Let's accept it! Everyone goes so a career thrash in one form or the other. IT IS A FACT! When people join a company as freshers, they are enthusiastic, full of energy aspiring to achieve everything under the sky! But, only a few, if any at all, cross the ocean that is dirty, filled with politics and full of frustrations, to have a successful career. And for those of us who find it difficult to cross this ocean and sometimes even getting drowned and lost, Utkarsh Rai brings "Faster, Smarter, Higher - Managing Your Career"!
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With eight superb chapters and overall 51 sub-chapters, he has covered everything that it takes to have a successful career. I think most of us will be able to understand the problems that we face every day. They are quite obvious - monotonous work, getting visibility, management issues, managing peers, performance management etc., I must appreciate Mr.Rai for the way that he has presented this - the problem and what can we do about it - because, many times even though the problems are quite obvious, the question we ask ourselves is "So what? I still cannot do anything about it!"
There is a famous saying that "fixing any problem must start with fixing yourself". Rai starts his book with "Managing Self" which is the very essence of this mantra. Presented in a humorous way, this start will give you momentum and set the pace for the rest of the book. The sub-chapters like "You, the brand" gives much confidence that "Yeah, I am also a victim of this, but, I can fix it!. Managers are one important topic in any organization - it is no secret. The chapter "Managing your Manager" gives an impressive overview of how if you understand your manager can help you win your career greatly. No one can exist for long in a career path alone! It is always a team work! Even when you think you are the one executing, it is always your team that completes the cycle for any product. And, if you are a manager with direct reports under you, then managing the team is of utmost importance. Without encouraging and maintaining harmony in your team and knowing what your team is really capable of, what they really want, your career as a manager will be a disaster. Chapter 3 presents this neatly.
A competition is good inside a team, but if that competition turns out to be jealous, any organization will perish. "Managing Your Peers" chapter gives you the dynamics of managing peers. It is not always and not only your manager, but your manager's manager is also very important in your career. It is a very important relationship that has to be maintained well without which you will not be able to raise your concerns properly and in a timely manner. It is absolutely necessary to digest this chapter to avoid our usual whining.
I am not sure if "Managing Manager' Peers" applies to everyone. Usually, it applies to slightly higher levels. So, it did not impress me a lot. Yet, I took it as a good FYI! How to manage everyone not covered so far is a good chapter. It stresses on the fact that you are not independent. If you have previously read "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" by Stephen Covey, you will be able to appreciate how he explained moving from dependent to independent to interdependent. That’s the same thing the chapter "Managing Others" covers! And, final chapter is a must read for everyone, even if you skip other chapters - it talks about the value that you add and how you can extend your value to have a great career.
In essence, it is not really working hard that matters in any organization, but working smarter (yeah, we have all heard that multiple times)! But, it is with great examples, analogies that Mr. Rai explain this very concept that makes this book a different one and helpful one! Whether you are starting your career or midway through it, this book should stay at your desk or cube so when you feel down sometimes in your career, you know it is there to help you!
Note: This book was sent to me as part of Flipkart Blogger Review Program. It did not impose any restrictions for me to be positive or negative about the book. All the views that you see above is mine and not influenced by anyone else.
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