( 4 reviews )
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Posted: Mar 22 2009
This is an excellent book especially in these hard economic times. It gives you great ideas on what one can do in the way of jobs for self. I am enjoying this book.
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Posted: Mar 27 2007
1) 'Danger in the Comfort Zone: From Boardroom to Mailroom: How to Break the Entitlement Habit That's Killing American Business' by Judith M. Bardwick 2) 'We Are All Self-Employed: How to Take Control of Your Career' by Cliff Hakim 'Danger in the Comfort Zone' is one of the very good books I had acquired while attending a boot-camp for entrepreneurs in the United States during the early nineties. (My copy is actually the earlier edition.) At that time, I had read it very seriously. I had really liked the author's ideas of earning mentality (or habit) vs entitlement mentality (or habit). The many problems & scenarios which the author had described candidly about the American workplace were not much different, when I compared them with Singapore's. Contemporarily, Singapore's employers had encountered the same dilemma. It was only after the economic recession during the mid-eighties & then the Asian financial fiasco during the late nineties that employees' attitudes, in both the private as well as public sector, had changed tremendously. Likewise, employers' attitudes had also followed suit. At first glance, the author would seem to have criticised employees but I feel the principal premise of the book is more to urge employees to take charge of their own lives by getting out of the comfort zone & moving into the stretch zone. That is true self empowerment: adopt the earning mentality rather than the entitlement mentality! Of course, employers would have to play their part to gain employees' confidence & trust. Their 'command & control' attitude in the past would have to change. Hence, I would strongly recommend readers to read also 'We Are All Self- Employed: The New Social Contract for Working in a Changed World' by Cliff Hakim. This book was written in the mid-nineties & my copy is also the earlier edition. I feel the two authors' brilliant ideas gel very well with each other. In fact, their combined work will make more sense when read syntopically. They will help you transform the way you think about & approach your employment in the corporate world. To paraphrase the latter book: "It will inspire you to move from the role of dependent employee, ever-adapting to survive, to independent-Interdependent worker, ever-creating to succeed. You'll learn to embrace a "self-employed" attitude to achieve the success you have always yearned for. Adopting a "self-employed" attitude will prepare you for the inevitable changes that come with time, & help you create a new definition of success rooted in your own interests, skills, values, & desires. It will help you move from merely surviving on the job to engaging your creativity - embedded in the responsibility symbolized by self-employment - & successfully employing yourself in a way that draws on your talents, interests, & deepest values." I had really enjoyed reading both books tremendously. In some way & to some extent, the wonderful ideas from the two foregoing books had consciously as well as unconsciously contributed to my eventual decision to take charge of the second half of my life.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 30 2006
This book is more useful that Parachute because it acts as a career counselor. The questions, exercises, and advice don't overwhelm the reader allowing him/her to finish the book. Hakim doesn't belittle the reader for being lost. One quote stands out: "You must be willing to "be lost enough to find yourself."" Robert Frost p 200.
