My latest reading was suggested by a fellow PeopleSofter – Steve Cassel. He is a fantastic Sales Representative (and all around nice guy) who sells to several very large and complex accounts. He recommended “Buck Up, Suck Up… and Come Back When You Foul Up” by James Carville and Paul Begala. The book is about how to run a successful political campaign (these are the guys who brought you Bill Clinton’s campaign) but Steve applies it to his work selling to large corporations. They have 12 rules – most of which are common sense (but that is part of the point of the book) that describe how to be successful in a winner take all battle.

I am not quite finished with the book (it is an easy read and I should be done later this week) but so far I have found it instructive. The first thing to note is that your political leanings are not important when reading this book – the lessons apply to anyone in a competitive situation. There are three rules that struck me as particularly important:

Rule 1 – Don’t Ever Quit – a basic lesson in the power of persistence.
Rule 2 – Kiss Ass – The fact remains that life is who you know and not what you know – getting close with those people who will influence important decisions in your life is critical to success.
Rule 6 – Be Open – the most important tenant of good leadership (in my opinion) – being open to new ideas and avoiding secrets that will foster mistrust.

Many of the other rules are interesting as well, and overall I have found the book to be informative and easy to grasp.If you are working in a large organization or just trying to compete in a complex environment, this book will give you some simple rules to live by.