Launch - Navigate - Lead

"Launch , Navigate , Lead : Experiences , Attributes and Behaviors for Continuous Career Growth " is a book offering practical advice for career navigation and professional development . It is especially designed for college students about to enter the workforce and early career professionals committed to growth and eager to ascend . It has been tailored for those interested in the business world but its lessons can be more broadly applied . This book is NOT a textbook . It is a personal guide , a handy tool which can be used for several years to assist readers who do not have a mentor , a " trusted someone" who would be a reliable "go-to-source" when it is time to make difficult career decisions , to safely navigate their way through tight spots or merely to simplify complexity . Relying on forty years of experience in business and six years conducting "pro-bono" career coaching seminars at Queens College , City University of New York , Frank Boccio offers his own opinions, supported by experts in the field of professional development , to provide readers with practical solutions and de-mystify what it takes to succeed in competitive environments . As a person hired as an entry level customer service trainee and working his way up the ladder to the C-suite , as a direct report to the CEO/Chairman of a Fortune 500 Company , FRANK UNDERSTANDS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO WORK AT EVERY LEVEL . Each chapter of the book starts with a topical essay personally written by Frank and concludes with a questions and answers section -questions most frequently asked by students about to graduate college and early career professionals who still seek Frank's advice . Topics range from transition skills and core attributes (required as a base layer of capabilities ) to more advanced capabilities such as Personal Brand , Influencing , Networking , Emotional and Social Intelligence , Leadership attributes and more . No career guide could conceivably ignore the implications of the Corona Virus on the job market and the economy , so in the Epilogue , Frank spends extra time providing , advice , insight- and even some speculation - for readers to traverse through these times of uncertainty , volatility and change . It would be presumptuous to suggest this book answers all or even half of the questions in minds of graduating students and early career professionals of today , so Frank concludes his writing with an extensive list of Recommended Reading (from decades ago up to today ) to help every individual motivated to learn on their own .

Born and raised in New York City , Frank Boccio rose from a modest working-class family to the C-suite of a world-renowned Fortune 500 firm , the New York Life Insurance Company which was founded in 1845 . After graduating from Queens College of the City University of New York , Frank was hired as a "walk-in" to the New York Life personnel office for a role as a customer service trainee . He concluded his forty year career as the firm's Chief Administrative Officer with leadership responsibility for more than half of the firm's employees . In this role , he reported directly to the CEO/Chairman and was a member of the Company's Executive Committee for the final fifteen years of his career . Additionally , he was a Board Member of several New York Life subsidiary companies spanning both its insurance and investment businesses in the USA and Mexico . Starting in mid-career and continuing through the final decade of his tenure at New York Life , Frank continually attended an array of executive development programs at leading institutions . These included the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusettes Institute of Technology , the Columbia University Business School and a unique collaborative program for new Directors of Companies offered by the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania , Stanford Law School and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business . Frank's formal executive education was topped-off by a special intensive Leadership Program taught personally by Jack Welch , the late , iconic CEO of General Electric . Upon retiring from New York Life in 2014 , Frank's passion for continuous learning and his affinity for coaching and developing others were catalysts for his return to Queens College where , each semester , he conducts a series of "pro-bono" seminars for the purpose of helping graduating students make informed decisions as they launch their careers . He also mentors early and mid career business professionals desirous of career navigation advice . He is particularly interested in helping those who have no reliable mentoring sources to provide sage , practical advice when they are faced with important career choices or challenges . On a more formal plane , Frank very recently formed a private career coaching company offering personalized , one to one , and small group mentoring sessions for early career professionals . Beyond his coaching and mentoring avocation , Frank and his wife , Eileen , devote much of their time enjoying their wonderful family which includes their three sons , their daughters-in-law and a growing team of delightful grandchildren . Frank and Eileen reside on Long Island , N.Y. They have been married for 45 years but Frank emphasizes that they dated for 7 years too . Frank is an enthusiastic recreational bicyclist , spends ample time gardening and trimming trees , reads voraciously with an emphasis in non fiction books which focus on personal fortitude and the characteristics of successful leaders across various walks of life . He also continues to spend recreational time in New York City - a place where , he observes "there are learning opportunities to absorb by the minute " .