Should I sleep with the boss?

It's a rhetorical question of course, as I'm not suggesting that anyone should try to sleep with their boss in order to get ahead.
But I do get asked lots of questions all the time that amount to the same thing: 'What do I need to do in order to get ahead at work?'

So here are my three top tips:

1. Realise the success at work fundamentally comes down to relationships. If people don't like you and want to work with you, it doesn't matter how technically gifted you are at the work - you won't get ahead.
2. Make a career plan. Don't assume that you'll get promoted. Too many people drift in their careers. If you want to achieve anything in your career, set yourself a goal for the next 12 to 18 months and then break that goal down into sub-goals to achieve on a month-by-month basis. Top managers and entrepreneurs know what they want and make plans to achieve them - are you doing the same?
3. Spend 5 minutes at the end of every day thinking and planning your activity for the next day. Don't get too bogged down in your day-to-day tasks. At the end of each day, ask yourself: 'What must I do tomorrow that will make a difference to my boss, the team, and my career?' Keeping your eye on the bigger picture and your longer-term career goals will help you to avoid getting bogged down in your daily grind of your work.
   

Incidentally, the cover is a work in progress. My publisher is currently finalising the book jacket for publication in Oct/Nov - so the final cover may change yet again before it hits the shelves!

Networking: A favourable review

I just came across this review today. Here's what a reviewer wrote about one of my books from last year, The Rules of Networking:

Networking, one of the most essential skills that is most highly sought after by all professionals hoping to progress in their chosen career path, or as stepping stones to land themselves in a new career. Hence, this book can be seen as a solution and answers to all the questions that you have on effective networking.

Unlike traditional, long-winded management tomes, this book is a short, step-by-step alternative which is designed to steer you safely through the unprdictable battlefield of modern working life, and more importantly to help you to attain what you want!

In this book, management guru, Dr Rob Yeung, expertly explains exactly how to network your way to the top. This easy-to-follow guide is packed not only with hints and tips, as well as advice on how to hecome the center of attention, how to ensure your fellow networkers pocket, rather than bin your business card, and how to build relationships in which people will be falling over themselves to help you achieve your goals. Rob Yeung will show you the methods on how to be a step closer to your dream goals.


Review:

Like what the sypnosis has described, the information is cut into bite size and hence, instead of being overwhelmed by the flood of information in those chunky manuals, readers will find this book easy to digest and the techniques simple to apply.

Knowing how to networking effeciently is a very crucial way to be ahead of others in today's society, which is awashed with information and knowledge. If you are unable to stand out among your peers, and make lasting impressions on others, you will find that very soon, in time to come, you will just be part of the backdrop of the society, unnoticable.

So go on, read the book!

The Rules of Entrepreneurship hits the shelves - June 2007!

I just received confirmation from my publisher that my latest book, The Rules of Entrepreneurship, hits the shelves this month!

It's packed with advice for anyone who wants to set up their own business. And one of the co-founders of The Mind Gym, Sebastian Bailey read it and said that: 'This book captures the true essence of what it takes to make it as an entrepreneur.'

I'm proud of the book and I hope you find it informative and inspiring too!

Positive strokes

One of the books I'm writing (Should I Sleep with the Boss?) is on the topic of enhancing your career. And a big theme running through it is how to influence others more effectively.

Did you know that most criticism falls on deaf ears? If you tell someone about a mistake they made in their work, perhaps an errand they could have done better, or something they didn't do at home, they may pretend to listen, but much of the time they are busily justifying it to themselves.

Instead, focus on giving positive feedback instead. Rather than criticising bad behaviour, try to focus on what people did right. If you're trying to get someone to behave differently at work or home, praise what they do right. Compliment them on it sincerely and show your appreciation for their efforts - do it genuinely and you will find they do more of the right behaviour. Eventually the good behaviours will replace the bad behaviours.

It's a small but potent difference. Try it.

Entrepreneurs: Have a business plan

it's 11.43pm on a Friday night. While the rest of you are out having fun, I'm poring over my notes and trying to write these books!

I got an email the other day from someone that I worked with. She's setting up her own business and, very sweetly, was asking when my book, The Rules of Entrepreneurship is out. She was telling me that she is writing her business plan - a task that is more complex than one might assume. But, most amazingly, a lot of would-be entrepreneurs skip this step.

I think that's foolish.

A business plan helps you to crystallise your ideas, clarify your goals, and prepare to explain it to other people. It encourages you to focus on exactly what you need to do and pushes you to think about the practicalities of founding your venture.

Writing a business plan is as much about clarifying your goals for yourself as it is to communicate your goals and persuade others. If you can’t write a plan that makes sense to yourself, how will you explain it to investors, suppliers, and customers?

But I just came across an interesting quote by a famous American humanitarian, Dr. Effie Jones:

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

I just wish I'd found her quote six months ago when I was writing my book on entrepreneurship!

Talking of books, it's 11.52pm and I need to do at least another half-hour's writing before I go to bed...

Should I Sleep with the Boss?

I just signed a deal a few weeks ago to write a book called Should I Tell the Truth? And 99 Other Questions about Job Hunting

Anyway, I liked the title of the book so much that Cyan Books and I have just inked a deal to write yet another book, which brings my total up to 16! And this one will be called Should I Sleep With the Boss? And 99 Other Questions about Managing your Career.

Of course only one of the questions will tackle the title of the book; the other 99 questions will tackle topics such as how you can inject more fun into your work, dealing with office politics, chasing promotions, tactics for pursuing your work and life goals, deciding when you should quit a job, and so on.

So that's TWO books I have to write between now and mid-May now. I better get a move on!

Should I Tell the Truth?

After a couple of months of discussion with one of my publishers (Cyan Books), I've managed to land another book deal, which brings my total up to 15, I think.

The original discussion the publisher and I had was to write a book entitled FAQs on Job Hunting. They already have a series of books called 'FAQs on...'

I like the idea of writing a book in a question and answer format as I think the style will be more like a conversation between the reader asking questions and me answering them.

But then Martin Liu, the publisher and all-around smart guy, suggested that we retitle the book Should I Tell the Truth? with a subtitle And 99 Other Questions about Job Hunting.

Which I think is a cracking title.

Anyway, we've just inked the deal and my deadline is mid-May 2007.

But I'm going to be gathering questions over the next month or two so I can start writing the book. So if anyone has any burning questions they would like answered about anything to do with the job hunting process, let me know and it may make it into the book!

The good, bad, and ugly of dealing with headhunters

Ever been headhunted? Want to be headhunted?

Be careful though. Not all so-called 'headhunters' are created equally.

It's true that a call from a headhunter can seem like a gift from heaven when it comes to opening up job opportunities. And the marketplace is full of headhunters, recruitment consultants, executive search firms, agencies and other advisers who claim they can help. But this is also a pretty much unregulated industry and, in the absence of regulation, there are as many shoddy and disreputable practitioners as there are trustworthy ones.

Roger Eglin, a long-standing journalist at the Sunday Times (the biggest selling Sunday newspaper here in the UK) wrote a review of my book, The Rules of Job Hunting in yesterday's paper. Interestingly, if you decide to buy the book, you'll find that the journalist's article is 90% directly lifted from my book!

It's my second time in the Sunday Times in the space of about 2 months - so I'm very, very pleased about that!

Presentations and public speaking

I read some survey a while back that said that the biggest fear that people have at work is about having to stand up in front of others and give a presentation.

It's something that I can really identify with. Nowadays I'm fairly happy to speak to large groups of people (for example, I was speaking to 1500 graduands and their guests a few weeks ago). But I remember that I used to be so terrified of having to speak even in front of my class mates at school that I'd make up excuses to get out of it. And even when I started my first job, I was so nervous about having to speak in front of a handful of colleagues or clients that I'd feel this rising feeling of sickness in my throat. Trust me, it wasn't pleasant.

But I wanted to get better at presenting and public speaking, so I've worked at it. Lots of preparation and rehearsing, and using some psychological techniques to cope with anxiety.

So now to the present day.

My latest book (I think it's my 13th - but can't remember and can't really be bothered to go count the number of books I've written) just came out last week. Presentations and Public Speaking for Dummies is actually my first collaborative work - I wrote it in conjunction with an American business speaker and writer called Malcolm Kushner. And it's not a bad book (even if I do say so myself!)

Is there anyone out there?

This whole world of blogging is still kind of new to me. I mean, I do a lot of work with journalists, so I'm no stranger to finding myself quoted all over the web. But this blog is my own creation.

So I do sometimes wonder: Is anyone reading this?

I understand that blogs are rated in the blogosphere on the number of other blogs that link back to them. So I thought I'd run a small competition to see if anyone would actually like to blog about my blog.

All you need to do is blog about my blog. And then let me know - either leave me a comment or drop me an email. Or encourage someone you know to blog about my blog. And whoever does the most blogging about me will get some free copies of my books. How does that sound?

And, if not many people are reading this blog, that could be reallllly easy for you - you might just need to get me onto one blog to get my books.

Happy blogging!

The Rules of Office Politics

Office politics is the game that is played in just about every organisation out there - but so rarely talked about.

To be 'political' is almost always seen as a bad thing. You might be thinking that office politics involves skulking and scheming, colluding and conniving. And it’s true that a lot of that goes on. But that doesn’t mean that all politicking at work is automatically bad. Understanding the rules of politics can help you achieve outcomes that are beneficial for the organisation and in an ethical fashion too.

But I think that unless you are not at least aware of politics within your organisation, you will not succeed. Being politically savvy is nothing more than recognising the politics within your organisation, reading people, and learning to build relationships with them.

Anyway, my next book is published next week. And in the run-up to its publication, I've managed to get some good press coverage for the book. The book had quite a lengthy write-up in the Sunday Times, so you can read all about it there.

You can read the full article

The Rules of Entrepreneurship

Okay, I admit it doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. But I'm writing a book called The Rules of Entrepreneurship at the moment. I signed the contract a few months ago (but haven't started writing it - shhh! Don't tell my publisher!)

The book won't be out until autumn 2007 but my publisher just emailed across the cover for the book. And here it is.

The book's going to cover the process of setting up your own business, whether it's a small restaurant or consultancy up to the kind of big businesses that need private investors or venture capital.

There are plenty of books that take you through the practical aspects of setting up your own venture – from opening a business bank account and keeping track of your finances to calculating your tax bills – but this book won't be one of them. Because businesses don’t succeed or fail based on whether you pick the right bank account.

This book will be about the spirit of entrepreneurship – the stuff that truly distinguishes successful entrepreneurs from wannabes and failures. Look at successful entrepreneurs in the world today such as Michael Dell, Donald Trump, Richard Branson, and Li Ka Shing. They grew their businesses by identifying opportunities and persisting in the face of adversity, selling ideas and brokering deals, inspiring their employees and engaging their customers.So I'm going to focus on that kind of stuff and help readers to succeed.

As I said, the book won't be out until late 2007 - but watch this space for snippets of information as I put the book together!

Very excited... about tough interview questions

Just a quickie as I need to do some preparation before I coach someone in a bit. One of my publishers (Wiley) just told me that they need to do a new print run for one of my books, Answering Tough Interview Questions for Dummies. Apparently the first run has sold out and the book only came out in April!

Yeah for me!

Despite the fact the book is called 'for Dummies', I tried to pack it with really useful advice for job hunters - everyone from school leavers and graduates to women returning from maternity leave right through to senior managers and older candidates nearing retirement. Out of the 10 or so books I've had published to date, it's one of the ones I'm most proud of. The fact it's selling well must mean that readers are finding it useful too.

Anyway, I'm going to be smiling for the rest of today!