I Didn’t See It Coming: The Only Book You’ll Ever Need to Avoid Being Blindsided in Business

Published in 2007
204 pages

epub


Nancy C. Widmann was the first woman president at CBS, Inc. She managed CBS Radio for eight years and was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2005. She serves as a coach for senior managers and frequently speaks on corporate politics and strategy.

Dr. Elaine J. Eisenman is Dean of Executive Education at Babson College. She holds a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology and has over twenty-five years of experience as a consultant, business executive, and board director for both publicly and privately held companies.

Amy Dorn Kopelan moved upward for twenty years through the executive ranks at ABC Television and managed programming at Good Morning America for nine years. She is President of Bedlam Entertainment, Inc., a conference management company, and founder of COACH ME Inc., which provides group coaching for mid-level managers in Fortune 500 companies.

What is this book about?
Managers have been under siege for the past ten years. They have been forced to downsize, restructure, merge, combine jobs, and inflate profits. They got on board and did what the boss asked. Then, in came a new boss, or consultant, and out went those same managers who had been willing to play the game.

Those managers might still have jobs if they had been able to spot the red flags that signal trouble. In fact, the most dedicated and driven professionals are often the employees least likely to notice the office threats and pitfalls around them; they’re too busy working!

I Didn’t See It Coming provides savvy advice and strategic insights for recognizing and dealing with the situations that can threaten your career. This book will help you develop the skills you need to read the room, correctly assess what is happening around you, and control your career destiny. It shows you why you need an exit strategy, how to navigate the political terrain, how (and why) to differentiate between colleagues, and why it’s important to follow the money. Everyone can benefit from understanding how office politics works and what you can do to enhance your position. For anyone in a dicey situation―even if you don’t know it yet―this is the ultimate guidebook for office survival. When it comes to your career, don’t take chances! Take charge and make sure you see it coming.

The authors of this utterly unique career guide are three high-powered former executives from major corporations. Each has been on the firing line, faced situations where she didn’t see it coming, and emerged more knowledgeable and successful. Not only do the authors know how to spot dangers and wage a clever campaign of corporate politics, they each have worked with and interviewed hundreds of executives whose stories reveal all the different ways and reasons people get blindsided.