Mastering the Game: Strategies for Career Success

by Sharon E. Jones, Sudheer R. Poluru

There’s nothing more frustrating than playing a game without knowing all the rules. Lawyer and diversity consultant Sharon E. Jones can attest to this in her professional life. As a woman of color, she has spent her entire career navigating the conscious and unconscious biases of her supervisors and peers. Jones demystifies ten unwritten “rules of the game” and provides strategies to help women and other diverse professionals succeed. Jones - the current trends in diversity in the workplace, - the importance of visualizing your goals before you even begin, - the value emotional tenacity will have as you encounter challenging situations, - the need to identify the metrics for success, - the difference good sponsorship can make for your career, - the ways your professional appearance alters others’ opinions of you, - the importance of self-promoting and advertising your strengths, and - more rules and techniques to help you build your vision of personal and professional success. Jones has discovered that these lessons can apply to every type of organization and industry. She understands that women and people of color need to work twice as hard just to get rewarded, and she wants to help you overcome the challenges you may face in your workplace.

Genres: Business

222 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 10, 2018

About the author

Sharon E. Jones is the founder and CEO of Jones Diversity, Inc., which offers services to organizations looking to improve their workplace culture and create more diverse and inclusive teams. Her firm’s broad range of consulting services have enhanced the competitive edge of law firms, corporations, and not-for-profits by enabling each organization to fully utilize, retain, and promote diverse individuals into leadership roles.

Jones has practiced law and been a community leader over a twenty-five-year career, including positions as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, as Senior Counsel for Fortune 500 Corporations, and with major law firms. Additionally, Jones has served as a board member for the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and president of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Chicago, which she co-founded. She has won numerous awards as a lawyer, industry leader, and advocate.

Jones is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College.

Reviews

[Johann Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important strategies; simplistic cultural commentary.

[Adrian Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book during the summer of 2020, while serving as a cog in the machine of a large corporation (itself struggling to present to the public as an inoffensive "diversity champion") proved to be a curative experience.

By nature of being an aware Black man, I understood long before I entered the workforce that the deck was stacked against me. And yet, I found the authors' plainly presented premise to be sobering: the data shows that white men run corporate (and the rest of) America and they've written the rules to preserve their advantage - excluding the "other" from gaining commensurate power. Though this is our current reality, the authors hold up the truth that so many trailblazers have purchased progress with great sacrifice, in even more dire conditions. Learning to master "the game" isn't solely about enabling individuals to climb a ladder more quickly; the game ought to be mastered to follow in the footsteps of these trailblazers. Offices and boardrooms are strategic battlegrounds in which we can advance the fight for justice and equity.

This reality undeniably makes work more difficult, so mental, physical and spiritual preparedness are key to self-preservation. Sharon Jones draws on her years of experience as a lawyer and consultant to provide numerous practical strategies to minimize burden and maximize success.

I'd most strongly recommend this book to folks who are new to the working world or are soon to graduate from college or a professional program. Whether we're aware or not, we all stand on the shoulders of giants, best to receive their wisdom as we seek to make a better world for ourselves and others.