Customer Reviews

Fired Up!: How the Best of the Best Survived and Thrived After Getting the Boot

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

If you think this book will apply to you, don't waste your money. It is about millionaires getting fired. If you are not one, you will have nothing in common with the people in this book. One person got 10 million severance pay. Another got 30 million. These people did not let it get them down. Can you relate to them. There is way too much about people in professional sports. If you are in professional sports, thie book might help you. If you are not, don't waste your money.

I can't believe there aren't better books on this subject out there. The chapter on each person is so short and superficial that it really doesn't tell you anything. Some of these people WEREN'T EVEN FIRED, so they don't even belong in the book. Others were fired, but the author doesn't tell you why. The section on Bernadine Healy of the Red Cross is particularly sloppy and confusing. She resigned one month after 9/11 and there is no explanation at all of WHY she did. And another thing that annoyed me -- purely stylistic -- is the fact that all the interviewees keep repeating the author's name again and again ("You know, Harvey..." "You're right, Harvey..."). At least, "Harvey" quotes them as having said that.

It's not as if author Harvey Mackay has written anything all that earth-shattering in this book, as any effective outplacement consultant will give you the same advice he provides here. But what he does exceptionally well is highlight a problem over which people have the ridiculous notion that there is shame in being fired from a job. Even as unemployment statistics stabilize, there are many who have dropped off the surveys since they are not receiving unemployment compensation. In other words, there is a far greater audience for this book than those who were recently fired. Having been laid off myself from a large company for whom I worked devotedly for twelve years, I know the dark feelings that can overtake you when you are unilaterally eliminated. It can make you delusional about your economic worth and cause havoc with your self-esteem.

Mackay's angle is a good one - take a group of successful celebrities who have been fired at some point in their careers and have them talk about how they were able to turn things around and produce even better, more lucrative livelihoods. While much of the wisdom imparted by the likes of Donald Trump, Michael Bloomberg and Muhammad Ali is sound, their stories really provide a framework for Mackey's broader motivational treatise. I have to admit I do tire of people who tell me getting fired is the best thing that ever happened to them, as I always feel they are patronizing me to conceal their own conceit and insecurity. But Mackay does not make the mistake of relying on his cheerleading capabilities. I particularly appreciated his "cold truths" about being fired, two of which had particular sting - "The nicest, most loyal, and most submissive employees are often the easiest people to fire.", which of course runs counter to the values by which a lot of us were raised, and an even more resonant truism, "The time to start worrying about what you'll do when you're fired is the day you get hired." Perhaps these are not motivational statements in themselves, but they are honest assessments of how one needs to look at oneself in the workplace. Ultimately one has to be true to oneself, but the Bush economy has dramatically altered our perspectives on what we need to do to survive and remain gainfully employed. The best and most constructive sections of the book have to do with how to deal with being fired. Frankly, the survival tactics he espouses should be taught at new employee orientations, so people do not asphyxiate themselves in glass bubbles believing their employers will provide them lifelong security. Whether you have been fired, are worried about being fired, or just received the best performance evaluation of your career, be smart and pick this book up. Mackay puts your employment status in realistic context.

This book is dull, dull, dull. If you like reading about celebrities, you might, might enjoy reading this. Otherwise, you will wonder why this book ever got published. I don't think it comes even close to accomplishing what the author may have intended, namely that if well-known people can get fired and rebound, then so can the reader. In fact, those portrayed in the book have had such presumably astounding success since they were fired that it almost makes you HOPE you get fired, the sooner the better, so you can get on the fast track to wealth and fame.

If you get fired, this book won't help you get hired again. It really doesn't matter what these people in the book did with their lives after they were dissed by someone along the way. If you find yourself getting fired, you still have to do what you have to do to get on with your life. You can't live someone else's. And you definitely don't need a book to tell you that.

What you get out of this book will depend on your purpose for reading it. For example, do you want to feel better about having been fired? Do you want to see how other people handled tough situations, or are you expecting practical advice? If you want to be inspired and get over negative feelings about having been fired, then you might get something from this book. It is great to see the people in this book triumph over bad firings. However, being that most of them are major players in business, sports, and politics, the average reader might not find much information to be personally relevent. How many of us are CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies? After reading the first few stories, I ended up skipping around to people and situations that I found the most interesting. However, the type of people profiled doesn't have to limit what you learn from the book. If you want practical advice, the author does summarize what he thinks we should learn from each person's situation. It is just that the advice is presented in a style akin to your uncle telling you stories about what he learned when he was fired twenty years ago. I prefer the analysis done by those profiled and what I got out of it on my own.

This book is unique in the very fact that it is subjective. I don't know of any other books on being fired that give such indepth examples. For that reason the book seems to be more a collection of biographies than an advice book. From that perspective I found the book to be worthwhile to read. I enjoyed learning about these people; some of whom I had heard of, and some I hadn't.

If you are seeking advice, then the author's central message can be summed up as follows: there are other opportunities out there, you just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and pursue them.

This book was purchased as the result of an over-hyped online promotion and it was a big disappointment. You can easily spend your money better.

This is not Harvey's best book, but it does a great job of applying the princlples that he teaches in other books.

He used his rolodex to gather some stories of big names, and used their crediblity to help market the book. We can learn a lot from him on this one.

When you lose your job, it does not matter whether you are poor or rich - you feel bad. Sure, celebrities have it easier because most have no financial concerns, but in terms of mental adjustment and the feeling of shame and uncertainty there is probably not a huge difference to the rest of us. Having said that, the book is very inspirational for anybody losing his or her job. You realize that even famous people lose their jobs at least once in their lifetime - the risk of job loss does not distinguish based on your tenure in a company or how high you are up in the food chain. You read what these people did and what you can learn from their experience. MacKay has peppered the book with many lessons about how you can come back onto your feet quickly. It is a great read.

I have been a big Harvey Mackay fan ever since I read Swim with the Sharks. Having been fired from a few jobs myself, I agree that each time it happened, my life was spun in a more positive direction. Once you get past the shock, disbelief, and anger stages, you realize that there might be greener pastures elsewhere.

Reading about how Lee Iacocca was humiliated at Ford Motor Company after spending 32 years there reminded me that even dedicated, hard-working, creative people are subject to the whims of others.

For me, being fired led to a whole new career. I am now and author, publisher, and coach to new consultants.

We Got Fired! is an inspirational, well-written, compilation of personal stories that demonstrate how strong people can recover from adversity. Even if you have never been fired, you should read this book. I highly recommend it.

Mitch Paioff, Author, Getting Started as an Independent Computer Consultant

Getting Started as an Independent Computer Consultant

This book won't give you a roadmap to follow to work yourself out of a bad situation. There are no magic solutions inside.

But this book is an excellent read for anybody who's just gotten an ugly surprise, the kind of surprise that changes your world, fills it with uncertainty, and makes you question yourself (even if the reason for your job change has nothing to do with your performance).

This book is about attitude. As other reviewers have noted, most readers probably aren't getting $10M goodbye packages. But that's not the point! The point is that successful people take on unexpected, undesired, and surprise changes with a positive attitude, a realization that there's a purpose to it all, that in the bigger scheme of things the change can and will lead to something better.

This is a fantastic book to help somebody who's job has been eliminated adopt and keep the right positive attitude moving forward. And, perhaps, it's that positive attitude which IS the "magic solution" to making lemonade out of lemons.