This isn't a traditional etiquette book, its focus is on business manners for Millennials. It's about equipping the reader so that they have
a solid set of manners at hand will give you a basic strategy for the type of interactions that will raise that bar [on your personal brand]. The right business etiquette will make you stand out in all kind of great ways.
Isgar does this by focusing on a variety of scenarios that people in the workplace (well, some of them, anyway) will encounter, giving tips, suggestions, and guidelines to equip the reader to navigate them in a way that will help them at work and lay a foundation for future progress. The writing is crisp, clear, with suggestions of humor -- to keep the reader engaged, not to detract from the message. There's not much more to say about that -- the book has a simple focus and achieves it.
Like most writing on etiquette, a good deal of this seems like little more than common sense that someone jotted down -- but, also like most writing on etiquette, when you stop and think about it, someone needs to be dispensing the common sense that doesn't really seem all that common. For example, I frequently wondered if she was spending too much time talking about phone/tablet/etc. use. Then I spent some time at work, looking around and started to wonder if she talked about that enough.
Lane's illustrations are a nice touch -- they don't distract from the text while making the book more attractive. Outside of illustrations in a children's book or instructional manual, that's all I ask.
Could the book have been longer, could it have included Millennials in a wider-range of jobs? Yes. But even things that aren't directly applicable to most readers are easily made relevant to them. Is it too dependent on buzz words? Yes. But that doesn't detract from the value. Do the frequent uses of emojis detract from the text? Yes, I think so. But I've never seen anything that wasn't hurt by an emoji -- color me a grumpy old man, if you will, I'm simply saying that you should take that note with whatever amount of salt you deem appropriate.
#Next Level Manners is a quick, frank, attractive read. There's plenty of handy advice delivered in an easily digestible manner. Give it a shot.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for this post. I appreciate the opportunity.
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