Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women… (2004)

Very useful, not because any piece of advice is mind blowing, but because it lists a variety of acceptable habits in one place and vehemently supports why they are acceptable (say no to taking notes or making coffee more than once, don't bring in baked goods for fun, dress the part, become comfortable with silences, don't apologize, don't over-explain, don't work too hard, ask forgiveness rather than permission, and so on). This book affirms tactics to be taken seriously as a competent employee and manager/leader and gives readers license to use them; it's nothing shockingly new. It seems to be the sort of book that would be worth rereading every 6 or 12 months. Very quick to get through, easy to read, and doesn't suffer from useless quizzes or pompous/grandiose writing. It does, however, have an embarrassing title. ( )

This book was fast to read, yet really useful, at least for me. First, let me tell you, I don’t usually read this kind of books, self-help books are not my thing, nor “the power is in your head and you will cure cancer if you smile…” I just can’t. But I found references to this book in this article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/19/in-the-workplace-where-ca_n_969842.html) and if like me you are a woman working in a men’s world…well you might enjoy the article plus the TED talk at the end. However, this doesn’t mean that because you are a woman you can’t be successful at work, but you can always do better regardless of your sex.
Anyway, they mentioned the book, and I thought, why not give it a chance; if it doesn’t appeal me I will just change books.
The book starts with a self assessment test, just to see your strong and weak points. Now, I’m happy to say that I got strong points in the way I brand myself, the way I look and the way I “play the game”…not surprisingly my weakest point is the way I sound. Why this is not a surprise comes from the fact that I KNOW that I have the voice of a little girl and when I switch languages this is even worst…that mixed with the fact that I am a petit 5’1 (barely) woman and the fact that you will still see me in jeans and t-shirt (regardless how cute the t-shirt might be) makes people see me as a kid still.
So…I read the book, read the mistakes that apply to me and took some (not all) coaching tips. But I have to admit this book is way more oriented to just business, 9-5 tipe of girls…sorry, women ;).
You see, in science dressing the part is not necessarily having a power suit, except of course when you have a presentation. But in spite of what my grandma would like, running in the lab in heels and dresses…not a great idea. Plus is always covered by your lab coat, or at least it should. Still as I mentioned before I do dress the part, you will not see me in ill fitted jeans or saggy t-shirts. Also…well we do not get a corner office…a corner bench would be inconvenient if you ask me…but I do have a room in the lab all for myself.
Bottom line I read this book because in my institute only almost a quarter of the labs are directed by women…barely a 25%...I guess we do better than some institutions…but still. And I want to be there, be one of them eventually…well not in the same institute, we will see about that, but…I want our equivalent of a corner office. ( )

I was about to pass this book up because the title didn't catch my attention. As I looked at the back cover,I thought to myself, "I do plenty of things to further my career, I don't need to look at this book!" Now that I've finished reading the book, I am so glad I gave this book a chance.It helped me to see how women, myself included, act in certain ways which ultimately prevents us from furthering their career or obtaining their career goals. Frankel starts in chapter one by noting that although this book lists 101 mistakes that women make in reference to their career,all women will not make all the mistakes listed in the book. After stating this fact, Frankel then presents a self-assessment chart for the reader to fill out to determine where she needs the most work to change her female behavior. Since each part of the assessment focuses on a particular weakness,each chapter following the assessment focuses on how women play the game, act, think, market,sound,look and respond. When using describing female behavior, Frankel means the behavior that girls have been taught through society as well as in their own childhoods.She feels that women have been taught to be less outspoken, to be nurturers and providers, and to cater to their male co-workers. For example, I will admit that at my job, I sometimes do the work that is assigned to others. This is because I feel if I don't do it, it won't get done; Frankel label this behavior as mistake #4: Doing the work of Others.According to the book, I can resolve this problem by only doing what I am assigned to do and if I feel guilty for saying no to others,use self-talk to replace feeling guilty. What I like most about the book is that she provides the mistake on one page and then on the opposite page, she provides coaching tips. Since she works as an executive coach, she provides lots of tips. She also provides real like experience that she had with clients in reference to each mistake and discusses the problem that each women faced as well as how with her help, they were able to come up with a solution. Overall, I feel that this is a great book for any women whether she is woman at a Fortune 500 company or at Burger King. If we as women are to be more active in the business women, we need to learn rules so we know how to play the game. Also, we need to realize that although our past behavior worked for us at one time, in order to fully obtain our career goals, we need to learn to not cater to other but instead, we need to focus on the the highest level of success possible. ( )

I was about to pass this book up because the title didn't catch my attention. As I looked at the back cover,I thought to myself, "I do plenty of things to further my career, I don't need to look at this book!" Now that I've finished reading the book, I am so glad I gave this book a chance.It helped me to see how women, myself included, act in certain ways which ultimately prevents us from furthering their career or obtaining their career goals. Frankel starts in chapter one by noting that although this book lists 101 mistakes that women make in reference to their career,all women will not make all the mistakes listed in the book. After stating this fact, Frankel then presents a self-assessment chart for the reader to fill out to determine where she needs the most work to change her female behavior. Since each part of the assessment focuses on a particular weakness,each chapter following the assessment focuses on how women play the game, act, think, market,sound,look and respond. When using describing female behavior, Frankel means the behavior that girls have been taught through society as well as in their own childhoods.She feels that women have been taught to be less outspoken, to be nurturers and providers, and to cater to their male co-workers. For example, I will admit that at my job, I sometimes do the work that is assigned to others. This is because I feel if I don't do it, it won't get done; Frankel label this behavior as mistake #4: Doing the work of Others.According to the book, I can resolve this problem by only doing what I am assigned to do and if I feel guilty for saying no to others,use self-talk to replace feeling guilty. What I like most about the book is that she provides the mistake on one page and then on the opposite page, she provides coaching tips. Since she works as an executive coach, she provides lots of tips. She also provides real like experience that she had with clients in reference to each mistake and discusses the problem that each women faced as well as how with her help, they were able to come up with a solution. Overall, I feel that this is a great book for any women whether she is woman at a Fortune 500 company or at Burger King. If we as women are to be more active in the business women, we need to learn rules so we know how to play the game. Also, we need to realize that although our past behavior worked for us at one time, in order to fully obtain our career goals, we need to learn to not cater to other but instead, we need to focus on the the highest level of success possible. ( )

I was about to pass this book up because the title didn't catch my attention. As I looked at the back cover,I thought to myself, "I do plenty of things to further my career, I don't need to look at this book!" Now that I've finished reading the book, I am so glad I gave this book a chance.It helped me to see how women, myself included, act in certain ways which ultimately prevents us from furthering their career or obtaining their career goals. Frankel starts in chapter one by noting that although this book lists 101 mistakes that women make in reference to their career,all women will not make all the mistakes listed in the book. After stating this fact, Frankel then presents a self-assessment chart for the reader to fill out to determine where she needs the most work to change her female behavior. Since each part of the assessment focuses on a particular weakness,each chapter following the assessment focuses on how women play the game, act, think, market,sound,look and respond. When using describing female behavior, Frankel means the behavior that girls have been taught through society as well as in their own childhoods.She feels that women have been taught to be less outspoken, to be nurturers and providers, and to cater to their male co-workers. For example, I will admit that at my job, I sometimes do the work that is assigned to others. This is because I feel if I don't do it, it won't get done; Frankel label this behavior as mistake #4: Doing the work of Others.According to the book, I can resolve this problem by only doing what I am assigned to do and if I feel guilty for saying no to others,use self-talk to replace feeling guilty. What I like most about the book is that she provides the mistake on one page and then on the opposite page, she provides coaching tips. Since she works as an executive coach, she provides lots of tips. She also provides real like experience that she had with clients in reference to each mistake and discusses the problem that each women faced as well as how with her help, they were able to come up with a solution. Overall, I feel that this is a great book for any women whether she is woman at a Fortune 500 company or at Burger King. If we as women are to be more active in the business women, we need to learn rules so we know how to play the game. Also, we need to realize that although our past behavior worked for us at one time, in order to fully obtain our career goals, we need to learn to not cater to other but instead, we need to focus on the the highest level of success possible. ( )