Summary of Great Work, Great Career

Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo

Looking for the book?
We have the summary! Get the key insights in just 10 minutes.

Rating

8 Overall

8 Applicability

7 Innovation

7 Style

Recommendation

What might sound like a series of clichés coming from a typical business writer could, out of reverence, be called “tapping into the zeitgeist” when it is presented by a bona fide guru. In a quick 156 pages (including a Frequently Asked Questions section), Stephen R. Covey and co-author Jennifer Colosimo work to overturn the ordinary ways people seek and acquire jobs. Like the authors of a diet book, Covey and Colosimo ask you to make healthy choices to shape your work’s waistline. Choose a meaningful career, not a job. Think of yourself as a “volunteer,” not an employee. Adapt to the “Knowledge Age” and leave behind the “Industrial Age.” Use a job interview as a “research opportunity,” and see a résumé cover letter as a chance to define yourself as the solution to an employer’s problem. Granted, if you don’t want to be told to change your paradigm, or to invent your own job if you can’t find one, you might want to invest your dimes elsewhere. Then again, if you’re tired of the patterns in your professional path, Covey and Colosimo’s new career-seeking terminology might be just the jolt you need. Old habits die hard – maybe it’s time for some new ones. getAbstract recommends this book to job seekers, bootstrappers, service industry personnel, Covey fanatics and all workers in a rut.

In this summary, you will learn

What a meaningful career is and how to have one;
How to write a “Contribution Statement” to demonstrate your worth to employers; and
How to overturn traditional approaches to landing a job, stand out and advertise your unique contribution.

About the Authors

Stephen R. Covey has written several leadership books, including the perennial bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He is co-founder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey, where executive coach Jennifer Colosimo is chief learning officer.

Summary

A Great Career Requires a Different Mind-Set
A job that puts food on the family table is different from a career that leaves a legacy for your grandchildren to marvel at around that same table. Yes, you need to pay the bills now. But if you’re not working toward a great career, you’ll ...