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Business Lingo: An Easy Guide to Decoding Corporate Double-Talk

by Janét Noriega Schwind

104 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-2230; ISBN 1-4251-0473-8; US$11.95, C$13.74, EUR9.32, £6.18

Business Lingo exposes the shadow reality of corporate language and double-talk in order to clue you into the hidden messages behind management's "official" words and related corporate communications.

About the Book

Business Lingo goes behind the Board Room door to interpret terms and phrases that are common to the American business arena - terms that are used in both established and emerging companies. It decodes the dark-side and nuances of everyday business communications.

The Easy Guide format translates "executive comments" and "politically correct terms" to help readers clue in on the intended (or shadow) message. The Translations are followed by 10 Rules of Engagement - pointers - that have served many successful entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 executives, well over the course of their careers.

In some Translations the word or phrase is given in the negative, or shadow, version of the message. In other cases the translation is couched as a definition or "heads up" to increase awareness when the term or phrase is used. Sometimes humor is used to emphasize the concept. This is information that most executives, and human resources professionals, will not share or openly discuss. "Corporate Insiders" have traditionally shared these coveted hidden messages only among themselves, or with their favored lieutenants.

When the boss says "just do your job" it could be said as a mentoring reminder to "pay attention and don't get distracted". It could mean "I don't like you and the time has come for you to polish the resume and start looking for a new employer - sooner rather than later".

In Business Lingo, Janét speaks from experience as a consultant and corporate insider to open the door, for the first time, to readers outside the corporate inner circle.

About the Author

Janét Noriega Schwind, Ph.D., C.M. is currently the CEO of a venture capital and real estate investment company. Previously, she served private and global Fortune 500 companies with a consulting practice focused on Workforce Architecture, "C Level" Executive Coaching, and Workplace Mediation. Her early corporate experience included managerial and executive positions in both public and start-up companies. Consulting clients included 70+companies, and executives, in financial services, "Wall Street", technology, transportation, consumer products, and education including:

Clorox
Sun Microsystems
Grubb & Ellis
Lucasfilms
Charles Schwab
Bank of America
McKesson
Kodak Display Products
Barclay's Global Investors
Wells Fargo
U. C. Berkeley
General Dynamics
Levi Strauss

Her interviews as a subject matter expert have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bio-People Magazine and local publications.

Excerpts