Peak Careers

Professional Development for Career Practitioners

Book Reviews

Mountain Madness: Scott Fischer, Mount Everest & a Life Lived on High. By Robert Birkby

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I met Bob Birkby back in my days in Seattle, 1980-81. Friends of some friends… I was even somewhere around 300 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in the summer of 1981 with these “friends of Bob” when Bob and Carol (she’s in the book) hiked up to our camp. It was wild to see someone we knew on the trail after 3+ weeks of hiking.

Turns out, Bob had a friend of friend, who was Scott Fischer. There have been a number of books about Scott, like Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and others, which often were the “persona” of Scott Fischer the mountaineer. Bob wanted to write a book about Scott Fischer the person.

Clearly Scott Fischer was one of those people who would take over a room when they arrived, with a huge personality and lots of stories. He was also an optimist and a person who truly loves the mountains. Not like me where I like backpacking in the mountains…he wanted to be on the TOP of the mountains.

I loved this book as it captured the intensity and beauty of being in the mountains and on top of them. The drive and commitment to climb mountains like Everest is something I have no interest in, but love to read how others are motivated to do it. Because Bob has done some climbing (not like Scott), he gives the reader the insight as to how ti feels to be up there.

By interviewing many of Scotts friends and climbing partners, you get a real inside feel to who he is and what motivates him. Lots of people die in the mountains above 20,000 feet. Shit happens there that does not forgive. Scott is one of them.

If you like the mountains and if you’d like to know how mountaineers think, read this book. It was a great read that I could not put down.

Switchers by Dawn Graham

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As a career coach, I loved this book. It reinforced the work I do with my clients – helping them create a value – added statement highlighting their skills. The author also does a great job talking about the importance of networking to break into new industries. Networking is important for all career changers but critical to switchers…people changing industries.

Switchers book

Scattered throughout her very practical advice were great quotes like, “job search is not fair” and then she reinforced the fact that you need a mindset change, not wasting energy complaining it isn’t fair. It isn’t sometimes, get over it, change your thinking.

“Failure is NOT the opposite of success, but rather a necessary stepping stone to attain success” Switchers (people who are switching industry or types of jobs) need to accept failing occasionally and look at them learning opportunities. *Note: which fits in well with the Happenstance Theory I embrace.

And two favorites, “You can’t steal 2nd base and keep one foot on first”  and “If you chase two rabbits, both will escape” which was her point about having one plan (no plan B) and putting yourself out there focusing on the best option you want.

She is a realist too, and if that plan does not work out after you have really tried, been persistent, and taken her advice, then sure, you can change plans, but be “all in” on one to start.

A couple of other tidbits I really thought were good is the mindset that the hiring manager is not necessarily trying to hire the BEST person, their instincts are to avoid loss. Switchers are a bigger risk for them and you have to be prepared to deal with their concerns when you go into the networking and interviewing process.

Negotiating.  Having a negotiation on salary at the offer actually STRENGTHENS the relationship with your boss – builds relationship and you get to see how you will work together and what kind of support is there. I had not thought of negotiating in this way but really see the wisdom. I think I have tried to say something similar to my clients but this was brilliant.

Her thoughts on networking were strong as well. We (career coaches) all know the importance of networking to build relationships, but her book really drove home the importance for people who want to switch jobs. I loved her term “Micro-networking” which is all the little things you can to strengthen relationships. i.e. “liking” on social media / bringing cookies to a meeting / keep track of b-day’s / attend events and make the rounds / repost articles and offer a summary. Create ambassadors (vs just networking).

There were so many great thoughts presented here with actionable steps at the end of each chapter. The strengths of the book are in mindset changes, branding, networking, and networking. (Yes I repeated that last one on purpose).

Designing Your Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness at Work

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By Burnett, B., & Evans,D. (2020)

I found this book to align well with my own career coaching philosophy of creating a value-added statement, (the 5 or 6 essential things you want everyone to know about you), being curious and reaching out to your network to create opportunities.

This is the first book our career coaching group choose for our book club. I have more to say about the book but Janine Rowe just posted a book review in the NCDA Career Convergence and she does a great job…I’ll let you read hers here for more details.

I highly recommend this book for career coaches and for people who are struggling to make their next move in their career.

Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde

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I’d seen the movie but books are typically better than the movie as they can go into more detail, and this book was indeed a great read.

My friends suggested some Catherine Ryan Hyde books as they have read a number of her books recently and enjoyed them all. Turns out this was the only book available in my local bookstore the day I went. I’m glad it was.

What a wonderful story about a young boy, Trevor, who is challenged by a teacher to do something to change the world, and he does. Most of the time, he does not realize that people are indeed “paying it forward” to three other people after Trevor does them a good deed.

Then the world finds out this movement is happening and an investigative reporter is trying to find out who started it. Never did he imagine it was a boy.

A wonderful story, filled with good feeling for many and quite a bit of tension too as a relationship is strained…and a twist at the end I didn’t see coming even though I had watched the movie. (I guess I forgot 🙂

Anyway, a wonderful book that I could not put down.

Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner

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This book gave me new insights to the man we know as George Washington. The guy states, streets, and people were named after. The author takes us from the beginning of his life growing up to the end and gives a real sense of “who” he was and “how” he thought.

It was dense at times but very informative. I needed a dictionary near me to look up some of his words 🙂 but I really enjoyed reading it and learned much more about our first president and why we are who we are as a nation because of him.

A truly great leader who learned from mistakes and took the high road his entire life.

StoryTraining: Selecting and Shaping Stories That Connect

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This book by Hadiya Nurriddin, is a great tool for people who do training and want to incorporate story telling into their training. She makes a compelling argument that stories are needed to make training memorable.

People may forget a list of 10 things you need to do…but won’t forget the story that makes the same points. Simple as that. I try to weave in stories in all my trainings to give my training realistic lessons in whatever I am teaching.

Hadiya breaks her book into three major parts. How Stories Facilitate Learning. Selecting and Shaping Stories that Teach. Telling Stories that Teach.

If you are a trainer who wants to weave more stories into your training, she does a great job at breaking down the process and giving her time-tested methods on how to do that.