Review of "The Introvert's Guide to the Workplace" on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
If you are graduating college and are looking for a manual to help you as a guide to the workplace then this is the book for you. "The first step toward a fulfilling career and life is finding out what success and thriving mean to you."
The book is a slow read, with many quotes from other books, and some chapters you may feel the need to skip over. "Seth Godin refers to the decisions we made in the past as sunk costs, a business term that refers to money that was spent and that can no longer be recovered. Just because you put time or effort or money into something doesn’t mean it needs to still affect your decisions."
The author does to some things very well, they include links to previous chapters in the book, however that link only goes to the first page of that chapter. They also include interviews from other people, but that formatting was messed up for me (not taking up the entire width). There are also a number of spots where the author encourages you to stop and complete a task, with at least one of them containing a table, which doesn't do well on a e-reader.
Even as someone who has been in the workplace for many years, there were chapters that were very helpful and some I completely skipped over as they weren't relevant to me.
"We also use cultural autofills—shortcuts—to help us decide if certain behaviors are considered “normal,” and therefore accepted and praised, in our society."
"One way to counteract imposter syndrome is to keep what’s called a Smile File. A Smile File is a physical or digital file that contains external validation of your accomplishments and strengths."
"When you let go of trying to fit the extrovert bias that speaking is king, let go of an education system that stamped out curiosity, and let your natural state of listening and openness take over, you’ll find the right balance between listening and speaking."
"It may seem annoying to have to make small talk with our coworkers, but it’s like brushing your teeth: while you probably don’t love doing it, it’s worth the effort in the long run—and it’s easy to turn into a habit."
"For instance, if you’ll just be going to the event because your boss expects you to, then make sure your boss sees you—then leave half an hour hour later."