Customer Reviews

Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out On Top at Work

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Viscusi is the CEO of The Viscusi Group, a boutique executive search firm specializing in the interior products industry. He is also called upon as a frequent subject matter expert on national TV, radio and print.

The book is outlined with 4 basic principles supported by 50 tactics:

1) Be visible
2) Be easy
3) Be useful
4) Be ready

My assessment:

1) While it may be a good refresher for a few further up the totem pole, this book is best suited for readers in the early to early-middle stages of their career or for those in the individual contributor / new managers segment.

2) There is a lot of common sense among the 50 tactics (learn new skills; support your boss; have a firm handshake; work hard; leave your problems at home; find a mentor; look good / dress well; take initiative). This will be old news to many yet should be considered base fundamentals for all, and particularly relevant for new/early entrants into the work stream.

3) Author opens with a powerful introduction:

"If you care about your job, you can start protecting it right now. If all you care about is your paycheck, there's almost nothing that will protect you from eventually being deselected in favor of another employee who's truly committed to his job. That's survival of the fittest at work in the workplace.

"You must understand that your job is your most valuable asset, and your primary objective is to protect it."

"Bulletproofing your job requires that you quit crying about merit and fairness and start improving your chemistry with your boss. Work is war, and if someone is going to get fired, let it be the guy your boss doesn't like, not you. If you don't have the stomach for this approach, hand this book off to someone who does and watch him keep his job."

4) Among the 50 tactics, you'll have to pick from the menu as to what works for you and your company's culture and what will not. Some of the tactics are a throwback to the "face-time" work culture of "yesteryear" - for example in the very first tactic the author recommends to "Arrive Early and Stay Late":

"Arriving at work early show your commitment and industriousness. Of course, you need to get there only 5 minutes before your boss or coworkers every day to come off as the world's most committed employee...don't stay late, stay later. Leaving a mere 10 minutes after your boss has gone reinforces the impression that you're the world's most committed employee."

5) The book is easy to read and well organized. It is documented with good examples and summaries hit the key points. It can be finished in one sitting (166 pages).

Despite his self-proclaimed credential as being, "America's Workplace Guru," Stephen Viscusi's book, Bulletproof Your Job, is a weak diatribe of advice that produces the same type of manipulative, political environments that ruin potentially great organizations. According to this material, to guarantee employment you must follow the following four simple strategies:

1. Be visible: Make your boss think your working long hours and imitate your boss as if you're a "Mini-Me"
2. Be easy: Work the office politics carefully, knowing the gossip but not being part of it
3. Be Useful: Adapt to the changing needs of the organization, taking initiative at opportune times
4. Be Ready: Keep your network fresh so that you can find a new job when necessary

Where this book really misses the mark is in its fundamental presupposition:

"You must understand that your job is your most valuable asset, and your primary objective is to protect it."

Bad advice, Mr. Viscusi! An asset is an item of ownership having exchange value. Only an entrepreneur would own their own job, and any entrepreneur smart enough to do that knows better than to follow this misguided philosophy. For most of us, our job is not an asset--instead it is an opportunity to use and develop one of our greatest assets, ourself. Furthermore, if the job is the most valuable asset, why is the fourth strategy focused on finding a new job?

A few items in this book are worthwhile, but I do not recommend this book as a resource for furthering someone's career.

This is a straightforward, easy-to-read guide outlining specific steps you can take to keep your name off of the layoff list. In tough economic times, when announcements of significant job eliminations come every day, the book is especially topical. The book is not about enjoying your job or excelling at your job -- it's all about making sure that you don't get fired or laid off, and that is all about creating the perception that you are useful, valuable, and value-adding to your employer.

Although the basic principles are sound, some of the specific suggestions are a little hard to swallow (become a mini-me of your boss) and reek of gamesmanship (get to work just a little bit before your boss and leave after your boss, hire a ghostwriter to author professional articles in your name) and outright sucking up (get more face time with your boss, publicize your accomplishments). There's an underlying assumption that your boss is vulnerable to through obsequious flattery and unable to see through blatant efforts to suck up. What's missing is an emphasis on the need to add real value to the organization. Truly earning your paycheck by adding value to your organization's bottom line, bringing revenue into your organization, though not discussed at any length in this book, is probably a surefire way to keep your job in tough times.

Viscusi offers four basic suggestions for keeping your job:
1. Be visible.
2. Be easy.
3. Be useful.
4. Be ready (just in case).

He then suggests several tangible steps to take under each of these suggestions. Being visible involves getting to work early and staying late, looking good, dressing well, not smoking, having a nice haircut and nice teeth (yes!! he suggests Crest WhiteStrips), speaking up, volunteering, requires making yourself visible, making presentations, talking to your boss, even developing a Viagra handshake. Being easy involves not complaining, not gossiping, leaving personal problems at home. Being useful involves training others, mentoring others, being flexible while also having specialized knowledge, and adding value. Being ready involves having savings, an updated resume, and a strong professional network.

Although I don't disagree with the suggestions generally, I'm not sure that "being easy" is a way to protect your job. Being easy will certainly make you better-liked at work, and most employers prefer "easy", low-maintenance, non-whining employees, but I can assure you that they will think twice before laying off a whiner if they fear that the whiner will run to a lawyer or the EEOC with allegations of wrongful termination. If someone is too easy and creates the impression that they'll never assert their own rights, the company doesn't risk much by adding that person to the layoff list.

This book may be more useful for someone who is just starting out in the workplace and needs a reminder of how his or her conduct may be perceived by others and a reminder of the ultimate importance of one's relationship with his direct supervisor. It's important to acknowledge that in tough economic times, layoffs are sometimes a fact of life and are often based on skills, specific expertise, seniority, market dynamics, geographic drivers, and factors over which employees have little or no control. Sucking up to the boss and trying to look good are helpful, but they can only go so far to protect your job.

My boss loves me, but mostly because I do all the things outlined in this zippy little book.

I decided to review Viscusi's "Bulletproof Your Job" for what it isn't, or rather, what it just misses being. You see, if it wasn't for two pieces of bad, bad advice toward the beginning, this book would be indispensable to every employee, and to every company as well. The suggestions laid out here are hard truths, plain and simple. Viscusi narrowly missed writing a business classic, and I missed an opportunity to recommend my company buy 200 copies and distribute them to our employees. Why the miss?

Here it is: Page 5, the gray box. Viscusi basically implies that if your boss smokes, you should take up smoking. Right there, he lost my company's 200 copies. Now I agree that smoking, if your boss smokes, gives you a bond. There's no denying it. But pushing the ethical issues of imperiling your employee's health aside, there is a cold-blooded reason to leave this wretched advice alone. To illustrate: My last boss smoked, and one of my co-workers did as well, and at the beginning they loved each other. Unfortunately for him, his smoking habit began to take a serious toll on his health, and when his missed work days began to turn into weeks, and colds turned into surgeries, my bosses began to hate him. Smoking destroys one of your most precious assets, your ability to work. Do not sacrifice your health for a temporary common interest. Viscusi, if you get a second edition of this book, and you may because of our economy, take this box out. It is irresponsible, and it is a lie.

I also did not like the tip about being a "mini-me". If I had an employee who suddenly began dressing like me, I would be creeped out. If the Boss golfs and you buy tickets to the AT&T, fine. Just don't buy an identical pair of those little pants. You're going to weird him out.

That's it for the bad. Now for the good. There's lots of it. Being positive, being easy to get along with and flexible, and staying calm may seem like no-brainers. IT IS STUNNING HOW MANY PEOPLE DO NOT DO THIS. I have watched people shipwreck themselves by relentless negativity, by refusing to make even the smallest changes to their schedules when asked, and by freaking out over every little thing. These people get fired. Do not be these people. I live by many of the philosophies in this book, but I still greatly benefited from the reminder, because now is the time to remember these principles. Whiners will be the first tossed off this run-away ox-cart.

It was also immeasurably helpful to think about the benefits of publishing trade articles (makes you look knowledgeable), balancing specialized knowledge with a broad palate of ability, and mentoring people who may come in useful later. Good, good advice. And in this era of youtube, the warnings about what kind of videos you do not want floating around the internet for your boss to look up is timely to say the least. It is a new day.

Overall, I loved this book. If it wasn't for the gray box on page 5, this would be a five star review. I hope I will be able to buy an edition without that box in the future for my employees. I have lived the reality of what this book has to say. I have never been fired from a job, and my current boss calls me her "little one" and shouts "Yay!" every morning when I first come into the office. Unless we're in for World Depression II, I'm not going anywhere.

Are you?

GRADE: B

If your job is on the line, Bulletproof Your Job, is the first book you want to reach for. The four simple strategies touted on the front cover actually organize fifty practical tactics you can employ to help increase your chances of being the last to go and decrease your chances of being next to go. Even if your job isn't on the line the author offers sound advice for anyone looking to make themselves a candidate for most valuable player in their company. In short, employing these tactics will help foster a positive work environment no matter what the economy or labor market look like.

Highlights:
* The Be Visible section offers practical heard before advice presented with an honesty and frankness that makes it less easy to take the information for granted.
* Mr. Viscusi gets points for advocating social networking. His own True Story on page 142 is a perfect example of how savvy professionals are successfully leveraging networking 2.0 strategies.

Low-lights:
If you've been questioning whether you want to stay in corporate America - this book is a nudge out the door. The bigger message of this book is that it's not enough to focus on being a doing a good job, there are all these other tactics you need to consider just to keep your spot in what for many is an increasingly draining rat race. A few of the tips he mentions remind me of this:

* Be the mini me of your boss: Definitely a turn off for those of us who enjoy being ourselves. I can't imagine anything more insufferable than spending forty plus hours a week purposely putting on a façade just so I won't be fired.
* I am also not a fan of his idea about stress at work. I agree about not complaining about it, but I am not a fan of just telling people to suck it up. It's true that every job has seasons or waves of stress, but if the stress is consistent and you have no means of managing it then it may just be time to find a new gig.

Final Call:
Despite his apparent disregard for career coaches and those who use them (see the final bullet on the back cover), Mr. Viscusi offers down to earth, easily implementable tactics for his readers. Minus the slant against career coaching, this is good resource which I highly recommend.

This book is a sure thing for anyone who has a job...which means everyone should get it! Packed with endless tips and strategies, this book will keep you in your current job and help you get you that promotion you've been wanting.

Wonderfully written from a top-notch workplace guru, I highly recommend this book.

The author has some very insightful advice and makes critical points that are extremely helpful to those working in the corporate business world. However, I have a hard time taking advice from a self proclaimed "office guru" who admits to office romance with coworkers and goes on to say that he can't criticize that type of behavior as long as you keep your mouth shut about it. That couldn't be worse advice.

In this book, the author does an excellent job of putting the perspective of the boss front and center. This is important as the average person is so focused on themselves they often do not realize how their work or behavior is being perceived.

Stephen puts together an awesome book. His simple strategies starting working right away. After a bad review from my boss that was unexpected and no raise then $5 Million dollars cut was announced for the next fiscal year, my wife was laid off from work the same week as my bad review... I knew I had to do something but just didn't know how. I saw Stephen on a TV interview and decided to check out the book. The first section to be more visible, he points out areas and steps you can do to improve your visibility, but may have just overlooked. Within 2 weeks I starting to get kudos for my work (that I deserved). I really didn't change when my work habits because they were strong, just no one was noticing the good stuff just the bad stuff. All of a sudden poof I'm a hero! I'm applying the next section right now and found that I wasn't being as easy as I should be, now I'm applying that too and it's starting to work.
** I do suggest to read through the book and apply the items that need immediate attention!!! Then read the book the second time and apply more and more of this book. Stephen has done a phenomenal job putting this book into a common sense read.

I first saw the title on a news show and thought it sounded interesting. I am a supervisor of a Production Service / Retail Sales company and always trying to sharpen my skills as well as help those under me. I looked it up in a book store, bought it and was pleasantly surprised as I read it. This book is fascinating for the person who wants to improve and be the one left standing, when others are cut in this present financial climate. Line by line you will read a practical assault of small behavioral actions you can take TOMORROW to save your job. Don't fool yourself, in this environment your job is on the line, whatever it is you do. I bought 8 copies on line at Amazon ($5 cheaper than Barnes and Noble per copy) and handed it out to every staff member. I also made it required reading, created and handed out a worksheet to go along with it and we are having 5 "Lunch and Learn" sessions with the book. It is an easy read - don't wait til it's too late to make yourself and your job secure. Read this book -yesterday! Atlanta, Georgia