Job Security and Your Boss

If your job is on the line, 'Bullet proof Your Job', is the first book you want to reach for by Stephen Viscusi . This book offers over fifty practical tactics, organized into four simple strategies that you can employ to help increase your chances of being the last to go and decrease your chances of being next to go. Even if your job isn't on the line the author offers sound advice for anyone looking to make themselves a candidate for most valuable player in their company. In short, employing these tactics will help foster a positive work environment no matter what the economy or labor market look like.
The four "simple" strategies: Be Visible, Be Easy, Be Useful, and Be Ready, each outline a number of tactics organized into easy to read and in some cases entertaining sections. I truly enjoyed reading the "True Story" and "Just So You Know", call outs.
Highlights:
The Be Visible section offers practical heard before advice presented with an honesty and frankness that makes it less easy to take the information for granted. One of my favorite tactics comes from the Be Ready chapter: Help the People in Your Network. This bit of advice immediately connected with the value I place on investing in other people - the old sowing and reaping principal.
And finally, Stephen Viscusi gets points for advocating social networking. His own True Story on page 142 is a perfect example of how savvy professionals are successfully leveraging networking 2.0 strategies.
Low-lights: If you've been questioning whether you want to stay in corporate America - this book is a nudge out the door. The bigger message of this book is that it's not enough to focus on being a doing a good job, there are all these other tactics you need to consider just to keep your spot in what for many is an increasingly draining rat race. A few of the tips he mentions remind me of this:
Be the mini me of your boss: Definitely a turn off for those of us who enjoy being ourselves. I can't imagine anything more insufferable than spending forty plus hours a week purposely putting on a façade just so I won't be fired. Support your boss, yes. Be his or her creepy clone - no.
I am also not a fan of his idea about stress at work. I agree about not complaining about it, but I am not a fan of just telling people to suck it up. It's true that every job has seasons or waves of stress, but if the stress is consistent and you have no means of managing it then it may just be time to find a new gig. In my opinion, good companies understand that creating high stress environments is a sure way to increase two things: employee turnover and poor performance which impact customer satisfaction and eventually the bottom line.
Final Call:
Despite his apparent disregard for career coaches and those who use them, Mr. Viscusi offers down to earth, easily implementable tactics for his audience. I'll forgive him this oversight, highly recommending this book by Stephen Viscusi.
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Generally how you will know if you are stressed at work or if work is boring is by keeping a ratio of how many times you check the clock at work. If you haven't checked the time after 4hrs maybe you are stressed or rather should i say enjoying your job. But if you check every 1hr then am sure you are bored. Hey who am i to say that this is remarkable book.