have spoken at Hearst conferences and flirted with employment at Hearst, and my conversations with Cathie Black have been models of clear communication. She states her position or asks her question, listens attentively, and follows up --- she's the walking example of a "New York minute." But she's not a chilly corporate nun. She gets the joke: Magazines may help you better your life, they may divert you from your cares, they may even help you figure out how to dispose of your disposable income, but they do not cure cancer. And so, when I picture Cathie Black, I think equally of her blunt-as-a-bullet approach to business and her quick, warm laugh.

Those qualities come through in this book, which is, above all, a virtual mentoring campaign. That benevolent sharing is crucial, for Black believes every woman who hopes for a successful, rewarding career needs a mentor. If you happen to lack a powerful woman with a generous heart, look no further --- Cathie Black is not one of those people who got to the top and promptly set about making sure no one else could follow her route.

Nor is Cathie Black some sort of doctrinaire feminist --- though she was at Ms. Magazine in the early years when it was assumed that its employees were rabid. Great CEOs have no politics, they'll vote for whatever works. And Cathie Black is a great CEO; in her decade at Hearst, she's presided over 10% growth, scored the most successful magazine launch in history (the Oprah magazine, O) and power-wedged a once-glacial company onto the Web.

So her advice is practical in the extreme. Think of your boss as "a small woodland animal" --- you don't want to surprise him/her with any sudden moves. Better that you should anticipate his/her needs. Better that you make him/her look good. Does that grate on you? Always remember: "The end game is the only game in town." Translation: Don't play for small stakes.

This simple advice is worth the price of admission. If you spend your days in the kind of offices I've had the misfortune to work in, you are surrounded by politicians who think the election is tomorrow. They're catty and petty; they think small. Join them, and you'll never get beyond middle management.

Happily for those of us who are sick to death of how-to tomes written by people who couldn't do it if they memorized their own books, Basic Black dares to suggest an idea you rarely hear: Smart Thinking and Right Conduct do get rewarded in the real world.

Examples:

When you've prepared for a meeting with the big boss, do you present your pitch, no matter what he/she signals? Cathie Black listened carefully, then threw an hour speech out the window and got everything she needed --- from Rupert Murdoch, no less --- is just five minutes.

When you're wooing Oprah, do you hire Spielberg to make a promo film about your company? Black's crew took digital mini-cams to the mall.

When you're offered a job with your dream title, do you jump at it --- even if it means a move to Podunk? Cathie Black almost did. Fortunately, she had a mentor who spoke fluent Reality.

The blend of memoir, self-help guide and mentoring session in "Basic Black" has a powerful effect: It's impossible to read this book without entering into a conversation with it. Would you do what Black did? What would Black do in your situation? There's really no such thing as a virtual mentor. And self-help books can't really help you run your life better. But a book that presents situations and challenges you to second-guess the author's decisions --- that's a useful book.

If I were young and female and buffeted on all sides by gurus who promise the impossible, I'm sure I'd find "Basic Black" a comfort and a prod --- an intimate chat with a kindly aunt who tells you how she succeeded, then kicks your butt and tells you to strap on your Manolos, get out there and make something of yourself.

Yes, Ms. Black! Of course, Ms. Black! Right on it, Ms. Black!

And then, if her way works for you: Thank you, Ms. Black!

At first I enjoyed this book - the cute anecdotes made it a quick read. But now, halfway through, I'm tired of her bragging about her success and trying to find lessons in her anecdotes. All her "tips" are basically common sense. I agree with the review that says it's a "memoir masquerading as a guide to career and life....which mainly consists of anecdotes from her working life and fawning praise for Al Neuharth."

As a mid-30s professional expecting my first child in spring, I had high hopes this book might offer some valuable insights into the realistic management of expectations when it comes to juggling career and family life. The book had interesting stories through about the first 1/2, but then became redundant and the theme began to grate on me (basically: workaholism at any cost, all else be darned).

Ms. Black missed a key opportunity here to add some real meat to the book by elaborating on becoming a mother in her 40s (highly admirable, yet mostly glazed over) and how she met those demands. I wanted real human-side examples, including those when things did not go so well.

Turns out she hired a full-time nanny after FOUR weeks maternity leave and subsequently delegated (by her own admission) the majority of the child-rearing responsibility to her much adored mother-in-law. She makes no apologies for putting her professional aspirations above all else, so at least she is honest about it.

Where was the 360 degree balance? Is the REAL answer she was proposing to hire a nanny and have your mother-in-law on 24-hour call?? Surely there had to be more? Unfortunately, there was not.

Too bad you couldn't have shared more of your personal challenges with us, Cathie - in Gretzky's terms, you missed "100%" of this shot.

I finished the book disappointed that the time invested in what could have been an opportunity to learn from a successful professional/ wife/ mother turned out to be nothing more than a the story of a woman who made it big.... simply by behaving LIKE A MAN.

Cathie Black's name is well known in business and publishing circles as she is currently the CEO of Hearst Magazines (19 in all), as well as the go-getter who convinced Oprah to do a magazine, and to do it with Hearst. She's also the one most credited for the wildly successful USA Today, and greatly admired for shattering any glass ceilings that hampered her career. Black's dossier is an enviable one but more to the point here is her book, Basic Black, a combination of sound practical advice, self-help, mentoring, and snapshots of media greats.

Whether you're young and starting out or in the middle of a career, you'll undoubtedly find much good advice as well as many smiles in this savvy tome. Further, even if you're not on a career path much of what she has to say is applicable and helpful in everyday living, such as getting rid of the grudges that harm only you.

Black, is an advocate of risk taking, but wise risk taking - calculate what you may gain and what you may lose by undertaking a specific action. She reminds us: ". As ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once said, "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take."

Along with risk taking she urges us not to focus on something that failed but rather to examine what we may have learned from that experience and use this knowledge to our advantage. As an example of this she describes the decision she once made to leave New York and take a job with a new magazine in San Francisco - a publication that quickly folded.

Quite obviously, Black does not describe her success to date as a skip down the yellow brick road but rather a path of trying, learning, and giving it all she's got.

Black reads as she leads, confidently, firmly, clearly, yet with a smile in her voice.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

This is an excellent book by all mean. It is full of practical advice that is supported with very real examples. Cathy is very real and down to earth person, you can sense her true self and honest advice thru the lines. Her sense of humor and ability to make fun of herself was impressive too. I have learned so much as well as enjoyed going thru the book

I recommend this book to any woman who works, whether that work be paid or volunteer.

I have been a professional volunteer for more than 16 years now, and I thought I had seen it all, but I still come across people and events that are less than easy to deal with. Cathie has given some very valuable pointers in dealing with difficult people and situations that I found both amusing and practical.

This book is easy to read, and by using her own life story as the examples, gives a very "real" feel to the book.

This book will continue to be a resource as I encounter new ideas and new situations, that I am unfamiliar with. It's already filed with my other reference materials!

I am giving this book to several of my friends, who I'm sure will enjoy it as much as I have.

Drive, Risk, People, Fear, Power, Passion etc... Each chapter of Basic Black utilizes a one word title meant to infuse the reader with confidence and passion. I was very excited when I first picked up the book expecting it to be filled with excellent insider tips on succeeding in my career.

The problem I had with the book was that from the very beginning of the book where Cathie Black, author of the book and President of Hearst magazines, announced how in 1983 she walked out of a building and stepped into a stretch limousine, I was unable to establish a connection. Black used her own life experiences to illustrate her points. To the average career person, hearing about how tough she had it trying to decide which high profile job to take over another high profile job, made it difficult to really identify with her. The story was not rags to riches, but rather riches to riches.

This is not to say that the book did not contain helpful information, because it definitely did. The problem for me was getting past her story in order to appreciate the information she was trying to share. Once I was able to focus on her message and not her story, I found it to definitely be a worthwhile book.