Never Wrestle with a Pig and Ninety Other Ideas to Build Your Business and Career

By Mark H. McCormack

Book Overview

Drawing upon forty years of experience from his own sports and celebrity management practice, Mark H. McCormack is back with common-sense advice aimed at business owners and would-be CEOs. McCormack's tips include:

End your day on time

People who say they can keep a secret usually can't

It pays to overestimate your competition

The best ideas cannot be stolen

Know when to say "It's none of your business"

Get paid for thinking rather than doing

Time in front of the customer is the best time of all

Be wary of unanimous agreement

Not every budget deserves your respect

Learn the art of picking up the check

In ninety brief chapters that range in topic from getting ahead to staying competitive, McCormack makes clear that doing business in today's climate still involves the same basic elements of human interaction--intelligence, creativity, and efficiency--that have always meant the difference between success and failure.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141002085
• ISBN13: 9780141002088
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Penguin Adult Hc/Tr
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Good read...

Nuggets of wisdom for business and life in general. Lessons derived from business. I guess they may be useful for life in general as well. Having read so many titles and columns from the author, the examples are becoming a little de javu. Overall a good read.

Good roundup of common sense in business relationships

(This book was previously published as 'Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age').It's not the first book by Mark McCormack I've read. Like the others, its very readable, and gives a collection of homespun philosophies, interspersed with personal life experiences. There's a strong emphasis on Sales, but 'selling' is surely part of all of our business relationships.Just don't believe in the gospel of everything McCormack has to say; there are contradictions, just as life is full of them, such as :In Part 8 'When you are in Charge', there is the lesson "unlearn the bad habit of not trusting your 1st impression", whereas in Part 9 'Etiquette for the New Millenium', under 'reading people requires more than one reading', there is a "caveat about reading people too quickly" - so which is it to be?Consider it light reading to just remind you of the good & bad things that you can do to others & they can do to you, and re-adjust & compensate accordingly.

It caught my attention

I usually tend to find career development/strategy books simplistic and mind-numbing. After having my attention caught by the title of this book though, I decided to give it a try. I couldn't put it down and have already recommended it to many people. The format is very reader-friendly with McCormack's having done a great job of packaging his points in morsels that are easy to absorb. You'll probably find yourself nodding in agreement with his bits of common sense as you're reading. It's the kind of book that you want to share with everyone, but on the other hand keep it to yourself because what you learn from this book will make you appear like a genius. The only detraction from the material is that the author does come off as pompous at times, but looking at his accomplishments, I think this attitude is warranted.

GREAT IDEAS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT MORE THAN 1-MINUTE MANAGING!

A book like this should sell better than the one-minute manager-fish-who moved the cheese type of simplistic stuff that's flooding the bookstores these days. Are we, the readers, such knuckleheads that we can't take in more than 100 pages of written text?For those who want more management "meat", here's an excellent collection of advice from a real pro with interesting examples. I first heard Mark McCormack on the Tony Robbins' interview tapes and he came across as a very enlightened and sharp business man. So I take his advice very seriously. He also would not have been chosen by Mr. Robbins as his "business expert" for his interview series either.This book which was title "Staying Street Smart" in its hardcover edition is filled with great ideas. I particularly liked: Beware the Small Defining Moments, Letting Go Is a Good Goal, Too, Pick Up the Pace with the Little Tasks, and the entire section entitled "Etiquette For the New Millenium."Of all the concepts that I found most useful for me was the "What is the 'but...' about you? question. (Like Steve is a good self-hellp author and reviewer, but he's too nice.)I hope people will buy this book instead of the shallow stuff out today. Mark McCormack is a businessman's businessman with vision, integrity, and street smarts. He and this book give business a good name.You can't go wrong with this one!!!