After hearing people rave about Cathie Black’s book, Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life), I finally ordered it through the library. Turns out that I agree with her fans. This makes my Top Shelf must-read list. While this isn’t a book geared for entrepreneurs, it’s got some great advice for everyone (although admittedly it’s female-centric). For those who don’t know, Black is the president of Hearst Magazines, and the book interweaves her rise to that position with advice learned along the way.
Throughout the book, she includes “nuggets” of wisdom followed by explanations and examples. You know they are nuggets because they are highlighted in red. While I get the whole symbolic thing, I have to admit I found it a bit irritating (my only complaint about the book). But that’s probably just a personal thing for me; as stated in my review last week, I like my books straightforward and traditional.
Nevertheless, I got over my aversion to red print, kept reading and was delighted to find so many tidbits that I can’t possibly include them all. So here are just a few points that stood out for me:
- “Know the rules, so you know which ones to break.” I like a book that doesn’t waste valuable pages talking about whether you should be a “nice girl.” We’re in business, Ladies! Worry about being effective, not nice.
- “If you want to be an innovator, express yourself like an innovator. Dress in something with verve rather than a corporate uniform.” I’ve always advised people to dress for the position you want, not the position you have, because it helps people visualize you in the position you want. Good to see that Black agrees with me.
- I thought her insight into her own management weaknesses were really helpful. For example, she tells about how, in an early management position at Ms. Magazine, she made the mistake of dealing with everyone the way she wanted to be dealt with. She didn’t waste time with “a lot of aimless pleasantries, but got directly to the point.” As someone who came from the same school of bluntness, I learned the hard way that it doesn’t work with everyone, especially other women.
- Don’t personalize things that aren’t personal. I reiterate this point here because we can’t ever hear this enough. Our biggest client cancels her account, and it’s human nature (especially for women) to think that we did something wrong. However, it likely has nothing to do with you as long as you haven’t made a huge mistake or anything.
- Make your life a grudge-free zone. Again, this is something we forget, so I’m emphasizing it here. Black tells of a horrific meeting with a gentleman (I use that term loosely) who attempted to humiliate her during a business meeting. She was advised not to hold a grudge (as well-deserved as it may have been), because the only person grudges hurt (or impair) is you. But if you don’t take things personally, then you likely won’t have to worry about holding grudges!
- Whenever someone criticizes you, ask yourself two questions before reacting:
- Could I trust that he/she was acting in good faith and not on some ulterior motive just to bring me down a notch?
- Did he/she have some knowledge of this particular situation that I didn’t?
- In the Landing your Dream Job chapter, there are lots of helpful tips for everything from cover letters to follow-up.
I thought the best chapter in the whole book was the chapter on power. I loved this section, as it gave a different view of power. However, there’s just too much here for me to do other than list Black’s “red nuggets.”
- Power = keeping your eye on the big picture.
- Power = understanding what you can and cannot control.
- Power = choosing your battles wisely.
- Power = controlling the flow of information.
- Power = knowing your strengths and weaknesses.
- Power = not getting overly caught up in the idea of power.
- Power = knowing you don’t have to throw bombs.
- Power = knowing how to let things go.
I also enjoyed her list of tips for running meetings (I employed a few of these at my last condo board meeting, and they work!):
- Keep ‘em small, and keep ‘em few.
- Keep ‘em short, and keep ‘em on time.
- Focus on the goal, not on the process.
- Identify the next steps before the meeting ends.
Another good section has to do with work/balance. I was actually surprised to find this in the book, as one rather expects a”work hard, work harder” attitude. But I was pleased to read that she says, “Don’t be afraid to step out altogether, if that’s what you truly want.” (Even she notes that readers might be surprised to hear this from her.) Black then follows up this section with a discussion of the 360-degree life. I like the point she makes that “Have your all–not anyone else’s.”
Other tips in this section:
“A huge part of solving the kids-plus-work equation lies in managing expectations.” Not only your own, but your colleagues’ in the office. I also liked that she stuck up for the single colleagues who should not be expected to pick up your slack. (I’ve noticed a growing unrest by employees without kids, who don’t understand why the work/life issue is interpreted by offices to mean work/children; i.e., that if you don’t have kids, you don’t require a life outside the office. )
I thought she had a good, albeit brief, section on networking. What was most interesting to me was that she tells readers to Google the words “business, women and your town’s name” to find organizations to join. Of course I had to try this, and I found that the Downtown Women’s Club didn’t come up in all markets where we have a presence. So I went in and fixed my Google Adsense account. Now we at least show up in ads in most of our markets. Thanks, Cathie!
Topshelf Bottom Line: There is way too much info in Basic Black to even include all the highlights I wanted to in this review, which is why this book makes my Top Shelf Must Read list for 2008.
This entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 11:36 am and is filed under Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.2 Responses to “Basic Black is Always in Fashion (for Career Advice)”
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July 6th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Thanks for the references! I will be sure to bookmark this page!
Rgds and thanks,
Muvar
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I heard this look is totally coming back.