Book Review: Uncork yourself not bottles

Chirdeep Malhotra . Updated: 5/16/2018 1:52:37 PM Books and Authors

A CORNUCOPIA OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WISDOM

Book: Uncork yourself not bottles

Author: Pradeep Chhabra

The world of today is fast changing. The way of the working of corporate organizations, and how business is done is rapidly evolving which is for the better. But professionals should also evolve their modus operandi to keep pace with these developments, and concurrently also find gratification in their personal lives. The author Pradeep Chhabra comes up with the book “Uncork yourself not bottles” which is a heuristic guide on achieving fulfilment on both fronts by uncorking ourselves, by which he means going to mental gyms and holding crucial conversations with ourselves.

The title of the book is lively and quirky, and the book has an equally fascinating front cover apropos the title. Aptly subtitled “Step up to next level of professional & personal life”, this line forms the crux of this book as the author gives simple and well founded advice on how to move up the corporate ladder, and also steps to be taken for personality development and self growth.

The book is divided into four parts. The first part “Be you, Do you and For you” calls for revisiting one’s beliefs, investing in yourself, consider changing goalposts at some stage in professional life for the better, and details how to go about relation building. The author has used concepts like Likeability Index (LI), Approachability Index (AI) to explain his points. The second part details how progress in careers are made on what we do between 6 to 9 pm, by developing skill sets. The third part describes dealing with the boss, and the fourth part details beating stress and the concept of Happiness Index.

The personal anecdotes and examples given in the book are informative, like the example of Sam Manekshaw has been given for his courage of conviction and thereby winning the 1971 India-Pakistan war; and that of MS Dhoni for him having revisited his beliefs and changing the course of his career for good. The graphs incorporated in the book are not much of a help and seem out of place. The sentences in the book are short and crisp, which are practical in a book of such kind, but this has somewhat interfered with the sentence formation. Adroit editing also needs to be done at places.

This book clearly identifies work and office problems that professionals would do well to address with its simple solutions and takeaways; and contains guidelines for simultaneously also becoming the CEO of one’s own life- with one always being in control with a key to their happiness being in their own pocket and not of others. Also, as we are all implicated in this world of brimming competition and rat race, other people apart from management professionals will find much of value here. This is an illuminating self-help manual for upping your professional and personal game- with plenty of grist being derived from the author’s own corporate experience.


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