How to come up trumps

It's not exactly standard get-ahead-in-business fare. This book exhorts you to spend a day at a spa, store your woollen garments properly and practise diaphragmatic breathing.

"Abdominal breathing ... should be the goal of anyone who wants to improve the quality of his or her life; it promotes relaxation, detoxifies the inner organs and promotes blood flow." Riveting stuff, no doubt, but not really what you'd expect from a self-help book.

But that's probably why It's Your Move: Dealing Yourself the Best Cards in Life and Work grabs your attention. In a bizarre, totally confused kind of way, it's entertaining and even makes sense""most of the time.

Cyndi Maxey and Jill Bremer's first book asks you to think of your life as a card game and work to deal yourself a winning hand. Trouble is, the rules keep changing. The trick, say the authors, is to accept the changes""in fact, not just accept, but encourage and embrace change.

The authors take the analogy of life as a card game to its logical conclusion. Each chapter in It's Your Move is a hand of cards; each hand has a lesson""the strong suit you can play to get ahead. The hands they deal are the areas where even small improvements yield drastic results: attitude, visibility, style, presentation, listening, and so on.

As with any card game, the authors suggest you shuffle the deck and deal a fresh hand ""that will help you get better at dealing with unexpected situations and mixed suits.

And, importantly, you're playing against yourself. Which means that even when you lose, you win. It's an admirable thought and works on a simple truth that bears repeating"" you alone are responsible for your happiness. So, take charge of your life.

Maxey and Bremer know what they're writing about""they're both professional speakers with almost 40 years of combined experience in helping people develop their leadership and communication skills.

In addition, Bremer is an executive image specialist""according to her website, she helps individuals and organise create the "look and sound of success". Hence the chapter on style.

Of course, a lot of what Maxey and Bremer have to say is not new. It's all been written about before, in countless business and self-help books. Know your goals, define them as short- and long-term.

Show up""increase your visibility, network, arrive early. Know your customer and your market""but also stay informed about what's happening in the world around. Learn to listen. Accept your mistakes. Dress appropriately. Learn to say no and ask for help graciously.

Ho hum. Been there, read that, bought the book. What works for It's Your Move is that all this is presented as one complete package.

And to be fair, there is new information and advice in the book""even if some of it is as fatuous as getting your colours done or sending hand-written notes with gifts.

Many of the anecdotes are interesting, some are funny and most of them provide some valuable insight on how to (or how not to, depending on the case) get ahead in life.

So much for the good stuff. Now comes the criticism. It's Your Move is a disappointment in terms of presentation. It would have been simpler and less confusing for readers if the book had been written as 52 "cards" of great ideas instead of nine hands, each of which has a four-card suit at the end.

And the "players" described at the beginning of the book"" meant to be composites readers can identify themselves with"" is an idea that just doesn't work.

The later chapters are so peppered with events, incidents and anecdotes""and people pop in and out of chapters with dizzying speed""it's enough to make your head reel. And to make you lose track of those initial key players.

The odds are high that everyone has tossed away a self-help book at some time, muttering "if only it was that easy". Just think""all you have to do is dress right, speak well, send gifts and thank-you notes on time, and you'll win over surly bosses, unfriendly in-laws and perhaps even get away without a speeding ticket. If only.

Still, it's difficult to read a book so chock-a-block with good advice and put it down without once nodding your head and saying "That's good. I should remember that."

It's Your Move

Cyndi Maxey and Jill Bremer
Pearson Education
Pages: 264;
Price: Rs 395