The Portfolio Bubble
Book

The Portfolio Bubble

Surviving Professionally at 60

J. Michael Willard
Vidalia House Publishing, 2005
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Editorial Rating

7

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Recommendation

Just about everything that J. Michael Willard has to say is useful, even insightful - but basic. As Willard himself notes, it is simply common sense that you’ll deal better with the transitions of aging and the unequal treatment that almost always accompanies them if you prepare for these changes. What differentiates the best of Willard’s advice from mere common sense, though, is the specifics. He immediately cuts through most people’s great self-deception regarding aging: that it won’t happen to them. However, most of the book falls into three categories: reviewing facts that aging readers may already know; making suggestions they’ve probably heard before (present yourself professionally, stay fit, etc.); and telling stories about people who successfully made the professional changes that aging demands. Since Willard tells a good story, the book is always entertaining, but ultimately short on substance. getAbstract.com recommends it to those who are nearing what Willard calls the "red zone" (age 60 and older), as well as to those who want to plan their professional lives, but haven’t done much thinking about it yet.

Summary

Life in the "Red Zone"

You’re cruising along in your career - in fact, you recently received a promotion. Your kids have graduated from college and you’ve even got grandkids. Sure, there’s a bit of gray in your hair, but professionally, you’re still sharp, and earning more than ever before.

Beware. You have entered the "portfolio bubble," and the "red zone" of professional disaster is just around the corner.

You reach the red zone at age 60. Once you’re in the zone, your career can shift quickly out of control. Your colleagues and superiors start to perceive your personal "brand" - your work-style and accomplishments - as tired and, well, old. You are gently guided off the fast track, demoted or even let go.

The portfolio bubble is the life stage just before the red zone, when the "bubble" of your career hasn’t burst yet, and you still have time to act.

Yes, It Will Happen to You

Aging means change - perhaps even drastic or traumatic change. If you haven’t prepared for this transition, you will feel serious stress, anxiety and even panic.

You, like everyone else, will enter the portfolio bubble. To understand what inflates the bubble...

About the Author

J. Michael Willard has been a journalist, an adviser to a U.S. senator and an entrepreneur in the former Soviet Union. The author of several books, he was a founder of The Willard Group, a leading public relations firm in Eastern Europe.

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