Growing up through High School I always loved CliffsNotes. When I got to college I remember that SparkNotes was also pretty big. While I’ve never been exactly sure who “Cliff” is and why he felt he needed to create “Notes” for his ..., but I thank him wholeheartedly for his efforts.

A few months back when the calendar turned to the New Year, I issued a blog that had a tentative weekly schedule for this site. For the most part, I’ve held myself to that excpet in one area - - Book Reviews. In fact, I’ve only published one post in this category and that was a Chapter 1 expose on the book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

I felt it was time to resurrect this feature so that I don’t get too far behind with my reading. So, without further adieu, here’s a brief snapshot of Chapter 2. Consider this series the JeffsNotes of professional reading material.

First off, any chapter that’s only 4.5 pages in length is fantastic by me! With so much to do over the course of any given day this is exactly the type of thing I could tackle over a few sips of my morning coffee.

In Chapter 2 the author gives us a little background on himself. It was interesting to note that his career as an Executive Coach had its roots in his role advising HR departments about identifying future leaders in their companies and creating programs to form them into better leaders. Naturally, that got my attention given the industry playground I’m a part of.

The author goes on to discuss his first “test case subject” and he explains that his job is to not make successful people smarter or richer. His job is to help them to identify a personal habit that’s annoying their coworkers and to help them eliminate it so that they can retain their value to the organization.

His job is to make them see that the skills and habits that have taken them this far might not be the right skills and habits to take them further. Thus, what got them here won’t get them there.

Interestingly enough, the author also takes the time to point out that he doesn’t just work with only the super-successful Peak Performers. He maintains that there is no correlation between an individual’s standing in the corporate pyramid and what his coworkers think of his interpersonal skills. His core audience is anyone who is successful in their own minds, but who want to be even more successful.

Lastly, I must say that these 4.5 pages did a lot to generate interest and excitement and I find myself eager to continue reading the next chapter. In closing, I’ll leave you with this excerpt:


“That’s the spirit underlying this book. It’s aimed at anyone who wants to get better - - at work, at home, or any other venue. If I can help you consider the possibility that, despite your demonstrable success and laudable self-esteem, you might not be as good as you think you are; that all of us have corners in our behavioral makeup that are messy; and that these messy corners can be pinpointed and tidied up, then I can leave the world - - and your world - - a slightly better place than I found it.”