Portable Executive: Building Your Own Job Security - From Corporate Dependence To Self-direction

John A. Thompson, the visionary who pioneered the interim management industry, offers a guide to developing the skills necessary to secure jobs in the flexible, ever-changing business climate emerging today. "A timely, helpful, encouraging book".--Malcolm Forbes, Jr.

The downsizing of America -- once thought to be a temporary cost-cutting measure to boost profit margins -- has brought a swift end to the era of "lifetime employment." Given the fact that these terminations are nationwide, affect every industry, and are usually neither fault-based nor predictable, no executive is immune.

Based on interviews with over 100 now-portable executives who were among the first casualties of downsizing, "The Portable Executive" explores the unlimited opportunities available to those who are independent, self-directed, and willing to work on a contract basis. It explains:

• How to make a smooth transition to becoming "portable"

• How to identify, continually update, and market your skills

• Why companies that downsize full-time employees are willing to hire executives on an as-needed basis

• How and why the relationship between employers and executives has changed from boss/worker to peer/peer

And much more -- including how to invent a business, what to charge clients, how to network, market, and sell yourself as a "personal service business entity," and, most important, how to enjoy a greater sense of creativity, satisfaction, and long-term job security than ever before.