4 out of 4 stars
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"Your career is not defined by where you end up; it is not a destination. Your career is a journey that is assessed by your integrity, how you traveled that road, the stops you made along the way, the people you met and inspired to reach their full potential, and the lessons you learned." Blanca De La Rosa
In the aptly titled, Empower Yourself for an Amazing Career, author Blanca De La Rosa offers helpful insight and advice from her 30 years of experience at a Fortune 5 corporation. With 168 pages, this resourceful book is a relatively quick read that is organized, concise, and well-written. The author is refreshingly transparent regarding her own mistakes while encouraging others to learn from theirs as she shares her no-nonsense approach to empower and guide readers climbing the corporate ladder.
The book includes 11 chapters. The first three address defining success for yourself by listening to your inner voice, the pros and cons of choosing careers in large corporations versus smaller companies, the author's personal experience, and how she learned to "manage a bad manager." The fourth chapter includes the author's top ten principles for following a holistic approach based on her career experiences. Here, and throughout the book, she stresses personalizing the information by adhering to only what resonates with you as an individual. The chapters that follow deal with overcoming and learning from career failure while avoiding a victim mentality, effectively managing change, differences in leadership based on gender, and breaking the glass ceiling versus maintaining it with wrong attitudes. Also included are solutions for balancing family and career, business travel tips, and establishing a career road map that is updated periodically according to your goals and milestones.
What I liked most about this book was the author's passion for helping others, which was reflected in her writing style. As an immigrant from a small town in the Dominican Republic and raised in public housing in New York City, the author learned to excel when the odds were stacked against her. It's evident from her writing that she desires to help others do the same. She has a pragmatic approach, acknowledges that not all of the advice given will apply to everyone, and really emphasizes learning to trust your inner voice and intuition. According to her author page, she considers mentoring young women in her company her most rewarding role, which speaks volumes. I also enjoyed a section included at the beginning of the book titled "Pride of the Peacock" which detailed their interesting symbolism and significance and was also the inspiration for the book's cover.
The book is professionally edited, as I noted only two errors. With the excellent writing style, the wealth of information provided, and its skillful execution, I found no additional areas needing improvement. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to a wide audience ranging from recent college graduates seeking direction to those needing guidance for dealing with difficult managers or failed careers. The book will also appeal to readers who desire to improve their communication and leadership skills.
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Empower Yourself for an Amazing Career
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