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Book's Description
What the world needs is more showoffs—at work AND in life. If you're not being your best, reaching your potential, and showing off, why show up at all?
The way Joe Calloway defines it, showing off is about bringing the best you have to any situation. It's about excellence and exceeding expectations. Showing off is about the joy, jazz, and kick of being better tomorrow than you were today. It's about creating real fulfillment in your life and in the lives of those around you. Showing off is a mindset that leads to success and satisfaction, and Work Like You're Showing Off is a practical guide to creating and maintaining that mindset.
After twenty-six years of studying and working with top performers, Calloway shares the key factors for creating success without pulling any punches. Work Like You're Showing Off advises you to stop talking and start doing. Be focused, productive, and above all else, intentional in your pursuit of happiness. Showoffs go "all in" and call everyone else's bluff with the confidence that their capability and productivity will speak for itself.
No matter what you do or where you are on the career ladder, Work Like You're Showing Off gives you the inspiration and tools to attain higher levels of productivity and satisfaction. Inside, you'll learn key success factors, including the power of consistent performance, letting go of past assumptions, embracing responsibility, and expecting to connect, among others. Once you commit to these factors and stick to them, you'll become more energetic, more dedicated, more competent, and ultimately, more successful.
Showing off is about creating joy and success for yourself through giving to others. This unique and enlightening guide will help you open the door to professional success—and improve every aspect of your life in the process.
Customer Reviews
Pay attention, I'm showing off! ,30/06/2007
Calloway's provocative insights into human behavior can steer us from mediocrity to unabashed success--all by doing something we secretly like to do anyway--showing off! Except he gives a new definition to "showing off" and offers a blueprint for moving yourself from being average to being outstanding. Personally I am beginning to LIVE Like I'm Showing Off ever since I read his thoughtful book.
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Prepare to be challenged and entertained ,19/07/2007
Joe Calloway has the ability to make you think while he makes you smile. You already know that if you have read any of his other books, and Work Like You're Showing Off is no exception.
In 27 easy-to-read chapters, Calloway mixes solid how-to principles with just the right amount of motivation to give the reader both the inspiration and the strategies to be better tomorrow than they are today.
This book should be required reading if you are a CEO or just a regular person who wants to get ahead in today's competitive world. Have your highlighter ready. There are nuggets of useful information on every page.
Randy Pennington, Author
Results Rule!: Build a Culture That Blows the Competition Away
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Work Like You're Showing Off: The Joy, Jazz and Kick of Being Better Tomorrow Than You Were Today ,20/06/2007
Joe Calloway's new book, Work Like You're Showing Off: The Joy, Jazz and Kick of Being Better Tomorrow Than You Were Today, contains feisty, fun and unforgettable facts of life that can be used at work and home. In it Joe Calloway provides as many questions as answers, allowing the reader to get just confused enough to find the clarity necessary to succeed. Joe makes it very clear that he has no tolerance for inconsistency,
lack of responsiveness or the status quo - for it was consistency, responsiveness and wild creativity that has skyrocketed his success, and can shoot yours into the outer stratosphere as well...but only when used. This book is a must read for anyone who wants or needs a jolt of joy, a jazzier existence, or simply to get a real kick out of how life works.
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Calloway's A Show Off ,16/07/2007
While reading this book I heard Joe Calloway's voice in my head, and if you've ever heard him speak, you know that that's actually a good thing. Joe is--no exaggeration--one of the world's best speakers, and the writing in Work Like You're Showing Off is just as rich, witty, valuable and entertaining as his spoken words. (And, yeah, I wrote a blurb for the back cover--now you know why). Carry this book with you for an instant jolt of Joe wherever you go.
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Radical Responsibility ,01/08/2007
`Work Like You're Showing off' is hard to categorize. Part motivational message, part conversation with a business thinker that bares his soul. And then there is another part. My favorite part in this strangely attractive little book is the part about taking responsibility for ourselves and the results we're creating. In so many books these days - there is a path drawn for the reader, a few easy steps to excellence and the system does the rest.
Calloway doesn't insult our intelligence and instead shares his own personal philosophy around what I call `radical responsibility'. In this school of thought our personal commitment and our willingness to push through is emphasized. An easy road is not promised but the author shares his own thoughts and strategies for `hanging in' when the going gets tough.
This book contains the philosophy of a business professional that has been `around the block' and who is willing to shares his private thoughts about the journey.
Humility and honesty mixed with a generous helping of insight this book is a tonic to for the jaded business soul.
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Great Stuff! ,19/07/2007
Calloway is a smart entrepreneur, critical thinker and everything he does is worth reading. This new book is no different. Supervisors: get a copy for each of your people and you'll be amazed at the initiative they will show. -RG
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Maybe Mom and Dad were Wrong ,19/07/2007
Joe Callaway is a great example of Life, heart-pounding, joyous Life. In a time period in which 5 out of 8 new non-fiction book releases are all about what's wrong with the world, this entry is like a breath of fresh air.
Remember how Mom and Dad used to tell you to stop showing off ? Well, forgot that, follow your instincts to do your best and then await the applause. Humility isn't a highly regarded commodity according to the author, and he makes a lot of good points. We all love attaboys, and following Joe's advice will get you a lot more of them !
This is an extremely upbeat book about how to put the joy back into your work and life, how to excel at each, and how to get the appreciation you deserve. This book is highly recommended.
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Giving Us Attitude ,29/11/2007
Weaving topics (presumably from his presentations) into a short, easy to read, book, Motivational Speaker Joe Calloway tells us that attitude matters. Written like he probably speaks (I've never heard him), Joe gives us attitude, by `showing off' the value of attitude.
He assures us that, "100% of the things you don't try, won't happen!" He says to, "Stop talking about what you could do, should do, or might do. Do it." He says that if you, "Expect to connect,.... there is no possible way that you will not succeed." He tells us that we see life as `we are', not as life might be if we choose to define it differently. He tells us to, "Look at everything that has worked for you up to this point, and then summon the courage necessary to let go of whatever part of it is holding you back." He tells us, "..to learn to accept life on its own terms."
Simply put, the book is a speech on the power of positive thinking as the driver for positive action - no victims allowed here. Showing off is not about bragging, it is about living - go for it!
Dennis DeWilde, author of
"The Performance Connection"
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Read this book ,17/06/2007
I adore Joe Calloway's conversational style of writing. It is a style that makes you want to do the stuff he recommends. The material is not rocket science yet it is exactly what we need to be reminded of and then finally get around to doing everyday. Joe writes great books - this is another home run.
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Quick read ,11/08/2007
It's worth the $9.00 to pick up a few ideas from the book. The concept of 'remain quiet while doing your best' is good advice. It's a quick read that I would recommend to anyone who likes this sort of stuff.
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Show Off the Right Way ,18/06/2007
Joe Calloway writes like he's showing off, and that's a good thing because he's practicing what he's preaching in his latest book. I got to read the book in advance and provided an endorsement because I like Joe's witty, snappy writing style and, more importantly, his message. If you want to go beyond the mundane and work in a way that is fun and fulfilling, this book will show you how. Nobody has to do this stuff--this is for the folks who want to put more punch and pizazz into their work.
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Garbage; zero stars ,03/12/2007
Perhaps I'm envious because I don't have the stomach to make money by ripping people off, but this book is tripe. The author writes in a "see spot run" fashion, with choppy sentences that contain little information. In one chapter, he walks around a mall to find ideas to fill this book. Problem is, the entire world doesn't revolve around advertising gimmicks, believe it or not. I was looking at it from several points of view, one being an attorney. An attorney is under ethical standards NOT to advertise in certain ways, most of which are listed as fascinating innovations by the author. Reputable attorneys wouldn't put "MESMERIZE" on their ads like Aveda, and would foolishly incur liability by trying to teach people how to practice law themselves (like Sonoma offering free cooking classes in order to sell their cookware), not to mention set people up for failure as practicing law is more complex than, oh, say, putting on makeup. And if lawyers offered services for free, like the shoe-shine gentlemen who worked off of tips, the legal system would come to a screeching halt. No one would get representation because the attorneys would leave the profession because no one would tip an attorney, as they've been vilified since the written history of mankind. So the author's snappy (or snappish) little tidbits (do you really need someone to give you `advice' such as, "I don't know. You figure it out. It's different for everyone and for every situation" (Chapter 2)?) might be for the ADHD crowd in marketing, but for businesses in which lives and livelihoods are under fire, this book is toilet paper. And I suppose the author has never done business with any French, or Africans, who tend to be more culturally polychronic. Even if you are on time, what if your clients are not? What if your clients don't view that as insulting? What if you have to meld yourself just a tiny bit to fit in with other cultures, instead of being so overwhelmingly American?
The first
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SELF HELP HYPERBOLE ,21/07/2007
"Work Like You're Showing Off" may have the germ of a good idea. It may have an underlying message that is practical, original and helpful. It may very well have the best of intentions and it may be an excellent business book for getting ahead in the workplace and elsewhere. But I don't know any of this, because I was unable to get past the mountain of self help swill being tossed about by the author.
The book contains a litany of meaningless buzz phrases like "content is key". The basic tenet of the book seems to be: do everything as if you are being watched. You are under a microscope so always do your best. I wish the author or the editor had gone through the completed book and eliminated all the buzz terms and would be catch phrases and then published the bare bones completed book. I have a feeling it would've made for a far better read.
The book made me think of the hilarious self help parody by Martha Bolton, "Maybe Life's Just Not That Into You" which sends up books just like "Work Like You're Showing Off". Maybe Life's Just Not That Into You: When You feel Like the World's Voted You Off
Wendy Wasserstein also wrote a self help satire.
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Work Like You Are Showing Off ,23/08/2007
I cannot wait tor read this again. It is a wonderful, fun, insightful and challenging book through which Joe Calloway gave me a fresh, delightfully needed slap in the face. Some of this I have heard and read before. But, packaged under a "Work Like You Are Showing Off" umbrella the mantra of if-it-aint-fun-don't-do-it had new meaning. Written in the same conversational style that Joe Calloway delivers his speeches, it was like he was talking to me and me alone. I am sending a copy of this book to some of my clients.
John Hersey
author "Creating Contagious Leadership"
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The world needs more show-off's! ,29/06/2007
Joe Calloway has done it again! This book should be required reading for every organization.
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Delightful and insightful ,05/08/2007
Work Like You are Showing Off is a very delightful book to read. The book is full of wisdom. It is very short and easy to read. You can probably finish it in a couple of hours. But the value is in absorbing the wisdom and taking action on the messages.
While many of the messages have been around for a long time, Joe Calloway has a unique approach to delivering them. The delivery is never stuffy.
Some of the more important messages are:
In order to get what you want, make sure that the other person gets what they want.
If you wait until everything is perfect, you will wait forever. Do it now.
Planning is okay, even essential, but don't get too caught up in the planning process or to attached to the plan. Things change. "If you want God to laugh, tell him your plans."
As a society, we are obsessed with getting ... we have too much already. To truly get the valuable things in life, we need to give up some of the things we are holding on to. It could be old friends, habits, values, ways of doing things. Unless we give up the old, we will not have room for the new.
Try giving instead of getting.
Eliminate the negative. It will be replaced with the positive. Stop talking about what you could do and just do it. Top performers in any field have a bias toward action. Vision without execution is hallunication. Most people know what needs to be done, they just don't do it.
There are dozens of other lessons, most of them we know. The problem as Joe Calloway points out is we don't do what we know to do.
The book is a great reminder for us to gain clarity on what is important in life and do what is important. If you will follow the simple philosophy laid out, you will change your life.
Well worth reading ... a few times each year.
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A really GREAT book! ,23/07/2007
As someone who reads upwards of 120 business books a year -- I will now put this book up in my top recommendations (along with Tom Peters, Peter Drucker, Jim Collins and a select few others). This is an easy to read book (I read it three times while waiting for a delayed flight -- and it was really good every time!) full of sound, straight-forward and highly useful ideas and tools. Yes, you have seen much of this before -- but that is because it is such powerful information that truly needs repetition to be burned into our brains. However, Joe covers this timeless wisdom with a new set of eyes - in an honest, frank voice that cuts through all the clutter and fluff, and delivers a fun, accessible and extremely valuable book. It is a perfect book for anyone who is struggling in their job and wants to understand what it actually takes to excel in your career -- or would be great for anyone who is just starting their work life. It is also a super book simply to remind anyone that the key to success is having fun at being really good at something of value in the marketplace.
As soon as I returned from my trip I ordered 10 copies to send to friends and colleagues -- the book is that good.
John Spence
[..]
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Start showing off! ,01/03/2008
Joe Calloway wrote a no nonsense, in your face, honest, no frills book on how to become the best at what you do. Let go of yesterday, make the decision, get in action and just do it the best you can! Work like you're showing off is not a thought, it is a way of living. A short read, each chapter is three or four pages, and the way it was written is easy to read and enjoyable! Joe captured my attention with the crazy Chapter titles and keep my attention with the awesome content.
If you are looking for a book that will cost you lots of money...in that you will go buy cases of this book for all of your friends, co-worker, and family, go buy this book quickly! Awesome
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This insightful, not-business-as-usual book will motivate you, excite you and turn your ideas about success upside down! ,22/07/2007
The business world is realizing that fun is profitable. This amazing book will show you how it's possible. If you want to get serious about having fun you have to read this!
Work Like You're Showing Off: The Joy, Jazz, and Kick of Being Better Tomorrow Than You Were Today is one of those brilliant books that makes you want to jump up while you're reading it because you think of something you just have to do now. This insightful, not-business-as-usual book will motivate you, excite you and turn your ideas about success upside down!
Remember the last time you showed off - wasn't it fun? Showing off as Calloway defines it isn't "I can do anything better than you" it's more like "I can do anything better for you"! He explains that not only do we delight others (and win their business) when we give it all we've got - we get the biggest kick out of it of all!
In this entertaining and refreshing book (no corp-speak or jargon here) Calloway makes finding your next best idea as easy (and fun) as going shopping. In one chapter, that is just what he does! He goes to the mall to shop for ten great business ideas and finds twelve! (That's showing off!) and explains you can get valuable, profitable ideas everywhere!
This book presents more clearly then any other book I've read, how to get and stay inspired. Calloway gives you invigorating, practical and unique concepts that will stimulate you and your people to reach higher, think bigger, become top performers and have a blast!
Calloway is a visionary business consultant, speaker and author who helps top organizations around the world show off. No one can show you how to do it better. And his secrets are in the book!
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Good Advice and an Original Slant ,08/06/2007
First let me say: There is nothing I found in the content of Joe Calloway's "Work Like You're Showing Off!" that is original. Those readers who have read as many self-help motivational books as I have over the past five decades will be familiar with the themes presented and discussed. Those who have read such iconic works as Robert Collier's "The Secret of the Ages," Napoleon Hill's "Think and Get Rich," or Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking" will recognize and be acquainted with much of what Calloway offers in his book. So, why bother with "Work Like You're Showing Off"?
A number of reasons come immediately to mind. First, Calloway's approach to the subject is somewhat different. He uses as a basis for his recommendations the concept of "showing off," an idea which is not explicitly promoted in the works by Collier, Hill, and Peale, nor do I recall any other author using such a concept as the starting point for a motivational book. Oh, I imagine one could argue that books such as those by Dr. Wayne Dyer or Robert Ringer or Willard and Marguerite Beecher use some "showing off" principles as a motivational and personal-growth device, but I don't think they're even remotely similar to the suggestions put forth by Calloway.
Second, Calloway is to the point. That is, in a mere 109 pages and twenty-seven brief chapters he summarizes the major principles he is promoting. His book is more like a handbook of advice via aphorisms than a long, drawn-out psychological explanation and philosophical justification for what he is suggesting the reader do in his or her life for personal betterment. In fact, this book is so small, one can carry it around to consult as the need arises.
Third, Calloway offers some very interesting twists to the usual presentation of motivational principles. And he does this with prose that is both easy to read and digest and often entertaining, although he doesn't pull any punches and can b
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Wonderfully written, and it can change your life view... ,15/07/2007
I admire people who do their jobs with flair and class, and who appear to be having a great time in the process. Joe Calloway talks about those people and the underlying traits involved in the book Work Like You're Showing Off: The Joy, Jazz, and Kick of Being Better Tomorrow Than You Were Today. It's the type of book that you should be reading a chapter from every day...
Contents: Showing Off; Grand Stupidity and Absurd Bravery; All Hat and No Cattle; Let It Go; The Gold Standard; Get in the Damn Boat and Go; As Good as You're Going to Be; We See Things as We Are; Stupid Promises; Let's Be Too Much; Imagination Will Take You Everywhere; Get Back Inside the Box; Expect to Connect; Going All In; Joe and Muhammad; We Haven't Seen That; The Pursuit of Happiness; The Enemy of Future Success; What You Think of Me Is None of My Business; Whatever Happens Is Normal; Guess What I Want and Other Stupid Mind Games; I Said I Don't Know; The Golden Circle of Ignorance; What Have You Done For Me Next?; The Power Strategy; Your Next Best Idea Is Everywhere; What Matters Most
At 27 small chapters, you could easily work through this book once a month, with a few days left over to plan and contemplate the upcoming month. What a deal!
Much of what Calloway writes about is becoming completely sold out to whatever you're doing. Learn as much as you can, decide you're going to be good at it, and then act. Many of the people I look up to in my personal and professional life are like that. It's as if they do their work and "show off" in the process. They bring their best to the table and use every bit of it without hesitation. When you think of "showing off" in that sense, you realize that it's not the negative that everyone normally connects with the phrase. It's the type of person I want to be when I show up each day.
I especially enjoyed the writing style the book. Calloway doesn't pull punches and doesn't apologize for anyt
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Outstanding! ,22/09/2008
If you want a resource to help you take it to the next level, this is it!
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Are You Ready to Get Your Life Working? ,20/01/2008
Joe Calloway has a knack for observation. He sees pragmatic lessons in ordinary events - like the World Poker Series. He explores what it means to go 'all in' in life. You have to ask yourself what you are waiting for if you aren't going all in. Though my favorite lesson from his book is to 'expect to connect.' If you expect to connect to what you need to get things working in your life, then you surely are halfway there. Maybe showing off is one way to get connected with the right people that share your enthusiasm for doing the kind of work you do.
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If It Hits a Nerve You Must Read This Book ,03/12/2007
Joe Calloway is a consumate story teller. A master communicator that is able to paint and picture and velcro points that stick to your brain. As a business owner my best employees are the ones who get the concept "The more value I provide the better my position will be with the company."
If this book hits a nerve... that's a good sign that you can benefit from its contents.
Read, learn, take responsibility and show off (in healthy ways :-)
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