I've worked for at least eight A+ merit award holders. Good to know the modus operandi of the boss, although all of them seem to have got there by sheer hard work (genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, as Thomas Edison once said). My favourite is law 30 – ‘make your accomplishments seem effortless’ which is a very hard slog (although if you are too successful at this one, it looks like you are actually doing nothing so use with care). Most applicable for career progression is probably Law one – ‘never outshine the master’
Never go on a management course (one of my A+ bosses, now deceased, once declined a time management course as he ‘hadn't the time to go’). Read this book (or any Dilbert book) instead. You know that bit where trainees are encouraged to ‘reach for the stars’? Dilbert comments that ‘if you did manage to grasp one, it would burn your hand clean off...‘. Enough said, going forward. You'll score highly on management bingo after reading this.
What not to like? The correct dose is there, side effects, and a little about the drug action so you can tell at this stage of your career if your antidepressants are working properly or not. Handy for writing accurate prescriptions for patients too. I facilitated the recent introduction of the BNF phone app into the NHS through NICE which has reduced prescribing errors although the irony is my NHS hospital blackberry can't actually access it! We need better hospital phones with access to the electronic patient record - that would reduce many more errors (health minister please note).
A handy guide to the idiosyncrasies of the academic Professoriate (usually omitted in the above books). Hilariously funny. Giving a lecture on a subject the professor knows nothing about with roaring success, academic jealousy and bickering over such small pay stakes. All accurate. Having worked with Sandy and been presented with a signed copy hot off the press in 2004, I suspect I may feature in the book. I've narrowed myself down to four of the characters..…
A must for the aspiring clinical or medical director. Want to know how your subordinates are fiddling their expense claims? Away on a ‘course’ (yes a ‘golf course’) etc. Bankers are the classic profession for managing to do OK whether in a bull market or a bear one. Every trick in the book, but now you're on the case and in the know. Want to demotivate and unsettle people to get them to move jobs whilst keeping your fingerprints off the file? It's all there for the poacher turned gamekeeper manual.
Having got this far, you'll now need a well-deserved holiday. This guide to southern Spain was handy when I went to Andalusia in October. Not sure why it's taken me 51 years to master cheap direct flights off season to a sunny place – possibly getting children through school in term time is the reason. Didn't realise the Moroccans ruled southern Spain for 1000 years until Queen Isabella kicked them out in ∼1500 A.D. A few good tips then on how to get rid of awkward colleagues hogging the place for too long from someone at the top of her (Royal) game. The excellent tapas, fresh figs and pressed olives are a bonus as you relax in the sunshine beside the pool.