This breezily optimistic guide to career rejuvenation and triumph by Bledell (Three Steps to Success
) offers up a blueprint to achieve “Outstanding Success”—Bledell's term for garnering $40 million in a lifetime—with strategic and practical sections that aim to hone behaviors at work to achieve more focused results. In metaphors that occasionally grate, Bledell emphasizes becoming a “heat-seeking missile” focusing closely on desired goals, constantly maximizing value, taking ownership of work projects and avoiding burnout. The book provides a number of helpful scenarios of people going astray in their careers and failing to achieve their objectives—or where they succeeded and how. While more applicable to corporate jobs with a clear ladder to follow than unconventional careers where the path is less certain, this book is effective in its motivational tone, which encourages readers about how to think about and manage their careers. (Aug.)
