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From Mistakes To Management, Local Executive Wants To Help Others

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With the highest incarceration rate of any big city, Philadelphia is working on ways to ease the re-entry of citizens returning from prison.

One potential ally in the effort is a young IBM executive who has put all his mentoring tips in a new book.

Calvin Purnell looks like he just stepped off the cover of GQ -- perfectly coordinated suit, tie and handkerchief. Dressing right, he says, is one of the tips in his new book -- "Polished".

"I think your appearance is huge, when you're working in an organization, you want to make sure that you present yourself properly, from your haircut, to your fingernails, the way you dress, the way you wear your clothes."

Listen to the full interview with Calvin Purnell here...

 

 

Purnell, who's 40, hopes "Polished" will be, sort of, a mentor-in-a-book, helping others work their way up the career ladder as he has, even if they've had the kinds of setbacks he has:

"I was incarcerated, I actually spent seven months in jail."

Purnell recovered, through dogged determination. He's convinced anyone can:

"You just need to continue to press forward because people are going to tell you know, whether you have a felony conviction or not, you just need to press through the no's to get to the yes.

 

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