The book is filled with real-life examples of ways in which he kept his bosses and customers satisfied, which led to longevity in the workplace and kudos for his work..
Longmeadow resident Michael Bradley worked for 37 years as a salesman at Bristol-Myers Squibb and has recently published a book about his experiences there and advice on how to keep a job.
Longmeadow resident Michael Bradley spent 37 years selling baby formula to doctors and hospitals in Western Mass. for one of the giants in the pharmaceutical industry. He learned a lot about navigating the corporate world, how to outdo the competition and the best ways to stay employed.
Now retired from the Mead Johnson Nutritionals division of Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bradley, 65, shares his wisdom about how to succeed in business by really trying in a new 95-page paperback book, titled “Job Security: Be the Last Employee Standing.”
“If you think about books on the market for interviewing for a job there’s thousands and lots written about how to get a job,” he said. “But there’s hardly anything written about once you get a job, how you keep it.”
The book is geared toward today’s college graduates, many of whom might not have much work experience, Bradley said.
Unlike when he was growing up and working at a young age, today’s graduates seem to have responsibilities like sports or other extracurricular activities that don’t allow time for a job, he said.
The book is filled with real-life examples of ways in which he kept his bosses and customers satisfied, which led to longevity in the workplace and kudos for his work.
He earned the prestigious “Legend” award, which has only been given out a few times in the history of the company. At the time of his retirement in 2007, Bradley finished first in sales performance out of 450 employees across the country.
“I can honestly say I’ve lived this book,” he said.
In the competitive arena of sales, Bradley said he was successful because he learned to identify the person most responsible for making the decisions on his product, especially because it wasn’t always obvious. He would “make friends with everybody” in the offices that he solicited and made sure at the end of the day his boss considered him indispensable.
“My whole job was based on service. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my customers,” he said. “I liked trying to outwork everybody so I wouldn’t have any pressure on me from my boss.”
Grinding out the work, sometimes 80 hours a week, Bradley admits his drive for achieving success was felt by his wife, Patricia, and his three daughters, Heather Grot, Kristen Lanctot and Shannon Wiehe.
“My family probably did suffer a little. I was always preoccupied with my job I think because my father died when I was 16. For that reason I never wanted my family to be in jeopardy of losing what we had,” he said.
He also had another motive for writing the book.
“I felt like I worked really hard all my life and my kids know that but I want my grandkids to know, too. I want to pass on my work ethic to my kids and grandkids,” he said.
Bradley shared a story of his daughter Shannon’s reaction to the book after she read it.
“She said to me, dad, I felt like you were sitting next to me because everything I read in the book are things you’ve been telling us our whole life and you didn’t think we heard, but we did,” he said.
Some pieces of advice in the book that Bradley espouses include being humble about your accomplishments, demonstrating loyalty, arriving early and leaving late and keeping records of everything you do, especially praise received from your employer or clients.
“I didn’t write this to pat myself on the back but to instill in my kids and others a strong work ethic, especially because things have changed in the workplace and companies expect employees to do more today,” he said.
The book is priced at $15.95 and is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and his website at www.jobsecurity.biz.
Michael Bradley wrote a book about how to stay employed in part so that his three daughters and his grandchildren will have a record of his work history.