Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147561 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
If Dilbert and Tom Peters ever attended the same party, they'd probably find themselves in opposite corners. The cynical cartoon character would have a hard time in Peters's upbeat, high-energy world of "Cool-Beyond-Belief." The Brand You 50 is Peters's manifesto for today's knowledge workers. It joins his Reinventing Work series, which includes The Projects 50 and The Professional Service Firm 50.

In The Brand You 50, Peters sees a new kind of corporate citizen who believes that surviving means not blending in but standing out. He believes that "90+ per cent of White Collar Jobs will be totally reinvented/reconceived in the next decade" and that job security means developing marketable skills, making yourself distinct and memorable, and developing your network ability. His list-filled prescriptions cover everything; for example, "You are Your Rolodex I: BRAND YOU IS A TEAM" (no. 22), "Consider your 'product line'" (no. 25), "Work on your Optimism" (no. 35), "Sell. SELL. SELL!!!" (no. 47). While the book is overwhelming at times--its hyperactive typography pretty much shouts at you--any baby boomer thinking about his or her career will find much to consider. --Harry C Edwards, Amazon.com

Synopsis
Tells how to reexamine career goals, recreate oneself as a brand, transform one's work, take advantage of a personal Web site, and market oneself.

Customer Reviews

Big ideas for little people, who want to be BIG!
A fun, scary, enlightening, positive, dynamic, work book. I've read it, scribbled everywhere on it, read it again and started my own MB brand development programme. The best advice I can give is to read the whole thing once through. Scare the pants off yourself with the utterly compelling work change ideas. Then go through the exercises that strike a cord (and the ones that at first glance seem most difficult). Anyone feeling stuck in a rut will be galvanised to action. Anyone even vaguely motivated to succeed in life will spread their wings a little wider, smile a little more and achieve a whole bundle in the next 10 to 15 years as the world of work transforms beyond recognition. While there will be parts in here that just don't fit for you, ignore them and move on, because over the next page or two will be another mind blowing opportunity to do something meaningful for yourself. This is an optimistic book positioned in a realistic and frightening way. If you feel like exerting your own ideas, living by your own values, but feel a little scared, you'll come away from the book feeling more prepared and confident for the tough plateaus and challenges that lie ahead. I'm very glad I've read this before I've taken the plunge into my own business, I'm now excited about success rather than in fear of failure. Tom Peters has justified his place as one of the leading workplace thinkers of our times. Thank you Tom for saying exactly what I needed to hear!

Guide for the Free Agent Employee (Contractor) Universe-Wow!
There has been a lot written and said about how white collar employees will start acting like free agents in sports. This trend is already well advanced with software writers and other scarce professionals. Tom Peters has moved well beyond what has already happened to create a useful portrait of how to play this new role in order to have the most satisfaction and success. Further, he asserts that those in the non-scarce areas like human resources, purchasing, and so forth had better do the same thing . . . because 90% of these jobs will be gone in 10 years. I sometimes think that Tom Peters overstates things, but in this one area I think he is understating what needs to be done. Whether you are an employee, want to start your own firm, have friends and children who want good careers, or have just lost your job, this is an extremely important book on how to take charge of your own career (and to help those you care about do the same) to create the most benefit for those you serve (your clients, in Peters parlance) and yourself. Although you will recognize all of the ideas from having seen them elsewhere before, you will find the way he has woven them together to be practical, mutually-supportive and thought-provoking. I know that I got several good ideas from this book. As a business book author who helps people get a lot more with less ... and in less time, I found an additional benefit. This book is a great profile of how to be Tom Peters, the world's most successful business guru. I found this to be his most self-revealing book, and although I have always liked his work, I found that liked him personally a lot better as a result of what he shows about himself. If you are a Tom Peters fan, be sure to add this book to your reading list! You'll be glad you did. You'll live a much more interesting, meaningful, productive life as a result. This book is part of his 3 book series: Reinventing Work. I also recommend his books, Professional Service Firm 50 and Project 50, and you can read my comments about those books on each book's page on Amazon.co.uk.

Great content, irritating style
This is a very good book. It builds on Peters's previous approach to managing yourself as a brand, not an employee, and also draws on similar works by proponents of the same basic ideas. It could be a revelation to anyone who hasn't read similar works by other authors, but is well worth keeping to hand for those of us who have. The "Things To Do" ("TTD") sections are particularly useful.

However, you have to be prepared for the annoying style in which it is written. It's as if his thoughts have gone straight into print without having gone through the process of translating into written English.

Four stars.