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The Unauthorized Guide To Doing Business the Alan Sugar Way: 10 Secrets of the Boardroom's Toughest Interviewer
Alan Sugar is a business legend. When it comes to business, Sugar is both feared and fearless. Shrewd businessman, inspirational figure and sweet-talking star of The Apprentice, this man knows how to strike a deal. The Unauthorized Guide to Doing Business the Alan Sugar Way draws out the universal lessons from Alan Sugar's remarkable success and identifies 10 strategies that can be applied to any business or Want to be the best? The secrets of phenomenal success are in your hands. Check out the other Unauthorized Guides in this Richard Branson ; Duncan Bannatyne ; Jamie Oliver ; Bill Gates ; and Philip Green .
208 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2010
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 10, 2012
When you are in a book store and you see a bunch of brightly colored books in bright red, luminous yellow, lime green, shiny purple and sky blue; all in a kind of new-series related to business, out of curiosity, you will be drawn towards them like a honey bee towards a flower.
I do not know if it was the color or the title that got me attracted to them but I let my intuition take its course. (Eventually, if I am drawn towards a book, chances are, I purchase them outright).
For those of you who do not know Alan Sugar – he is Donald Trump mius the bullshit, the ball-talk, the braggadocio and the bullishness (but yeah, but with the bulldog face). He is a guy whom you can either passionately admire and love or absolutely loathe and hate – the classic rags to riches guy & the gentleman who has graduated with honors from the school of hard-knocks.
I was mesmerized when I first saw him on the UK’s version of ‘The Apprentice’ in all his glory – the Rolls Royce Phantom, the crisp appearance, the hardnosed face, the ice cold looks, and the classic statement ‘You’re fired’ – Yup, it was love at first fright!
So when I saw ‘Alan Sugar’ on the cover, that by itself was enough to make me want to read it.
So here is my humble opinion of this book:
Summary of the content
10 chapters or lessons
1. Don′t push or shove
2. Start a revolution
3. Know your customer
4. Stay true to your values
5. Learn from your mistakes
6. Drive a hard bargain
7. Invest in the right people
8. Lead from the front
9. Win as a team
10. Hire in haste, repent at leisure
Each chapter is more of less 10 small pages of loosely spaced content
Every chapter has 4 to 5 sub-points
Towards the end of each chapter is the brief summary
You can complete reading the entire book in a few hours.
On the plus side:
1. Very easy to read book
2. Content is somewhat interesting
3. General principles of business with examples
On the Not-so-impressed side:
1. Most of the examples had the inclusion of characters taken from the Apprentice series. If you have not watched ‘The Apprentice’ – chances are you will get confused. Though written in a clear fashion, it is rather unforgivable that no picture or image of the stated character was included.
2. Being a book titled ‘Business Principles of Alan Sugar’, I personally felt all the examples, quotes and analysis should be focused on Alan Sugar. Then why in the world do we have vague examples of unknown and unnamed sources in certain areas? I have no idea.
3. Single one liners were cherry picked from each page were displayed in bold at the side of the page. Was it for decorative purposes or for highlighting its impact – I have no idea. It was unnecessary & didn’t add any value
Overall
Not a bad book.
Not a great book either.
Would I recommend it?
Yes and No.
I mean if you are looking for a brief outline into the life of a man who is a legend - Yes.
If you were looking for a management or business book in general filled with new found wisdom – No.
Only bonus - It did have interesting information being presented in an entertaining manner
I think I will recommend this book.
But then again, I am not too sure.
This is the effect this book has.
Overall rating – 6 out 10.
PS – Do not purchase it brand new. It is not worth the price. Buy it second hand.
I do not know if it was the color or the title that got me attracted to them but I let my intuition take its course. (Eventually, if I am drawn towards a book, chances are, I purchase them outright).
For those of you who do not know Alan Sugar – he is Donald Trump mius the bullshit, the ball-talk, the braggadocio and the bullishness (but yeah, but with the bulldog face). He is a guy whom you can either passionately admire and love or absolutely loathe and hate – the classic rags to riches guy & the gentleman who has graduated with honors from the school of hard-knocks.
I was mesmerized when I first saw him on the UK’s version of ‘The Apprentice’ in all his glory – the Rolls Royce Phantom, the crisp appearance, the hardnosed face, the ice cold looks, and the classic statement ‘You’re fired’ – Yup, it was love at first fright!
So when I saw ‘Alan Sugar’ on the cover, that by itself was enough to make me want to read it.
So here is my humble opinion of this book:
Summary of the content
10 chapters or lessons
1. Don′t push or shove
2. Start a revolution
3. Know your customer
4. Stay true to your values
5. Learn from your mistakes
6. Drive a hard bargain
7. Invest in the right people
8. Lead from the front
9. Win as a team
10. Hire in haste, repent at leisure
Each chapter is more of less 10 small pages of loosely spaced content
Every chapter has 4 to 5 sub-points
Towards the end of each chapter is the brief summary
You can complete reading the entire book in a few hours.
On the plus side:
1. Very easy to read book
2. Content is somewhat interesting
3. General principles of business with examples
On the Not-so-impressed side:
1. Most of the examples had the inclusion of characters taken from the Apprentice series. If you have not watched ‘The Apprentice’ – chances are you will get confused. Though written in a clear fashion, it is rather unforgivable that no picture or image of the stated character was included.
2. Being a book titled ‘Business Principles of Alan Sugar’, I personally felt all the examples, quotes and analysis should be focused on Alan Sugar. Then why in the world do we have vague examples of unknown and unnamed sources in certain areas? I have no idea.
3. Single one liners were cherry picked from each page were displayed in bold at the side of the page. Was it for decorative purposes or for highlighting its impact – I have no idea. It was unnecessary & didn’t add any value
Overall
Not a bad book.
Not a great book either.
Would I recommend it?
Yes and No.
I mean if you are looking for a brief outline into the life of a man who is a legend - Yes.
If you were looking for a management or business book in general filled with new found wisdom – No.
Only bonus - It did have interesting information being presented in an entertaining manner
I think I will recommend this book.
But then again, I am not too sure.
This is the effect this book has.
Overall rating – 6 out 10.
PS – Do not purchase it brand new. It is not worth the price. Buy it second hand.
Displaying 1 of 1 review