cover image The Portable Executive: Building Your Own Job Security from Corporate Dependency to Self-Direction

The Portable Executive: Building Your Own Job Security from Corporate Dependency to Self-Direction

John A. Thompson, Catherine A. Henningsen. Simon & Schuster, $23 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-671-86904-5

The premise here is that no executive today is secure in the job because of recent corporate downsizings. Thompson, cofounder of IMCOR, an interim management firm, and freelancer Henningsen skillfully address the ``broken covenant'' of lifetime employment, which, they maintain, has been consigned to nostalgic memory in America. They argue, nonetheless, that corporate flattening has provided an opportunity for managers interested in short-term employment, and they point out that in today's job market, the demand is not for company loyalty but for knowledge on an ``as needed basis.'' This pragmatic guide, which should be of great interest to downsized executives, covers both termination and a ``portable executive'' strategy for marketing oneself, as well as useful tips for establishing one's own business. Newbridge Book Club alternate; author tour. (Jan.)