Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand on the Business Battlefield [Abridged, Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

David D'Allessandd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2005

The best-selling author and CEO of Hohn Hancock offers concrete advice on building a reputation that commands respect, coping with office politics, and surviving the less-than-sane aspects of any organization.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: America Media International; Abridged edition (April 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932378553
• ISBN-13: 978-1932378559
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,819,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Glad I read it. Good common-sense in an artificial world., February 18, 2006

By 

D. Mock - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand on the Business Battlefield (Audio CD)

PROS:

(1) Excellent concept (your personal Brand).

(2) Most of the value of the entire book can be received by reading the Introduction and the first Chapter (Disc 1).

CONS:

(1) The writer spends a little TOO much time characterizing one's Brand as a set of responses to certain situations, rather than being substantially a reflection who you are.

VERY GLAD I READ THIS BOOK:

In the past I have thought about my "reputation" in businss, but that concept is very subjective, and now I realize it is also incomplete. Re-framing my business-reputation as a Brand helped me realize that to a small extent the rules of business warrant special treatment, and just doing my job well is not the only issue. To a limited extent I *do* need to wear a well-chosen mask in order to play the business game - not good news, not bad news, just true.

A reader should be careful to balance this book with, say, Stephen Covey books, which reinforce that who you are as a person is a large part of your "Brand". Reading only Career Warfare might convince you that your Brand can be molded any way you want, by just saying the right things at the right time, which will certainly not work in the long term!

Reader's style (for audio version): Good

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have, practical advice, insightful, October 13, 2007

By 

Jennifer Lamb (CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand on the Business Battlefield (Audio CD)

I found this book insightful and well-written. D'Alessandro speaks in plain English, offering an insiders look at what it takes to get ahead in corporate America. I've read more than 150 business books in the last 2 years and this is one of my favorites. As much as we all hate to admit it, your boss has power over your reputation and there are 2 chapters devoted to managing up and what is important to a boss and what should be important to you in developing a career.

D'Alessandro does write about monitoring what you say at all times, a challenge to say the least. It makes sense to think before you speak or fire off email when he points out that every day people are forming opinions of you and you're defining your brand by what you say and how you handle situations.

He also gives no-nonsense advice about how to know when you've outgrown your current position or when to leave a toxic boss. He gives you perspective on dealing with adversaries and reminds you that the more successful you become, the more people will target you for rumors and bad-mouthing.

One of my favorite chapters is "Try not to be swallowed by the bubble." This chapter reminds you that as you ascend the corporate ladder, don't wall yourself off from outsiders. The tendency is to associate only with those at your level or above and you lose insight that is valuable to your organization when you do so.

There are many memorable personal examples peppered throughout this book that made the lessons more applicable, most of which were easy to relate to. D'Alessandro offers many childhood memories of his grandparents that deal with the balance of power in relationships and well as functioning in crisis etc.

Toward the end of the book there is a chapter about dealing with negative press, meaning the media. This is beyond what many who are reading the book will need to worry about, but everything else in the book is quite relevant to corporate life in general for all levels of employees aspiring to leadership positions. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

If you're looking for personal growth applicable to your career other favorites I have are: You are the message by Roger Ailes; The Secret Handshake by Kathleen Kelley Reardon and the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Advice, August 26, 2009

By 

Paul Fryer (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand on the Business Battlefield (Audio CD)

The author has some really great insights on how people can succeed in organizations. I would recommend this book for any ambitious person looking to further their career in an organization. One of the better business books I have read recently.