Longtime Wall Street Journal columnist Hal Lancaster is tired of feel-good career guides written by football coaches and soap opera actors who boil the complex workplace down to buzzwords and platitudes. Refreshing and controversial, Promoting Yourself asserts that readers can best build their careers not by listening to so-called gurus, but by studying others like them who have flourished.

Through stories of real-life professionals, Promoting Yourself reveals a workplace that requires you to pit your competitive fire against a horde of ambitious bosses, peers, and subordinates, all seeking the brass ring of success. Lancaster shows you how with tough, savvy answers to the fundamental questions: How can you find the right job? How can you improve your job? When should you leave? How do you survive your boss's foibles? How do you make sense of all the mergers, technological advances, and cultural changes that have muddied the career waters? When is it necessary to ignore the incessant calls of "family first"?

Promoting Yourselfgives readers the street smarts and insight needed to tackle the highly political and often unjust reality of corporate life.