Making your way in the new world of work

REVIEWS BY DEANNA LARSON

There's a brave new business world, as grads reject stuffy rules and hierarchies and shape a fresher, more fulfilling and often entrepreneurial work experience. If you're a boomer who didn't realize that this quiet revolution was taking place—or if you're living this trend and could use some coaching—several new business books offer advice for navigating the alien universe.

Welcome aboard

Moving from lunch in the dorm cafeteria to lunch at Chez Henri with the boss is a transition that green professionals can make with the help of Work 101: Learning the Ropes of the Workplace Without Hanging Yourself. Author Elizabeth Freedman, an MBA and corporate career consultant, gets nitpicky with the newly hired, helping draw the "fine lines of the workplace," like the difference between dress casual and too casual, or what you meant to say in e-mail vs. what you actually said. Her business rules cover all aspects of work conduct, from making a great first impression, building relationships with bosses and co-workers, showcasing strengths in meetings, mastering business communication and getting promoted or leaving a job without setting a bridge on fire. The corporate survival strategies are amusing and crucial for the young and hapless (if you have to ask, forget both the thong and Hawaiian shirt on casual Fridays) and help the experienced readjust their business hats, too.


Hannah Seligson is every girl's BFF in New Girl on the Job: Advice from the Trenches. Aimed at the 20-something female entering the "strange subuniverse" of work, the book defuses emotional undercurrents in business settings while presenting ideas for turning internships and entry-level jobs into real opportunities. "Making a Graceful Entrance: How to Find a Job You Don't Want to Quit," "X + Y: Navigating Female-Male Dynamics at the Office," "Bad Bosses," "Why Is She Being Such a Bitch" and other chapters cover everything from finding to keeping a job. Strong anecdotes from the trenches support the female-tailored techniques like "changing the channel" after a goof-up, using CYT (cover yourself tactics) to help avert office disasters, and the real take on crying (consider it a tic, and not a huge deal as long as you quickly compose yourself in the bathroom). Slanted to those raised on self-esteem and teamwork buzzwords ("I felt hurt, violated and embarrassed when I heard you talked about me . . . would it be more productive if we both spent less time focusing on interpersonal issues and more time designing Web pages?") Seligson's advice is still valuable to any worker bee trying to adjust to life in the hive.


Work it, women

The workplace can seem like a large dysfunctional family, but Lisa Robyn sees it as a wild, sadomasochistic world where some wield power and others—often women—succumb to it. Using the discipline of the "professional dominatrix," Robyn encourages women to assume "mistress" roles to gain the psychological upper hand in The Corporate Dominatrix: Six Roles to Play to Get Your Way at Work. Rather than being naughty, these archetypes are just another way to help women think about the "command and control dynamic" and use their personal power more comfortably at work. "Perception is, in some cases, more important than reality in the office," according to Robyn, a former book publishing executive. So the roles she encourages have specific purposes, from the inner-directed goddess, the image-conscious queen and the non-reactive nurse, to the nurturing governess, the always learning schoolgirl and the righteous, battle-ready amazon, allowing women to sharpen their interpersonal skills and achieve their professional fantasies without losing themselves in the process. "The trick for women in the workplace is being externally observant and internally resilient," Robyn writes. Playing work roles "can allow you to see other sides of yourself and new possibilities in your career path."


Case study with street cred Russell Simmons, the groundbreaking, Tony award-winning media mogul (HBO's "Def Comedy Jam," "Def Poetry Jam on Broadway") and co-founder of hip-hop label Def Jam shares his business philosophy in Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success. Writing with Chris Morrow, Simmons relates his part biblical, part yogic principles, world-class business acumen and street-tough attitude that developed as he built his fortune and cemented his place in history by believing that hip-hop artists had as much to say to society as any Julliard graduate. His rules for success are broken out in somewhat wordy chapters from "Stop Frontin' and Start Today," to "Spit Truth to Power." Simmons illustrates these highly personal lessons with his own struggles and triumphs and those of his high-powered business friends, persuading street entrepreneurs that they can get all sorts of places simply by being generous and real and never changing to suit others' ideas of decency and taste.


It's your move

"Use harassment to boost your career," advises Penelope Trunk in Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, a left-field guide coming late this month for those who suspect that traditional business models stink. A popular blogger and syndicated business columnist for Yahoo! and the Boston Globe, Trunk etches fresh tablets with surprising new commandments for the changing business world. Basically a collection of columns with attention-grabbing titles and even more bracing advice, Trunk sets new priorities for frightening moments in unemployment (Grad School Will Not Save You), preparing a résumé (When Writing Your Résumé Don't Be Too Honest), interviewing (There Are Stupid Questions, So Don't Ask Them) and performing a job with life/work balance built in (A Long List of Ways to Dodge Long Hours). This is brave new thinking about work for Gen Xers and Yers, and a guilty pleasure for the Dilbert generation nearly mummified in its cubicles.


Deanna Larson writes from Nashville.

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