Your Career Is an Extreme Sport: Focus, Drive, Excel

By Eileen P. Gunn

This guide shows readers how to apply the principles of extreme sports--such as drive, stamina, flexibility, and guts--to achieve success in their chosen careers. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593376111
• ISBN13: 9781593376116
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Adams Media Corporation
• Length: 185 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Interesting read about career

This book uses extreme sports as a metaphor to describe our current career development landscape. The author invite readers to think of our career as an adventure sport of a lifetime and help us to develop the attitude required in this endeavor. The key characteristics of extreme sportsmen, extreme careerist or high achiever are: * Single-Minded Focus: The ability to single out an immediate goal and then pour your entire physical, mental and emotional being into reaching it. * Psychological Stamina: The ability to retain your integrity, purpose and focus through long hours and many difficulties. * Analytical Prowess: The ability to break down a complex problem into bite size pieces and methodically work through them * Risk Tolerance: The ability to understand and accept risk and manage your way through it. * Individuality: The strength and honesty to know who you are and the confidence to be that person consistently. Chapter 1 explains that in this current career climate, the career path is no longer a straight forward and predictable journey like the previous generation had. You must steer your own career instead of waiting for your company to plan for your career. The first thing you need to do is to destroy fear and be willing to undertake calculated risk. This chapter encourages readers to come out of their comfort zone and embrace the reach zone where you are putting yourself to the edge of achieving something and experience growth. Chapter 2 focuses on passion. You must find out what you love to do, develop the passion and maintain the passion in it. Chapter 3 explains that instead of having one or two career goals, you should have a career plan consist of a list of ambitious achievement, jobs, projects or assignment that you would like to accomplish. Then you focus on these goals and excel in it by practicing it relentlessly. After you have identified these ambitious goals, look out for opportunity and grab it when available. Chapter 4 shows you how to look for opportunities in your current work or whether you should seek opportunities elsewhere. It shows you how to examine the opportunity when it comes so that you are sure that this opportunity is the right one for you. This chapter also briefly mentions some interviewing skills. Chapter 5 explores about leadership. The author mentioned that we must learn how to work with the team and be for the team while standing apart from the team. This chapter also explains kinetic leadership where everyone on the team can stand out and lead at the thing they're best at. It also mention that sharing information bring great power to the team where traditionally people kept information to themselves. Those who are just member of the pack can also lead with your ideas. One should find a boss who has the same leadership style. Chapter 6 explores alternatives to a regular employment. Besides being an employee, you can be an intrapreneur or entrepreneur. There are different forms of entrepreneur

Going for the big air at work

Your career will almost certainly not be a straight, uphill climb within a single company, according to author Eileen Gunn. Extreme sports are about personal expression, enjoying an exciting experience and developing a reputation for spectacular feats. An extreme career is about the same things. Orientated to Gen Xers and Gen Yers, the book describes a career trajectory that is more like jumping from peak to peak than like steady mountain climbing, as varying peaks and valleys bespeak dramatic career changes. We find value in the message that you can have an extreme career, if you wish, and in the instructions for how to hit the peaks. You can learn how to grab big air for your career and make more of every day of your life.

Grabbing the big air while not breaking your career's neck.

This book is aimed at people under 35 and the earlier in their career the better. It is written in a multimedia style and has the graphic style of a packet of information given to an extreme athlete at a competition. That is the metaphor for the book. The idea is that the single company, climbing the corporate ladder of your parents and grandparents is over. Young people today will be switching jobs on a regular basis. To get the most out of a job to advance your career for the next job you land you need to treat your present job as a competition to get you some recognition that will get you noticed for the next gig. Grab the big air now. Eileen Gunn uses anecdotes from the careers of people who have been successful in business and as extreme athletes. She shows us how they used a series of jobs to end up in the good places they are now and relates that to what they do as an extreme athlete. Probably the most valuable service she offers in the book is showing how extreme athletes mitigate as much risk as they can through planning, training, gathering intelligence, and then letting go and relying on their preparation. She also points out a style of teamwork and leadership she calls kinetic leadership and recommends that to the younger generation of workers. That is, be a part of a team and contribute all you can, but don't hog the sunshine. Lead when your skills warrant it, but support others when they have the most to offer. These trade-offs help everyone. Not so relevant to me, but it might be very helpful for someone a generation younger.

The use of metaphor

Using extreme sport as a metaphor the author explores the topic of managing your career. The graphic style (both literally and figuratively) are aimed at a young audience. I purchased a copy for my nephew.

This metaphor leads to a new way of thinking

If you're looking to advance up the corporate ladder, practice tackling risk as a rock climber. Sports lingo is commonly used as metaphor for the work world--"Be a team player" and all that. This books teaches a new set of lingo drawn from extreme sports that more accurately reflects the realities of today's job market. It's packed with examples of business tycoons who've learned all their important lessons "grabbing big air" on a snowboard. A must for members of Generation X/Y who want to be noticed by the big decision-makers.