About the Book
From personal influencing skills and positive psychology to handling relationships and communication, you're about to discover the simple truth about success
'John Lees has re-written the rules on everything you thought you knew about successful self-projection, networking and effective communication' From the Foreword by Sarah Willingham of BBC's Dragons' Den
This is a book about getting noticed, but not a conventional book. It doesn't tell you to sell yourself, get out there, impress with power dressing or to have an elevator speech. Getting noticed doesn't have to mean over-selling. Over the course of this book, you will discover exciting research, positive psychology and advice from a range of experts that will help you make an authentic impact.
By stepping just to the edge of your comfort zone, you will learn to project yourself onto the world of work. From personal influencing skills to presentations, this book decodes success for people who hate the idea of selling themselves. You'll rethink networking, learn how to talk about yourself in ways that others find easy to hear - and also directly influence what people say about you. You'll discover how you can project yourself in writing without looking as if you're pushing too hard, and learn to engage people in a way that sparks curiosity and leads to interesting offers.
Written for both introverts and extroverts, THE SUCCESS CODE shows you how to find an authentic voice even if your style is naturally self-effacing. You'll learn to get your name 'front of mind' by making sure the right messages about you come across even when you're not in the room. This is your game plan for getting noticed.
Are you ready?
'A pragmatic and insightful guide to building reputation and impact that anyone can learn from' Penny de Valk, Managing Director, Penna Talent Practice
'If you would rather climb the stairs than get in the lift to do an elevator pitch, then buy this book' Dr Carole Pemberton, Coaching to Solutions, Executive coach and author
'Packed with helpful facts, insightful quotes and practical tips' Ian Nicholas, Chief HR Officer, REED Specialist Recruitment Ltd
'A great resource in aiding your development' Gordon McFarland - HR Director - Global Professional Services
'Full of practical advice and tips and will help you find your voice and achieve success in an authentic way' Zoe Shackle, HR Director AMC Networks International
About the Author :
John Lees is one of the UK's best-known career strategists. His book How To Get a Job You Love regularly tops the list as the bestselling careers book by a British author.
As a career strategist, John specialises in helping people make difficult career decisions. Along the way he helps them reach out and communicate.
John is the author of a wide range of career titles. His books have been translated into Arabic, Polish and Spanish. He is featured in the national press and his work has been profiled in Management Today, Psychologies, Coaching at Work and the Sunday Times. John broadcasts widely and has contributed to the BBC interactive Back to Work series programme, BBC2's Working Lunch, Channel 4's Dispatches and ITV's Tonight - How To Get A Job. He is a regular blog contributor to Harvard Business Review online and in 2012 wrote the introduction to the HBR Guide to Getting the Right Job. John has presented at conferences and events in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, and the USA.
John is a graduate of the universities of Cambridge, London and Liverpool, and has spent most of his career focusing on the world of work. He has consulted for a wide range of organisations including: British Gas Commercial, The British Council, CIPD, Harrods, Hiscox, The House of Commons, Imperial College, The Association of MBAs, Lloyds Banking Group, Marks & Spencer, NAPP Pharmaceutical, Oakridge, as well as business schools across the UK. John is a Fellow of the CIPD, an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals, a Career Management Fellow, and was a founding Board Director of the Career Development Institute.
Alongside his day job, John serves as an ordained Anglican priest. John is married to the poet and children's writer Jan Dean. They live in East Devon.
Review :
John Lees has re-written the rules on everything you thought you knew about successful self-projection, networking and effective communication.
The Success Code is a pragmatic and insightful guide to building reputation and impact that anyone can learn from - even those not in the least bit inclined to self-promote. From communication tips to networking advice, the exercises are sufficiently stretching so there is no hiding behind what 'feels natural'. Written in a manner that helps the reader challenge and reframe some of their anxieties or prejudices about how they approach building their personal brand, the book builds confidence as well as skills.
This book is packed with helpful facts, insightful quotes and practical tips. The real appeal for me is the refreshing honesty with which John approaches a topic that many struggle with. He explains that "self projection" is an important and often misunderstood concept, and we can all improve if we properly plan, prepare and practice. I have never met a successful person who has not benefitted from making helpful contacts and yet, from my experience, most people do not understand how to go about forging strong relationships with the right people. Rightly, in my opinion, the book stresses the pitfalls for anyone focused upon self promotion and, instead, demonstrates that those who show genuine interest in others will ultimately be the people that we wish to approach and keep in touch with.
Do you want to succeed in your career but cringe at the thought of networking, self-promotion and elevator pitches? This book is for you. The good news is, most influence doesn't come from elevator pitches; it's not about conveying information. Influence comes from building relationships. John Lees reminds us that the impression we make matters, and suggests small positive changes that will help other people remember the best of who we are.
The Success Code is the book for people who want to promote themselves but are aghast at the idea of coming across like an over-confident salesman in a shiny suit. It's a career dilemma that affects us all: we know we need to put ourselves forward at work, but many of us find the idea of being pushy and networking mortifying. John Lees offers a workable, practical solution. It's self-promotion without the self-regard. John Lees is one of my favourite interviewees. He is an inexhaustible well of pithy, practical and sometimes surprising careers advice.
If you believe digital media is for show offs, not people like you. If you know you should network but don't. If you are told you need to have a personal brand but find the idea distasteful. If you would rather climb the stairs than get in the lift to do an elevator pitch, then buy this book. John Lees is not exhorting you to be different from who you are, he is alongside you encouraging you to succeed by being the best authentic version of you. It's a refreshingly different message.
This book identifies a key issue at work today. Relationships and interpersonal skills are critical to success but not everyone naturally feels comfortable with how they are 'supposed' to behave. John's book helps you deal with this in a really simple, practical and genuine way. Lots of useful insights and tips. A great resource in aiding your development or someone in your team who is struggling to fill their potential.
Succinct, well structured, and very much of the real world, The Success Code is founded on good research yet is eminently accessible. This book is for those people who want to progress but don't want to sacrifice their sense of self, who want to amplify who they really are rather than pretending to be something they're not. This isn't a book that berates you and badgers you, it's a book that takes you by the hand and guides you to understanding, and then via understanding, into action.
If you dread the thought of 'networking' or 'selling yourself' but want to progress in your existing job and/or future career then this is the book for you. It is full of practical advice and tips and will help you find your voice and achieve success in an authentic way.
