Review: Career Intensity by David Lorenzo

As previously mentioned, I won this book in a giveaway over at Free Money Finance. I sat down and read it in one go (which may not have been the wisest idea, but there it is.) My initial thoughts:

The book, especially the last half, is very focused on those in some kind of sales or retail management position. So if you work in HR or something where your only "customers" are from inside the company (or if you're in a position where people have no choice but to go through you) a lot of the suggestions about increasing business may not apply.

It is sometimes unclear whether he's trying to talk to people who own their own business, or who work for a large corporation. At any rate, he does seem to try to encourage people who work within a corporation to treat their division as a tiny company under their control - you might not be able to control the whole thing but you can certainly affect what's around you.

Many of the tips in the book are aimed at the sort of people who are frequently heard saying, "huh, I never thought of it that way." It seems to me that there are a great many people who don't bother to think about the reasons behind things - and the author frequently reiterates that you should always know why you're doing things, and to always do things for a reason. I think that's probably the best sort of advice in the book - that you should pay attention to yourself and not just go through the motions. When you're paying attention to your actions, you'll find better ways to do them, and you can find lots of opportunities for advancing yourself that you might have simply waltzed by.

Career Intensity is definitely not a book for those who aren't doing well at their jobs because they want to be doing something else. It's got a "laser-like focus" (as Lorenzo says at least three times) on people who have found something they like and want to make the best of it. But at the same time, it's also not for people whose dream job doesn't involve making money or selling things. If your ideal job is to teach English to new immigrants, or to rescue puppies from abusive owners, then probably this advice is not for you. Maybe I'm just not old and jaded enough to think that saving the world is still a noble job goal, and not just for the young and the retired?