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The Success Code
From personal influencing skills and positive psychology to handling relationships and communication, you're about to discover the simple truth about success
'John Lees has re-written the rules on everything you thought you knew about successful self-projection, networking and effective communication' From the Foreword by Sarah Willingham of BBC's Dragons' Den
This is a book about getting noticed, but not a conventional book. It doesn't tell you to sell yourself, get out there, impress with power dressing or to have an elevator speech. Getting noticed doesn't have to mean over-selling. Over the course of this book, you will discover exciting research, positive psychology and advice from a range of experts that will help you make an authentic impact.
By stepping just to the edge of your comfort zone, you will learn to project yourself onto the world of work. From personal influencing skills to presentations, this book decodes success for people who hate the idea of selling themselves. You'll rethink networking, learn how to talk about yourself in ways that others find easy to hear - and also directly influence what people say about you. You'll discover how you can project yourself in writing without looking as if you're pushing too hard, and learn to engage people in a way that sparks curiosity and leads to interesting offers.
Written for both introverts and extroverts, THE SUCCESS CODE shows you how to find an authentic voice even if your style is naturally self-effacing. You'll learn to get your name 'front of mind' by making sure the right messages about you come across even when you're not in the room. This is your game plan for getting noticed.
Are you ready?
'A pragmatic and insightful guide to building reputation and impact that anyone can learn from' Penny de Valk, Managing Director, Penna Talent Practice
'If you would rather climb the stairs than get in the lift to do an elevator pitch, then buy this book' Dr Carole Pemberton, Coaching to Solutions, Executive coach and author
'Packed with helpful facts, insightful quotes and practical tips' Ian Nicholas, Chief HR Officer, REED Specialist Recruitment Ltd
'A great resource in aiding your development' Gordon McFarland - HR Director - Global Professional Services
'Full of practical advice and tips and will help you find your voice and achieve success in an authentic way' Zoe Shackle, HR Director AMC Networks International
'John Lees has re-written the rules on everything you thought you knew about successful self-projection, networking and effective communication' From the Foreword by Sarah Willingham of BBC's Dragons' Den
This is a book about getting noticed, but not a conventional book. It doesn't tell you to sell yourself, get out there, impress with power dressing or to have an elevator speech. Getting noticed doesn't have to mean over-selling. Over the course of this book, you will discover exciting research, positive psychology and advice from a range of experts that will help you make an authentic impact.
By stepping just to the edge of your comfort zone, you will learn to project yourself onto the world of work. From personal influencing skills to presentations, this book decodes success for people who hate the idea of selling themselves. You'll rethink networking, learn how to talk about yourself in ways that others find easy to hear - and also directly influence what people say about you. You'll discover how you can project yourself in writing without looking as if you're pushing too hard, and learn to engage people in a way that sparks curiosity and leads to interesting offers.
Written for both introverts and extroverts, THE SUCCESS CODE shows you how to find an authentic voice even if your style is naturally self-effacing. You'll learn to get your name 'front of mind' by making sure the right messages about you come across even when you're not in the room. This is your game plan for getting noticed.
Are you ready?
'A pragmatic and insightful guide to building reputation and impact that anyone can learn from' Penny de Valk, Managing Director, Penna Talent Practice
'If you would rather climb the stairs than get in the lift to do an elevator pitch, then buy this book' Dr Carole Pemberton, Coaching to Solutions, Executive coach and author
'Packed with helpful facts, insightful quotes and practical tips' Ian Nicholas, Chief HR Officer, REED Specialist Recruitment Ltd
'A great resource in aiding your development' Gordon McFarland - HR Director - Global Professional Services
'Full of practical advice and tips and will help you find your voice and achieve success in an authentic way' Zoe Shackle, HR Director AMC Networks International
240 pages, Paperback
Published February 4, 2016
16 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
John Lees
23 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Lees is one of the UK’s best-known career strategists. He has written 15 books on work and career management. How To Get A Job You Love was twice listed as WHSmith Business Book of the Month and regularly features as the best-selling careers book by a British author. His books have been translated into Arabic, Polish, Georgian, Japanese and Spanish.
John acknowledges Richard Nelson Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?, as a major influence. John’s work as a career strategist was inspired by the creativity, wisdom and generosity of 125 hours’ teaching from Dick Bolles at two of his summer workshops in Bend, Oregon, and a decade of continuing support and encouragement. Dick Bolles wrote the preface to the current edition of How To Get A Job You Love.
As a career coach, John specialises in helping people make difficult career decisions – difficult either because they don’t know what to do next, or because there are barriers in the way of success. John Lees Associates helps career changers across the UK, and John is a regular keynote speaker at UK events, has presented at the world’s largest international career conferences and delivered workshops in the USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Switzerland and Germany.
John has written careers columns for Metro and People Management and thought leadership pieces for The Times and The Guardian. He appears regularly in the national press with features in Management Today, Company, Cosmopolitan, Prospects, and Psychologies, His coaching work has been profiled in Coaching at Work and The Sunday Times. TV appearances include the BBC interactive ‘Back to Work’ programme, BBC 2’s ‘Working Lunch’, Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’, and ITV’s ‘Tonight – How To Get A Job’). He is a regular blog contributor to Harvard Business Review online and in 2012 wrote the introduction to the HBR Guide to Getting the Right Job.
John is a graduate of the universities of Cambridge, London and Liverpool, and has spent most of his career focusing on the world of work. He has trained recruitment specialists since the mid-1980s when he was Chief Executive of the Institute of Employment Consultants (now the IRP). He has worked with a wide range of organisations on career management issues including: British Gas Commercial, The British Council, CIPD, Fairplace, Harrods, Hiscox, The House of Commons, Imperial College, The Association of MBAs, Lloyds Banking Group, Marks & Spencer, NAPP Pharmaceutical, Oakridge, Tribal, and business schools across the UK. John is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals, a NICEC Fellow, and was a founding Board Director of the Career Development Institute.
Alongside his day job, John serves as an ordained Anglican priest. John is married to the poet and children’s writer Jan Dean. They live in East Devon.
John Lees is one of the UK’s best-known career strategists. He has written 15 books on work and career management. How To Get A Job You Love was twice listed as WHSmith Business Book of the Month and regularly features as the best-selling careers book by a British author. His books have been translated into Arabic, Polish, Georgian, Japanese and Spanish.
John acknowledges Richard Nelson Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?, as a major influence. John’s work as a career strategist was inspired by the creativity, wisdom and generosity of 125 hours’ teaching from Dick Bolles at two of his summer workshops in Bend, Oregon, and a decade of continuing support and encouragement. Dick Bolles wrote the preface to the current edition of How To Get A Job You Love.
As a career coach, John specialises in helping people make difficult career decisions – difficult either because they don’t know what to do next, or because there are barriers in the way of success. John Lees Associates helps career changers across the UK, and John is a regular keynote speaker at UK events, has presented at the world’s largest international career conferences and delivered workshops in the USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Switzerland and Germany.
John has written careers columns for Metro and People Management and thought leadership pieces for The Times and The Guardian. He appears regularly in the national press with features in Management Today, Company, Cosmopolitan, Prospects, and Psychologies, His coaching work has been profiled in Coaching at Work and The Sunday Times. TV appearances include the BBC interactive ‘Back to Work’ programme, BBC 2’s ‘Working Lunch’, Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’, and ITV’s ‘Tonight – How To Get A Job’). He is a regular blog contributor to Harvard Business Review online and in 2012 wrote the introduction to the HBR Guide to Getting the Right Job.
John is a graduate of the universities of Cambridge, London and Liverpool, and has spent most of his career focusing on the world of work. He has trained recruitment specialists since the mid-1980s when he was Chief Executive of the Institute of Employment Consultants (now the IRP). He has worked with a wide range of organisations on career management issues including: British Gas Commercial, The British Council, CIPD, Fairplace, Harrods, Hiscox, The House of Commons, Imperial College, The Association of MBAs, Lloyds Banking Group, Marks & Spencer, NAPP Pharmaceutical, Oakridge, Tribal, and business schools across the UK. John is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals, a NICEC Fellow, and was a founding Board Director of the Career Development Institute.
Alongside his day job, John serves as an ordained Anglican priest. John is married to the poet and children’s writer Jan Dean. They live in East Devon.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 2, 2018
I think perhaps I was slightly out of the target audience for this book. I don't want to change jobs, I'm not looking for a promotion and I don't need to make sales or win contracts. However, there were still some very useful tips that I picked up from this book. I was originally going to rate it three stars, but I've increased that to four as it's not the author's fault that I wasn't quite the right person for all the advice given in the book! It's very well written and it offers a lot of information on how to succeed in the scenarios mentioned above. The author also offers assistance with confidence, self projection and building work relationships; all of which I've found very useful in relation to my own work. Would recommend if you want to improve in your job, especially if you are looking to climb the career ladder.
May 7, 2019
A guide to getting noticed (in a good way) at work.
There were many good points in this book, but the writing / formatting put me off.
Reading time around two hours.
There were many good points in this book, but the writing / formatting put me off.
Reading time around two hours.
January 5, 2024
An interesting take on personal / professional development with generally good ideas and practical advice. It’s mostly a good read, particularly if you’re not a natural extrovert. However, it’s got quite a narrow view of what “success” is. It’s very oriented towards success in the business / corporate career area, and it felt like it missed a trick by not opening it up to a broader definition.
For example, there’s frequent mention of how you should tap into the wisdom of executives in more senior positions who’ve already “made it”. But it doesn’t acknowledge that some of those people won’t have got there based on having any wisdom or talent or integrity, rather they’re good at networking, self-promotion and office politics. It doesn’t much discuss how you might handle (or avoid) those challenges to growing your career.
However, that aside, you get helpful advice on what he calls self-projection rather than self-promotion. It’s most helpful for more introverted and thoughtful people, with interesting insights, mental models (eg his zone system), suggestions and examples that you can try out for yourself.
As self-development books go, it’s not pompous sounding and the first half is certainly well worth a read. It flags towards the end, and at times the advice is a little obvious e.g. avoid being unprepared before reaching out to an important contact). It also, as is typical for these types of books, tends to have more prompt / coaching questions than suggesting answers. That’s OK and in general, there are some decent questions if you’re a reflective type.
However, there were no major “aha” moments or insights or things I hadn’t heard variations of elsewhere. But saying that, it’s clearly written, easy to follow and has enough good content to raise it above others in this genre without it quite being as amazing as it sets out to be. Enough good ideas in it to be worth a read.
For example, there’s frequent mention of how you should tap into the wisdom of executives in more senior positions who’ve already “made it”. But it doesn’t acknowledge that some of those people won’t have got there based on having any wisdom or talent or integrity, rather they’re good at networking, self-promotion and office politics. It doesn’t much discuss how you might handle (or avoid) those challenges to growing your career.
However, that aside, you get helpful advice on what he calls self-projection rather than self-promotion. It’s most helpful for more introverted and thoughtful people, with interesting insights, mental models (eg his zone system), suggestions and examples that you can try out for yourself.
As self-development books go, it’s not pompous sounding and the first half is certainly well worth a read. It flags towards the end, and at times the advice is a little obvious e.g. avoid being unprepared before reaching out to an important contact). It also, as is typical for these types of books, tends to have more prompt / coaching questions than suggesting answers. That’s OK and in general, there are some decent questions if you’re a reflective type.
However, there were no major “aha” moments or insights or things I hadn’t heard variations of elsewhere. But saying that, it’s clearly written, easy to follow and has enough good content to raise it above others in this genre without it quite being as amazing as it sets out to be. Enough good ideas in it to be worth a read.
Read
June 24, 2018This book was all over the place and kept jumping from one topic to the other, making it tiresome to read. Lees needed a better editor to give the book a proper structure. A pity since there were some helpful tips in there - practical, easy to do, and with a large return on time invested.
December 22, 2022
Knyga su vertinga informacija darantiems karjerą ar dirbantiems savarankiškai. Dėmesys skiriamas realistiškiems networkingo patarimams, viešajam kalbėjimui , kaip bendrauti ir elgtis darbe ir renginiuose, kad palikti gerą įspūdį, ir pan. dalykams. Bet buvo žiauriai nuobodu skaityti ir vargau kol pabaigiau šią knygą. Manau prie info dar grįšiu ateityje, bet pats pateikimas labai sausas.
May 28, 2020
Nu vreau să dezamagesc, dar în această carte nu am găsit rețeta succesului. Totuși, citind această carte, te poți îndrepta cu pași mici spre direcția corectă.
Sunt prezente anumite sfaturi, despre cum ți-ai putea schimba în bine imaginea pe care o ai în fața celorlalți. Se pune mult accent pe networking, pe reputație și pe efectul faptelor bune, făcute fără să aștepți nimic în schimb.
Give a positive experience to people and they will want to give you something in return
Sunt prezente anumite sfaturi, despre cum ți-ai putea schimba în bine imaginea pe care o ai în fața celorlalți. Se pune mult accent pe networking, pe reputație și pe efectul faptelor bune, făcute fără să aștepți nimic în schimb.
Give a positive experience to people and they will want to give you something in return
February 4, 2021
The perfect book for introverts. Are you struggling to put yourself out in the map? Are you not being able to find your voice? 🤔
You will learn how to project yourself in an open non-manipulative way, practice networking to create larger communities around you, understand why socializing is important and how to do it right.
Introverts, This will flip your life. 😎
You will learn how to project yourself in an open non-manipulative way, practice networking to create larger communities around you, understand why socializing is important and how to do it right.
Introverts, This will flip your life. 😎
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews