Succeed at Work without Sidetracking Your Faith - 7 Lessons of Career Excellence for Women

Amy C. Baker
New Hope Publishers (2006)
ISBN 1563099632
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (9/06)

Author Amy C. Baker gets to the heart of the matter for working Christian women – how to integrate faith into everyday work.  Ms. Baker has taken 20 years of professional experience in human relations, communications and not for profit and turned it into an easy to follow blueprint for Christian women to follow.  Often using her own work experience as an executive for Dell, a hugely successful company, she shows the reader that a person does not have to compromise their values or excellence to succeed in business.  Every chapter is full of solid career advice, values and some very humorous examples of successful people who use these principles.  Baker ends each chapter with things to think about and evaluate in our own lives.    

The 7 lessons of Career Excellence include:

• Career Planning is your job – even if it’s not in your job description.  People need to take responsibility for their own careers and not leave it up to the Human Resources Department.  You are the only person who really knows your skills and successes.   
• Organizational politics exist in every company.  Stories of political maneuvering go back to the Bible and will always exist.  It is up to us to work with the highest ethics and Christian values when confronted with office politics.   
• There’s always a customer. Who are your customers?  Do you have a good relationship with them?  Would they describe you as ethical and honest?   
• You are not defined by the title on your business card.  So many people get caught up in the ego world of job titles and we are so much more than just a job title. 
• Mentoring can be magical, but not manufactured.  It is important to choose mentors who represent the values that you hold close to you. 
• There’s no such thing as too much integrity.  Integrity covers much more than just work decisions, it is based on what and how we say it, gossip or inappropriate talk, and even our appearance. 
• Your work impacts the Kingdom of God.  Every person in the workforce impacts the Kingdom of God, from the frontline fast food associate to the President of a company.     

Baker uses successful stories from women throughout the book beginning with the foreward by Supermodel Kim Alexis.  Here is a high profile woman who stands by her Christian values in the tough fashion world.  Other examples include many high profile women who face tough decisions in the workplace everyday and choose the Christian way.  They prove that you can be highly successful and not be swayed away from your beliefs.   

This is a book that I would highly recommend for Christian women going into or already in the workplace.  Amy Baker does a great job integrating Christian principles and overall excellence with the career path.  I would like to coin a phrase from her book where she describes successful women from Biblical Stories by saying “You Go Girl!” right back to her.

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