Aim high: guides for navigating inner lives and corporate turf.

The Nia Guide for Black Women: Achieving Career Success on Your Terms Edited by Sheryl Huggins and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack Agate Publishing, October 2004 $12.95, ISBN 1-932-84101-6

Who was it that said, "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time?" This book exhorts the reader to focus on who she is, where she is, and how she plans to use her knowledge and resources to shatter the glass ceiling to get to the next level.

The information contained in this book can serve to guide women purposefully through professional experiences so as to position themselves into greater spheres of influence and opportunities. The pearls of wisdom are generously dispersed as the reader is invited to pull up to the table where successful black women have gathered to share their personal, "been-there, done-that" stories.

The reader will be armed with nuggets of truth about how to navigate through the often nebulous, unpredictable waters known as corporate America. From the collection of experiences shared from the hearts of sistahs who are doin' it for themselves, the reader will gain strength to use her resources and thoughts to forge ahead: from understanding how to ask for a raise (and preparing for possible objections), to celebrating our rich heritage in the workplace without alienating ourselves or others, to creating and becoming our own brand that will market our strengths and skills to the world is explained through an honest conversational style text.

If you have ever felt the need to have a mentor but didn't know where to begin searching for one, this book is for you.

Cecily D. Cooper lives and works in New York City.