Carolyn 101 : Business Lessons from The Apprentice's Straight Shooter

Rating:
Summary: Well written and practical with lots of embedded lessons
Review: An excellent and informative book. Carolyn does not overly embellish anything (is not overly wordy) so there is a lot of practical advise in a relatively small book. By discussing some of the lessons that Carolyn has learned as well as the decisions that she has made, there is a wealth of practical advice for individuals to glean from these pages. Even a 38 year old IT Manager can learn from this book!

Rating:
Summary: Great for the young corporate climber
Review: First off, this book is definitely written for the recent college grad who has just embarked on her career and is determined to become a corporate superstar.

The book is mainly based around "Carolyn 101" tips, which are short lessons about business. These tips are illustrated by Carolyn's own history. You could say that this is almost like a thouhgtful and analytical retrospective of Carolyn's career, with her commenting and extracting major lessons from important events. A true "learn from my experience" book. It's very practical.

That said, it is still a highly entertaining, fast read that provides a few twists and turns. And, it doesn't focus extensively on gender in the workplace; the tips and stories really are universal in application.

This would be a great gift for any recent or soon-to-be college graduate of any gender.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I finished this book in two nights and am more impressed than ever. She gives sound business advice about dealing with ineffective superiors, communication through different channels, managing teamwork cohesion, balancing family with work, and the importance of good people. Skeptics may call it common sense but most common individuals struggle with some aspect of work conduct. I thoroughly enjoyed the emotional qualities and personal antecdotes. She writes at length about interpersonal skills -- letting others save face, not letting conflicts go unconfronted, making suggestions without self-aggrandizing or undermining authority, motivating people to excel, and giving people room to grow. She understands the need for good people and the capacity to be great. This book won't help your bottom line but it will make you a better leader and a better follower. Made me recognize mistakes of my own and those around me. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: Cold and calculating
Review: I would've appreciated this book so much more if Carolyn came across as a candid, warm person with a sense of humor. Instead it seems as though she's an automaton whose entire life is her work. She even refers to her family as the "Kepcher Organization" and calls her parents "team captains." Agh!

But what truly annoyed me about this book is how she fell all over herself gushing about Trump, yet went out of her way to badmouth each of her prior bosses. Not a chapter goes by when she doesn't make a point of flattering Donald Trump in some way -which, I suppose, is to be expected - although it didn't help her authenticity in any way.

In the end, I wish she came across as a real person with real life lessons. Her advice didn't ring true to me.



Rating:
Summary: A waste of $, self-seving ad, doesn't teach anything
Review: I've returned my copy of this extremely lightweight advertisement of Donald Trump and Carolyn's activities. I was looking for "business lessons" as that is in the title! Instead, in a flat, forced style, Carolyn reads an account of her career WITHOUT directing one on how to do it. Was she just lucky? Endowed with inate talents? In the right place at the right time? She has lost the respect I had foolishly assumed she deserved. I am losing money on my return, but I would not even give this away.

Rating:
Summary: Great first half then it looses the sizzle
Review: It is obvious that "Ms. Kepcher" is a very successful and talented woman. A "master of her own domain" as she puts it.

The positives of the book/author
- Great story teller. Especially the first half
- Good advice on people/management issues. They are not anything profound or extraordinary insights, but advices that every good manager should posses. Great for young professional or starting middle managers

Negatives about the book/author
- The messaging is a little inconsistent time to time
- She takes herself a little too seriously
- The advice is too Trump Organization centric
- Assumption that everybody wants/have to be a manager eventually

Below are some of the examples:
- Right before the Forward section, she talks about being a mother is the "most wonderfully rewarding positions I have held" but then she goes on about how she works and willing to work longer hours than anyone except Donald Trump. And reading the book reader gets impression that she puts a lot of hours and she sacrifices much of Work/Life balance. You can't really tell someone that one job is "most wonderfully rewarding job" while the other job consumes most of your life.
- She wants to be called Ms. Kepcher rather than Carolyn, during a job interview (in her interview tips section). This is really not much of an interview tip. If the former CEO of GE, Jack Welch, tells others to call him Jack, rather than Dr. Welch, I think you are taking yourself way too seriously wanting to be called Ms. Kepcher.
- Maybe in Trump organizations, you throw away any resume/cover letters, just because they contain grammatical errors or spelling errors, but by doing that you are loosing many good candidates. I interviewed many US and foreign national candidates from Europe and Asia that had a couple minor grammatical errors on their resumes. But I hired them because they were good employees for the company and not because they could spell correctly.
- It is true that the majority audience of this book is probably interested in becoming manager in their own area someday. But as a good manager, you should not expect that everyone is destined/want to become mangers. Einstein is probably more valuable as a great scientist he is than a manager of, let say, National Science Foundation. She makes assumption that every employees of hers needs to be given a room to grow and become managers. As a manager you will need to set the correct career path for each employee, and give them room to grow, but they can't and shouldn't all be managers eventually.
- She talks about how you should be careful allowing others, who are not qualified to comment, in your area of expertise, because it could undermine your authority. Then she goes and gives unqualified advice to working mothers or non-working mothers about motherhood or how to become a good mother. You cannot be a true expert or authority in that area if your oldest one is only about 4 years old. It takes longer to master that skill.


Overall I enjoyed the first half of the book which read like a well told story of how her success came about. I feel like the second half of the book was thrown together to fill up the pages


Rating:
Summary: Trump's Trump
Review: The book "Carolyn 101", as its author tells us right away, is about how she got to the point in business she is currently at. And the book certainly delivers.

Ms. Kepcher captures a high altitude view of what has thus far been her life in a succinct book that flows easily and with adequate suspense to want to know more. It's a page-turner filled with shells of wisdom undoubtedly collected from the intellectual shores of many valuable people, such as her parents, friends, and colleagues, including an ocean of resource named Donald Trump.

Always working in a team has been the general theme of Ms. Kepcher's life, and excelling in such an environment. Be it waiting at a restaurant or playing volleyball, it's all about working with people, communicating with them, and keeping your cool during difficult times. It is easy to relate to all of Ms. Kepcher's stories because many of us live through them.

Everything Donald Trump has had to offer her is matched only by all she has delivered and delivering. With her book we at least get some taste of Trump's joy in crumbs of words.


Rating:
Summary: -----------CAROLYN 101 IS EXCELLANT!--------------
Review: This book is so amazing, I enjoyed reading it alot, it's not only for women, but for young people and young men like myself who want to be successful in the business world and in all types of careers. I took about a month to read this book because I was taking notes and writing down each "Carolyn 101" advice that was in the book, I will refer to this book when Im going looking for interviews and searching for careers, and now that there is also a compact disc version of the book, I will most certainly buy it! This book is a must have!

Rating:
Summary: Impressive! Real advices from a real executive
Review: To be honest, I am impressed.

The book starts from an email to Carolyn, judging her current senior executive position in Trump Organization was due to a related or personal connection to Donlad Trump. As a matter of fact, ten years ago, Carolyn, just like the contestants in The Apprentice, fought all her ways to a dream job, from restaurant waitress, hotel manager, director of sales and marketing, to today's Executive Vice President and COO in Trump Organization.

In this book, Carolyn uses her rich work experience to walk you through different topics with excellent tips, like becoming Trump's apprentice, dealing with different types of boss, being a good manager and employee, asking for promotion and raise, managing work and personal life, etc. In addition, she addresses some "Do's" and "Don'ts" for resumes and cover letters writing, as well as job interviews. I personally find them greatly helpful and very different from those typical reference books about "Job Hunting" or "Ace Your Interview". Carolyn gives you the precise advices in her book.

In addition, you will also see a lot of Carolyn 101's hints & tips inserts through out the entire book. She explains those tips & hints along with her day-to-day work experiences. Couples of my favorites are:
- "A good employee is the master of his or her domain."
- "Promoting yourself is the best way to get promoted."
- "Asking for a raise of more than a small percentage of your base salary is a major step, to be contemplated only if you truly believe your new position requires either significantly more work or that much more responsibility than your present position."
- "Never forget that today's mailroom clerk could be tomorrow's manager."

Knowing how to become a good employee, you may think this is a common sense to everyone. Unlike other books just showing you a list of rules of thumb to be a good employee, Carolyn uses her daily job scenarios to depict each of the rules in details of the reasoning, so that readers won't just memorize and follow the rules but with rationales to support them. In her book, Carolyn clearly defines the seven GOOD EMPLOYEE rules as below:
1. If one player wins, we all win; if one player loses, we all lose.
2. Everybody on our team has to appreciate everyone else's job.
3. You've got to want to be there.
4. Be in the know.
5. Bring me a solution, not a problem.
6. When in doubt, make a deciion and stand by it.
7. Become an expert in your field

The most profound topic I found in the book is about getting promotion and raise. I have read couple books that show you different negotiation tactics to get promotion or raise. None of them is as honest and helpful as Carolyn's book. Her advices are truthful and undoubtfully practical. Overall, it's not a micky mouse book, I do really think it's an excellent book that should be read by everyone. I give it a true FIVE STARS.

(Reviewed by Otto Yuen, 4-Dec-2004)


Rating:
Summary: exactly what i wanted to know
Review: when watching the apprentice i was always facinated by this young blond WOMAN sitting on the left side of one the most powerful men in the world. i wanted to know about her, how the heck did she attain such a position that most people men and women alike sell their souls for every day.
After reading this book, lets just say i was... satisfied. She really didn't tell me anything i didn't know in her tips, but her life story had me captivated.