The Right—and Wrong—Stuff: How Brilliant Careers Are Made and Unmade

He shows how these archetypes fail and succeed, and how to recognize blind spots that can lead to downfall. Nearly a quarter century ago Carter Cast seemed to have it all together: he had a first-class education, an all-American athletic career, and was a very bright and energetic rising star on the fast track at a Fortune 100 company, PepsiCo. He provides ways to improve self-understanding--digging into topics like values, needs, and motives--and provides the reader with new ways to take charge of his or her career.. Derailment often afflicts talented people who are either unaware of a debilitating weakness or an interpersonal blind spot, or are arrogant enough to believe that feedback doesn't apply to them. But blissfully unaware of how negative perceptions were shaped, he was stunned when called into his boss's office, and told he was "unpromotable" because he was "obstinate," "resistant," and "insubordinate."Baffled, scared, and embarrassed, that defining moment led to Cast's years-long effort to try to understand why he came so close to going off track, discovering that what he saw as idiosyncratic was actually widespre

Cast's writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Prior to that, he was vice president of product marketing for Electronic Arts, launching products such as The Sims. When not teaching, Cast is a venture partner at Pritzker Group Venture Capital, where he invests in early stage technology companies such as the Dollar Shave Club and Honest Company. About the AuthorCarter Cast, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, was selected by his students three years running to receive the Faculty Impact Award. During his tenure, Walmart became the third-highest-volume e-commerce company, behind and eBay. He is a lead mentor for TechStars Chicago, one of the country's leading technology start-up accelerators, and has been feat

Cast's writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Before his career at Walmart, Cast was an officer and part of the launch team for Blue Nile, Inc., the leading online diamond and jewelry retailer, now a publicly traded company. He is a lead mentor for TechStars Chicago, one of the country's lea