Customer Reviews

How to Grow a Backbone : 10 Strategies for Gaining Power and Influence at Work

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I found this book to be different than the typical management book. Rather than filled with the usual platitudes, it contains some real world advice on how to deal with and capitalize on situations that occur in a corporate environment. The book starts a bit slow, but it gets moving once it gets into the 10 strategies. The author has a nice conversational, straight-talking style of writing. The exercises and advice at the end of each chapter are excellent. I would recommend this book for new graduates starting in management and for seasoned veterans.

Marshall has written an exceptional book, a smart and practical book that reflects a very intelligent and perceptive grasp of business action and the people who are the action-eers. People run businesses and businesses are only as good as the people that run them. "How To Grow A Backbone" is at once very revealing and very familiar. We will all find ourselves somewhere in this book...for better or worse. We may smile or grimace at the unerring precision with which Marshall cuts straight to the bone, through all the usual fat, and shows us how much backbone we really have, I really have, you really have. Most important, she shows us how to grow what we're missing. Every CEO should read this book and then issue it to his staff, to everyone on the staff including the mail boy and the sweeper. If that CEO is big enough, smart enough (and secure enough) to encourage, to allow, to require, to inspire, his people to grow backbone, that boss will have one hell of a spinning business. Action, forward motion, innovation and fun the way business should be fun, going a mile a minute, breaking through. Everyone who dreams of being more than they are, or of being a CEO, should quit dreaming and dig into "Backbone". This is no "guru magic" that pumps you up for a week, this is the straight answer for anyone who has the courage to try to be what he or she can be. Miss Marshall will show you the way. "How To Grow A Backbone" is a lean, no nonsense bible for the feint of heart who want to grow the lion inside them. It's more than a business book. It's for anyone who hears their Jiminy Cricket whispering, you could have, you should have, why didn't you? Anyone who wants to know how to grow the seeds of character we all possess, who wants to be somebody, must read "How To Grow A Backbone". WARNING: Read only if you want to be better than you are.

There are lots of books on how to manage, lead, and direct. Susan Marshall has produced a great book on how to WORK.

The only problem with this wonderful book is its title. Everytime that I suggest to a friend that they should read it, they react as though I am saying that they are spineless.

As a guy with a backbone as big as the Ritz [he thinks], I have learned much from Ms. Marshall's book. The truth be known, I have found several areas in which I need to grow.

There are insightful tips and change-your-perspective ideas that are useful for anyone.

I think the backbone hook tends to overpower the substance and found the introduction the weakest part. If what you're reading doesn't apply to your situation, don't assume that's true for the whole book - skip to the next section.

I particularly liked the chapter "Get Eyes Wise" and sections titled "The Wonder of Words", "Acts of God and Why You Need Them" and "Shucking for Mental Health."

This is a must read for anyone that wants to move further faster in the business world -- especially those who are fledglings in Corporate America! Marshall writes with clarity and good humor spiced with pithy observations and examples. This is more than a pie-in-the-sky, ethereal how-to book. She backs up her advice with practical, easy to implement ACTIONS to integrate the strategies into all areas of interactions with others. And her "excercises" are more than informative and effective: they're fun to boot!

Encountered it first as an audio book and then decided to buy it as a print book. The book is small in size but has an impactful message. How to be assertive and cooperative at the same time. Very useful tips on how to achieve both in the workplace. Highly recommend it for people like me who cave in on pursuing their agenda in our current corporate culture.

What a helpful book this is. Susan Marshall offers lots of great, practical advice, and she does so in a friendly but funny and wry way. As so many of us flounder about in deadend jobs it's helpful to have someone like Marshall give us a good kick in the pants.

After finishing Disc 1 of 7 it's a thorough pleasure to hear a practical approach to career development. While attitude is great, sooner or later the rubber hits the road. Ms Marshall provides excellent guidance for what to do in real, modern, business situations.

I liked this book, but mine is better. Of course I am biased, I am like that. Secret Habits of Successful Bastards is the best self-help book for people who are too nice!