The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life

This memoir is well written as Ivanka Trump encourages people to go out and get what you want in work and life

This is in some ways more a self help book than an autobiography as the author uses her personal history to provide practical advice on how to make it especially in business, but in any relationship; i.e., like she had with her two famous parents. Ms. Trump makes it clear she is not just a daughter of two high powered wealthy parents though she acknowledges up front that gave her an edge. Instead she is extremely proud to have avoided the reckless out of control behavior of many of her second generation to become an ambitions vice president of the Trump Organization. She makes the case she earned the position as she understood her father could have at any time if she failed to be up to the task say' you're fired". Much of the advice focuses on how to use what positives you have to overcome the negative baggage everyone carries. Office chaos can further a career if the individual does not panic so be effective and efficient while selling yourself as name brand is everything. This memoir is well written as Ivanka Trump encourages people to go out and get what you want in work and life by working at it with a positive attitude.

Harriet Klausner

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

disappointed

I really wanted to like this book Ivanka comes across as a nice person who works hard but has no idea of the real world. Some of her suggestions are good mostly common sense. But the majority of the book is really relevant if you have a foot in the door. No one in reality starts at 24 to be Vice President of a major company unless your related. Anna Wintor doesn't call up just anyone. It does get a little tedious also hearing how she understands how privileged and beautiful she is. If you really want business advise as a new person into the market I would suggest a different book.

Highly Recommended Book For Young Businesswoman / Businessman

If you ever wondered how to raise a little billionaire, this is the book for you; if you are a self employed woman who is seeking for inspiration, this is the book for you; and if you are a man or woman who grew up in a wealthy family, this book is right up your alley; although not as helpful as i hoped from an entrepreneurial "HOW TO" point of view, the book does give us a rare glimpse at success from a "daughter of a billionaire" point of view; I am a big fan of the Donald, and i even got a copy of my paperback signed by Ivanka Trump, however, this book teaches you that things are not as they appear to be - don't judge a book by its cover...

you will find plenty of good advice in this book, but more than anything else, you will find the best possible parenting advice in this book; by listening to what Ivanka had to say about the way she was raised, one could assume that her family was just "upper class" and not "billionaire class"; so in short - i loved it ,it is a great book written by a great role model.

Thank You Ivanka,

Love her, loved the book...at first.

Still love her, and think she was raised well with good work ethic. Book has some good tips and a few good ideas that hasn't occurred through simple common sense but generally not worth the money. She has no idea that everyone is not offered the same privileges as her, and her name-dropping can be tedious. All in all though, the book is a helpful, easy read. A good gift for an early twenty-something female.

Loved the stories in this book

When I heard that Ivanka Trump was writing a business book, I was intrigued. As a young, female professional, I was excited that a book was coming out that I could relate to. I think a lot of management books read like boring textbooks so I was hoping that this would be a different format. I bought Ivanka's book the day it came out and read it cover to cover that same day. For the most part, I was not disappointed. I think she has great advice and has had some wonderful experiences. My favorite bit of advice was how she sends notes to people because you never know what door that might open for you in the future.

She does address what it's like to be Donald Trump's daughter and strongly asserts that she doesn't receive any favoritism. I think this is an important thing to note but I almost feel like she said it too much, too often. That would be my only complaint and it's a very minor one.

This is a book I'd recommend to anyone. It has great stories and a few lessons tucked in there. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and plan to read it a second time.

Ivanka Trump's polished success manual

Since many heirs achieve celebrity for nothing but their famous last names, it's refreshing to read Ivanka Trump's autobiography and career-advice manual. Donald and Ivana Trump's daughter comes across as an earnest, hardworking young woman who loves her parents and brims with pride over their accomplishments. In addition to fame, fortune and beauty, Ivanka also inherited a solid value system and work ethic. She became a fashion model in her teens, but the glitz of the runway didn't seduce her, perhaps because, as she acknowledges, she was born into privilege. She continued her education with her eye on her ultimate goal - joining the family enterprise. Now a successful executive, she offers business advice to her contemporaries. If you enjoy business biographies or seek career-building guidance, getAbstract recommends this book to you. You'll also learn what it's like growing up in Trump Tower, but if you're hoping for inside dirt about a famous family, you've come to the wrong place. This squeaky-clean portrait - like the sculpted cover shot - could have been the product of the Trump Organization's public relations department. It's just as self-promoting, though Ms. Trump does provide sound, useful career advice. She directs it to young women, but any up-and-coming professional could benefit from her counsel.

Ivanka TRUMP...I don't want to get by on my name... oh yeah and here are my business techniques!

Honestly I haven't finished this book yet, so take my comments with that in mind. However, I am 3/4th the way! I chose this book because I am a woman that owns my own business and I was looking for inspriation for the new year. I got tired of reading how Ivanka doesn't want people or organizations to think she got where she is today because of her father, and yet she brought it up almost every chapter!! She should have just said it once at the beginning and been done with it! There are a few good insights towards business, but overall I think it should be in the biography listings instead of business.
If you are semi curious how she was raised, got through school, got her start before working for her dad and just how dedicated she is...this is a light hearted book with a few business tricks sprinkled in!
Enjoy.

IVANKA TRUMP ROLE MODEL

Valuable advice for twenty-somethings embarking upon careers in business.
A helpful guide for young women especially. Imparts the importance of hard work, sharp focus, integrity, excellence, traditional values - all in an immensely charming manner. Great chapter on building a brand. Brilliant and inspiring!

Good book for Ivanka fans, not so much for those seeking advice

I really wanted to like this book. I did not buy it thinking I would seriously be introduced to the secrets of winning at work and life by a 27-year-old who works for her father and has been given every possible advantage. But, rather than a how-to-succeed-in-business guide, the book comes off more like an attempt to prove that Ivanka isn't as spoiled as everyone thinks and that she does actually have a brain in her head.

The first half of the book is useless unless you are an Ivanka fan and want to know more about her upbringing. If you don't care about her childhood, the prestigious schools her father paid for her to attend, and the 100+ foreign countries she's been to, you can skip over this part. If you're really looking for her advice on how to succeed in the workplace, there are a few chapters of the book with tips on things like job interviews, e-mail and Blackberry etiquette, and how to negotiate with business associates. I don't think Ivanka deserves much credit for any of this because none of it is new or unusual. A 30-second Google search could provide the same tips for free. But it least it relates to what the book is supposed to accomplish.

Ivanka's challenge with this book is that she doesn't seem to understand that in the real world, no one gets hired as a VP in a multinational real estate development firm at the age of 24. She offers anecdotes of how she's tried to prove that she's worthy of the job, but she never comes around to admitting that she was in no way qualified for the position and that no matter how hard you work or how well-educated you are, unless you are the boss's kid, it will take decades for you to get to the same level that Ivanka has reached. She briefly mentions working for Bruce Ratner for one year right after she graduated and uses that to justify her rise to upper management in her father's business. As though it happens that way all the time. As though it was all a result of her hard work. It just doesn't work that way in real life, and she loses a lot of credibility by trying to suggest that she would have achieved the same level of success withour her last name.

The one reason I give the book 3 stars instead of 2 is that there was a brief moment where she offered advice that is useful to anyone. She points out that even if you don't have a Harvard degree like the person down the hall from you, you can still outwork that person by putting in more hours, coming up with better ideas, and making your contributions known to the people in charge. She offers an outstanding tip in this vein to anyone who wants to advance in their current company: if you're making the same contributions in Year 5 that you made in Year 1, you shouldn't be worried about promotions and raises ... you should be glad you still have a job. She is right on with this point, as too many people (especially young people, and I'm only 27, so I can say this without malice) think raises and promotions are a matter of time and not a result of effort and accomplishment.

I do think she is a great role model for wealthy children who have a chance to do something positive with their lives, but aside from the one tip I mentioned above, this book isn't going to help anyone who grew up in a poor or middle-class family, went to public schools, and didn't have an executive level job waiting for them in the famly business when they graduated from college.

Not inspiring to young professionals

I really felt this book was less about success in business and more about, Ivanka, growing up weathly and trying to seem more grounded. She grealtly over speaks of "privelage" and her family name. To me it seemed more of a published journal of her thoughts. She is a very successful young woman and I think she should have focused more on her success drive and not the family name and the constant over useage of her family, privelage and all the best schools. I was very dissapointed in this book.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Entertaining

In her new book "The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life," Ivanka Trump, daughter of real estate mogul Donald Trump and supermodel Ivanna, presents a part memoir and part business manual about achieving success. Some of the memorable events Ivanka recounts include the time Michael Jackson attended her ballet performance of Nutcracker, her teenage foray into the modeling industry, and her experience on the hit television show "The Apprentice." Her childhood included mingling with celebrities during her mother's cocktail parties, and witnessing first hand the ambitious constructions of her father. At the same time, despite her prestigious upbringing, Ivanka comes across as someone who doesn't take money or hard work for granted. Drawing on her experiences working in a senior position in the Trump company and later becoming involved in jewelry business, Ivanka provides tips on interviewing, networking, becoming that indispensable person for the boss, as well as entrepreneurship in general. Before the start of each chapter, Ivanka even includes sections titled "Bulletins from my Blackberry," which is where people like TV producer Mark Burnett, famous political blogger Arianna Huffington, and presidents or former CEO's of successful companies like MySpace, Hearst Magazines, and Fox News Channel among many others provide their own valuable advice on becoming a successful career person. For those interested in the real estate business, Ivanka also describes her experiences in this field-everything from traveling and building contacts to getting management deals and investing in new construction. Overall, I found this book to be pretty informative and entertaining-perfect for college students just starting out, Trump's fans, as well as people thinking about a career change. As Ivanka mentions, it's all about making the experience in a different field relevant.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!

I FOUND THE BOOK TO BE VERY INFORMATIVE AND ENCOURAGING. ESPECIALLY COMING FROM SOMEONE OF HER AGE AND EXPERIENCE. IT IS VERY HELPFUL FOR THOSE WHO ARE YOUNG AND ARE LOOKING FOR ADVICE AND GUIDANCE. IVANKA NOT ONLY GAVE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ADVICE BUT SHE ALSO TOOK THE TIME TO SHARE HER STORIES AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM HER MOTHER AND FATHER. I ALSO ENJOYED THE "BULLETINS FROM MY BLACKBERRY." SHE EVEN SHARES HER ENTIRE PROCEDURE FOR STARTING HER OWN JEWELRY BUSINESS. SHE IS A REMARKABLE WOMAN!

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.