Erin Albert's Blog

As a professor, one of the things keeping me up at night is the following:  what are colleges doing to help students not only get a good education in order to obtain “a job”, but more importantly to “make and grow jobs” for others and be self-sustaining?

I’ve ranted several times and several of my blogs that the days of the 30-year-gold-watch-at-retirement- work-for-one-company-for-the-rest-of-your-life-career is so over, we need a new word for over!

So, being the avid reader that I am (OK, I read a lot of the non fiction books in lieu of reading my law school homework and cases, so I’m a bit of a slacker myself sometimes! ha!) , here are 5 books that I think every senior graduating from college (and for that matter, high school) should be reading right now in order to prepare themselves for the sometimes crushing blow of the real world:

1. Crush It! By Gary Vaynerchuk – I first was introduced to Mr. Vaynerchuk through his video blog on wine…I found them highly entertaining.  Now, we are all lucky enough to hear about his success in marketing himself and his personal brand equity strategy.  This book helps peeps unearth their passions and making money around them.  It won’t tell you what your passion might be, but Gary will tell you what he did around his passions to create his own multi million dollar empire.

2.  Strengthsfinder 2.0 – I’ve already discussed this book til I’m blue in the face, but I really don’t care.  It is incumbent upon each of us to know our own strengths.  That will make your life a whole lot easier!  AND, it helps you tell your own story if you know what your strengths are.  For example, my #1 strength is “Futuristic” – I love talking about the future.  So, guess what my articles and projects are about?  Yup! You guessed it!  THE FUTURE!

3.  Drive – By Daniel Pink – Intrinsic motivation – that’s what this book is all about.  Figuring out again what makes you tick by doing some exercises in this book will set you up as a new employee to excel on your own terms and in your own way.  Your boss isn’t going to hand you your very own dream job – you need to go out and make it.

4.  Linchpin – By Seth Godin – This book helps you discern how to make yourself indispensable at work. Very UN-Office Space, (i.e. doing just enough work not to get fired.)  This book instead is about how to be a rock star at work.

5.  The Whuffie Factor – By Tara Hunt – Dang, if only someone had told me when I was in high school or college the value of social networking and the rules associated around it like this book does, I would have been LIGHT YEARS ahead of where I am now.  I cannot emphasize enough to the students in my classes that they have to start building their networks YESTERDAY and fully understand the power and etiquette around them.

Resumes are DOA in employers’ databanks. Even job postings online are almost the way of the dodo–the best jobs are NEVER POSTED…because they are either hired by word of mouth, or are CREATED by rock star individuals rather than posted for the masses.  It’s time for students to understand that creating social networks N-O-W, figuring out their own individual STRENGTHS and what MOTIVATES them, creating their own authentic BRAND, and working smart and hard will get the rock star students on top.

And if you’re a mom or a dad of a college or high school student – do your child a favor – buy them these books to read or grab them from the library STAT!

This weekend, I needed, desperately, to recharge my batteries.  So, yesterday I cranked a lot of work-work in order to take today as its traditional day of rest, and to plug back in…so after my nap today, I started in on my big stack of library books.  Reading, for me, is my respite.  My recharge.  (Sans law books…that to me right now is work.)  So, on to the books!

When I read, I tend to read 3 or 4 or 5 books at a time.  I’ll read a chapter or two of one, set it down, go grab a scooby snack, and then rip into another for a chapter or so.  Ironically, I usually find common themes when I’m reading 3-5 books at one time, this weekend was no exception to that rule.  I’ve managed to finish The Gospel According to Coco Chanel, Exploiting Chaos by Gutsche (The Trendhunter dude), The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt (finally came in) and most of End the Fed by none other than Dr. Ron Paul.

Here is the major common theme I learned while reading all these books: ready?  It is this: the way we are commoditizing value in the world is changing, right in front of our eyes.  Paul is talking about how the Fed is dangerous for the US economy, and that paper money is essentially losing its value because the Fed controls printing of it.  Going away from silver and gold coins was also another big mistake.  Gold has held its value better than other currencies.

On the flip side, Hunt in her book talks about an entirely newly termed, but older and now more than ever present concept of “whuffie”, or social capital.  Social capital really can’t be bought (with paper money or gold for that matter) and when companies try and buy it, it usually backfires.  Authenticity is a major factor in building whuffie. Furthermore, while one can’t directly turn social capital into money or traditional currency, she argues that you can’t really live well without whuffie anymore either.  My favorite part of Hunt’s book is the deposit/withdrawal of whuffie section, and the table in it that delineates both–which is something I’ve been trying to better articulate to my mentees and students when I talk about building social capital.  Thus far, I got to the analogy of a bank account, but I couldn’t clearly articulate what a deposit and a withdrawal really look like.  Now I can!  The table is the beginning to the Miss Manners of Whuffie, or rules of social capitalism, which is very different from money and traditional capitalism in many ways.

Value in the Trendhunting realm looks whuffian in many ways too according to Gutsche’s book…along with a dash of crazy, being eccentric, traveling to other cultures, and being aware of your surroundings.  I particularly enjoyed the “failure” and “pissing people off” sections of the book.  AND, while on the topic of failure and pissing people off, that leads me to Karbo’s book about Coco Chanel.  She used in her designs the “red-headed stepchild” of fabrics–Jersey–to make her creations.  Most of all, she really didn’t seem to give much of a damn if people thought she was eccentric or not…she did what she thought was right, in her own way, usually on her own terms.  Hooray for marching to the beat of your own drummer!

Anyway, as a writer, I am thankful to be able to have the chance to READ other people’s writings, as it helps me in so many ways go about the world and slay my own dragons, create my own universe, and live better. To all the authors above, thank you for your contributions.  Not only did they help me recharge, but they are helping so many others better navigate our world during these crazy times.