The Right - and Wrong - Stuff

How Brilliant Careers Are Made and Unmade

By: Carter Cast

Narrated by: Carter Cast

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Nearly a quarter century ago Carter Cast seemed to have it all together: he had a first-class education, an all-American athletic career, and was a very bright and energetic rising star on the fast track at a Fortune 100 company, PepsiCo. But blissfully unaware of how negative perceptions were shaped, he was stunned when called into his boss's office, and told he was "unpromotable" because he was "obstinate", "resistant", and "insubordinate".

Baffled, scared, and embarrassed, that defining moment led to Cast's years-long effort to try to understand why he came so close to going off track, discovering that what he saw as idiosyncratic was actually widespread. His research shows that 98 percent of people have at least one derailment risk factor and that half to two-thirds actually go off the rails. More often than not, people get fired, demoted, or plateau not because they lack the "right stuff," but because they let the "wrong stuff" act out. Derailment often afflicts talented people who are either unaware of a debilitating weakness or an interpersonal blind spot, or are arrogant enough to believe that feedback doesn't apply to them.

Cast's experiences and research led to five defining archetypes - Captain Fantastic, the One-Trick Pony, the Solo Flyer, Version 1.0, and the Whirling Dervish - that express traits that cut across gender and every level of seniority and that play out everywhere, from big corporations to small law firms, from education institutions to raw start-ups. He shows how these archetypes fail and succeed, and how to recognize blind spots that can lead to downfall. He provides ways to improve self-understanding - digging into topics like values, needs, and motives - and provides the listener with new ways to take charge of his or her career.

©2018 Carter Cast (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Insightful read

I really enjoyed this book it was great food for thought and had me not only thinking about how to help grow my team but myself.

Nice book to identify what your are doing wrong to reach your goals in your career!

I enjoy a lot this book, it shows through different real life examples the right stuff you need to do and how to avoid to do the bad Stuff that could derailed your career.

I wish I would have read this in college

Excellent book, shared it with all of my friends and coworkers. I’m going to listen to it again this year!

Anyone working to read and follow this advice!

Wow! This book was incredible. From helping you to see where you might go wrong to helping you correct that and prevent future issues that may have negative impact on your career/success. Must read! Must follow! Must engage in the material!

Great ideas, great research, great reader

This book is for business but is interesting to a wide audience. Cast writes beautifully and reads with warmth and comfort. Good read for anyone interested in learning about him or herself.

Career Focused

this was a real eye opener it revealed a lot of things that I need to work on. but the main thing is never settle always do your best and work on your skills even know when you know you've mastered them. also use some skills to get you to different places where you have no skills to get to Greater places that fulfill your purpose in life.

A must read

This book is so valuable. I wish it came out a decade ago. Carter presents valuable tools and research packaged in a relatable set of examples and with a requisite degree of humility that it’s impossible not to come away from it without gaining a level of introspection which will hopefully limit the pitfalls which contribute to career derailment.

Good, concise, actionable career guidance

I’m usually cynical about business/career development “How To” books but this one is different. Good focus on learning from peoples’ (and the author’s own) mistakes rather than successes. Well-researched not academically but from real-life interviews. Clear, concise - good use of metaphors, anecdotes, real-life examples. Clear takeaways for practical implementation. And I always enjoy when the book is read by its author - adds authenticity.

Wealth of Knowledge

One of the best books I have ever read. It offers an in-depth understanding of truly what makes careers great. Absolutely recommend this book!

A Decent Book

it was easy to listen to and entertaining. I especially liked hearing him categorize the people you run into at the office.