Stand Out

by J.P. Markey

Official release date: 22/04/13
Pre-release date: 01/01/13

Stand Out is a business self-help book to help you get ahead. Everything from having a positive mental attitude (PMA) to what personal attributes (PAs) you need to develop is included. Inside this book is a handful of rules and guidelines to help you stand out from the crowd at work. It includes practical business theory as well as personal experiences so you can learn from my mistakes before making them yourself.

This book is aimed at every single person who chooses to stand out from the crowd and be somebody in their career. Every person has it in them to achieve this level of self actualization but few people choose to do so.

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

James Markey. A young man, he's ambitious, he wants everything out of life and he wants it yesterday. He usually talks in first person.

Reviews

[Just_me · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with much of this book but disagree with parts. I worked my way to manager in retail from cashier in less than two years and I was under twenty so it is possible, especially with a positive mental attitude, getting the right mix of work and home and some blooming hard work. Good book.

[Relly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this on a goodreads giveaway.. Its one of those books that I really needed.. invaluable advice, I will be going back and referring to this book..

[Deu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this read very much and want to use the tips to help me.

[Jessica Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The informal style worked really well, imparting tips and advice for how to get ahead in your chosen career. I came away feeling inspired!

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Many people opine that ‘everyone has a book in them’ and one can see that there may be a benefit to being able to add a line on one’s CV stating that one has achieved the laudable ambition of getting a book published. I believe that congratulations are due to anyone who has managed to produce a book, however, my view is that one also needs to consider the quality of what has been produced, otherwise that line on one’s CV may be one that would be better erased.

I am one of those folk who read books literally from cover to cover, even the dedications, if there are any. This book, which was sent to me via Goodreads for review, is dedicated, amongst others, to “my mother who did the most wonderful job bringing up my brothers and me and whose literary talents knows no bounds” with no full stop at the end. My heart sank at the evident poor grammar and punctuation. The rest of the book was equally as poorly written and in American English despite the fact that the author is based in the South-East of England. It was also littered with trite, hackneyed phrases and simplistic, banal ‘advice’.

The author states that this is a book that is aimed at people “starting out in the Retail sector but the guiding principles are true for any business”. I dispute that the ‘advice’ and ‘examples’ are suitable for any sector. For example, the author describes a situation where he deliberately knocks over a more junior member of staff’s visual merchandising display in order to teach them a lesson not to ‘overstep the line’ that he has drawn and to force them to re-do the work to his standards. Many self-respecting highly skilled, highly educated professional people in today’s world would submit a complaint of bullying for such disrespectful and humiliating treatment. One’s conversation alone with the member of staff should be sufficient to ensure that the work was re-done to the required standard without resorting to destroying the work, however unsatisfactory it was. Indeed, I am concerned that the author has targeted his work at those ‘starting out’ who may not realise how ill-advised they would be to behave in a similar manner in the workplace.

Bearing in mind that the author writes about the retail sector which, in the UK, is largely staffed, especially at the more junior levels, by women, I was appalled to realise that this book is written from the male perspective excluding over half the population – women. For example, the author writes as one of his ‘hot tips’ that one should look in ‘quality’ magazines such as ‘GQ’ and “take note of the sublimal messages which make you have the preconceptions someone is smart and suave. I’m thinking tie pins and pocket squares”(sic).

At the end of the book there is a comment that it was written by the author when he was aged 21. My view is that anyone wishing to seek to ‘stand out from the crowd’ would be better advised to seek inspiration from other more well-informed, educated, experienced and expert sources if they do not wish to end up ‘standing out’ for some very wrong reasons.

I would also encourage the author to gain more experience and expertise, do some more detailed and accurate research (rather than merely quoting Wikipedia as he does at one point), and spend time on securing the services of a good quality proof-reader and editor before he commits to publishing anything again. I have, however, awarded this one star for this is a gentleman who obviously wished to see himself in print and has actually achieved this and thus he deserves some recognition for doing something that many others wish to do but don’t.