Excellent book but doesnt match the title

First the positives this book is excellent for giving a well-rounded view of leveraging networks and community to make a positive change to the wider black community i.e. what you can do when you get to the top or on your way there.

Negatives: This book unfortunately lacked focus and clarity for understanding how to actually get to the top. As a black professional trying to find strategies to overcome the difficulties of the corporate workplace I thought this book would be it. The only useful chapter for me was on networking. Unfortunately there is nothing in the book about surviving office politics, dealing with rejection, psychological defence against failure and many painful realities in the way of getting to the top.


However this book shines better for aspiring black entrepreneurs and gives a well rounded roadmap of things to think about. Whether its leveraging networks, acquisitions or aquiring funding. However even here I found the book limited in thinking. There is a heavy focus on social entrepreneurship which creates philanthropic opportunities in the black community too. Thats absolutely admirable but also very limiting. We desperately need to see more black people at the very top i.e Billlionaires. The more at the very top, the easier it will be to change perceptions for those struggling at the bottom. So this book needed a focus on creating businesses that create significance to impact the entire world beyond only the black community. In my opinion this book needed concrete strategies to overcome barriers in the way of the future black Bill Gates or Henry Fords of the business world rather than limiting ourselves to being black entertainers or social entrepreneurs only impacting black communities.

Other than that, this is an excellent and well rounded book.

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