Basic Black

By: Cathie Black 4/5

Not so much a how to book, but a self reflection on the subtleties of the work place. Cathie Black is President and CEO of Hearst Magazines, which include Oprah, Cosmo, Cosmo Girl, and a ton of others. She talks about her work life throughout the years… from graduating college and expectations in the work place to her life now and how she got there.

One of my favorite stories includes her roommate and the difference of being told what to do specifically and knowing yourself what is expected of you. While your job and your boss can explain things, there is a point that you should know as a grown adult and the position you have what is expected of the job without being micro managed. (This particular part came at a time in my work place where I felt like I had to micro manage). 

I also think that I have learned a lot, especially the importance of having a mentor in your workplace that can help guide you. At the same time, I do believe that there are many things that I already do in my work life, this being common sense to me, but not a lot of other people. This of course brings me to my next point, are there different expectations in the workplace now with my generation such as; graduating college and expecting at 80K plus job right out of school? I think times have changed, especially with technology and the easy of working from home. I also think that we have moved from a society of social work interaction to barely speaking on the phone. The ease of email and texting has moved us to place where you don’t have to ever see anyone; meetings are done via teleconference and even beyond that gotomeeting where you don’t even have to speak with anyone, just type in your screen and see what they are doing 10,000 miles away with the same screen.

What is the same, the expectations of respect, being at work on time, and proper channels of communication. Cathie Black puts all this into prospective, speaking of taking risks and challenging yourself while understanding your self worth. I think every woman in the work place that strives to achieve higher standards should be reading this book.

Way to go Cathie!