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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This book was a mixed bag for me. While Dr. Frankel does have some good tips which have stood the test of time, particularly in the beginning half of the book, such as techniques for mindfulness, encouraging women to accept perks, and not to be afraid to physically take up space, the latter half of this book takes the approach of a girlboss of days gone by. It unfortunately takes a victim blaming approach that left a sour taste in my mouth. Instead of addressing how patriarchy and colonialism negatively impact women in the workplace, Dr. Frankel concludes the strong start to her book with tips such as “cut your hair” and “wear an appropriate amount of makeup”, whatever that means. Overall, it had a strong start with a disappointing finish. With that said, it is still worth reading, just reader beware that some of the views in this book may be out of date with modern feminist discourse.
Geared towards corporate America, but definitely worth reading. I just skipped over or breezed through things that didn't apply and found a fair amount of useful advice and worthwhile information.
"Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office" by Lois P. Frankel, PhD, is a self-help book that aims to empower women by identifying and correcting behaviors that can impede their career advancement. However, in today’s rapidly evolving corporate landscape, this book feels significantly outdated, leading to a rating of 2 stars.
The premise of the book is intriguing: Frankel provides 101 actionable tips to help women recognize and overcome unconscious habits that may be holding them back professionally. These range from communication styles to body language and work habits. The book is structured in a way that allows readers to easily digest and reflect on each piece of advice, which is one of its stronger aspects.
However, many of the behaviors and societal norms addressed in the book seem stuck in a past era. For example, some of the advice regarding attire, assertiveness, and office dynamics feels disconnected from the current push towards more inclusive and diverse workplace cultures. The corporate world has undergone significant changes since the book's publication, and many of Frankel’s observations and suggestions do not resonate with the experiences of modern professional women.
Moreover, the book often perpetuates the stereotype that women must conform to traditionally male behaviors to succeed, rather than advocating for a broader acceptance of diverse leadership styles. This perspective can be disheartening, as it suggests that the burden of change lies solely on women, rather than addressing systemic issues within corporate structures.
Additionally, while some readers might find the checklist format helpful, others may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of "mistakes" presented. This exhaustive approach can make the book feel more critical than supportive, potentially undermining the confidence of its readers rather than bolstering it.
In conclusion, "Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office" offers some useful insights and practical tips, but it is largely overshadowed by its outdated perspective on the corporate world. For women seeking guidance in navigating their careers today, there are more contemporary and inclusive resources available that better reflect the current professional landscape. This book may have been more relevant in its time, but in today's context, it earns a 2-star rating.
The premise of the book is intriguing: Frankel provides 101 actionable tips to help women recognize and overcome unconscious habits that may be holding them back professionally. These range from communication styles to body language and work habits. The book is structured in a way that allows readers to easily digest and reflect on each piece of advice, which is one of its stronger aspects.
However, many of the behaviors and societal norms addressed in the book seem stuck in a past era. For example, some of the advice regarding attire, assertiveness, and office dynamics feels disconnected from the current push towards more inclusive and diverse workplace cultures. The corporate world has undergone significant changes since the book's publication, and many of Frankel’s observations and suggestions do not resonate with the experiences of modern professional women.
Moreover, the book often perpetuates the stereotype that women must conform to traditionally male behaviors to succeed, rather than advocating for a broader acceptance of diverse leadership styles. This perspective can be disheartening, as it suggests that the burden of change lies solely on women, rather than addressing systemic issues within corporate structures.
Additionally, while some readers might find the checklist format helpful, others may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of "mistakes" presented. This exhaustive approach can make the book feel more critical than supportive, potentially undermining the confidence of its readers rather than bolstering it.
In conclusion, "Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office" offers some useful insights and practical tips, but it is largely overshadowed by its outdated perspective on the corporate world. For women seeking guidance in navigating their careers today, there are more contemporary and inclusive resources available that better reflect the current professional landscape. This book may have been more relevant in its time, but in today's context, it earns a 2-star rating.
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
This book is very much based on traditional corporate life in which there's always "up" possibilities and everyone wears business clothes and has a lunch hour. There are definitely valuable pieces and I marked a few sections for coworkers/mentees to read but just be aware that not all of this will make sense for everyone. (Which really, you should understand of any self help book.)
Broken out into easy to read chapters, the book outlines a variety of mistakes that young women make that adversely affect their career trajectories. The small chapters make it a very optimal commute read. The book also included a personal quiz to help identify problems areas in your life (brand image, assertiveness, etc) and suggested chapters to begin with based on the results of this quiz. I greatly appreciated this addition, as it allowed me to read sections that were relevant to me specifically. Every woman starting out her career should read this book.
Some good tips, but couldn't get past the dated opinion on tattoos and piercings. Made the author seem like an out of touch prude. Ruined it for me (and I don't even have tattoos)!
This book is a long enumeration of so called mistakes that women do, each with a short description and advice, but not the format is the problem even though it gets tiring, but its content and way of expressing it. Most advice is outdated or applicable only to old-school american corporations. It doesn’t take into account cultural differences throughout the world or company cultures across different industries and it declares some things as facts without any proof. Many of the so called mistakes mentioned in the book can be done by all genders and many depend in fact on the personality and cultural background. I first felt like giving up reading the book from its first chapters but I continued to read it all by seeing it as a historical curiosity and laughing at the outdated stuff.
I find most outdated the overall premise of the book: that women should be more like power hungry american corporate men rather than that culture should be changed.
In the 100+ mistakes there are some that have some good advice, but most of the times it's either just very obvious or to concisely presented or I already knew it from other sources or experience,
I find most outdated the overall premise of the book: that women should be more like power hungry american corporate men rather than that culture should be changed.
In the 100+ mistakes there are some that have some good advice, but most of the times it's either just very obvious or to concisely presented or I already knew it from other sources or experience,
This book has been so influential in the conversation about women in work that it does feel as though one does really have to grapple with it, like it or not. And grapple with it, I did.
It’s really for women with jobby jobs in the corporate world so a lot of it has zero relevance to me. (What is this vacation time of which you speak? And who has an actual office?) But it hopes to be helpful for all of us. And sometimes it is. Maybe.
I had a lot of trouble with the ideas in this book because so much of it has a subtext of, “Yes, it is a sexist world and yes, you are discriminated against and the game is rigged – but here’s how you play.” It’s essentially about how to modify yourself to fit more easily into the heart of the patriarchal world. It’ll teach you how to pass more easily.
And this is where I really feel my inner radical feminist start to rage because…uh, no! The system is rigged! Let’s bring down the system! Don’t let’s all put on pantyhose and game the game! Let’s storm the corporate bastille, y’all!
But of course, storming the bastille won’t put food on the table – so maybe, yeah, you gotta put on stupid pantyhose sometimes. Maybe.
The book is structured around the idea of a multitude of “mistakes” women make in the world realm. I kept wishing she had a better word than “mistakes.” Because the things she’s talking about don’t strike me as mistakes at all – but obstacles in the road to a particular place. It is not a mistake to cry at work. It’s disruptive, perhaps, to the people around you who might be uncomfortable with tears. But it is not a mistake. It’s something to consider. Is crying publicly hurting your chance for promotion? Maybe. Is crying publicly opening up space for more empathy and sensitivity in your work environment? Possibly. It’s all about what sort of environment you want to be in.
It’s not bad advice. It’s saying – “Yep. It sucks that the world is age-ist and sexist but you might want to go ahead and dye your graying hair, old lady, so as to not get left out of the age-ist, sexist game.”
But it’s not a mistake not to dye your hair in an ageist, sexist world. It’s a choice. And, of course, choices have consequences.
She almost totally lost me when she suggested the solution to being sensitive at work was to “Just get over it.” I have never heard stupider advice in my life. This is impossible. For any human – about anything. Just getting over something is not a thing we’re built to do. People need tools, lady. And sensitivity is not a problem – it’s a characteristic and in some situations an actual advantage. See also my post on being a highly sensitive person. (https://artiststruggle.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/a-highly-sensitive-person-in-the-arts/)
I couldn’t believe someone trained in psychology said this.
I will concede, however, that there were a lot of really valuable tips in here. I did feel a kind of shoring up of the battle systems – the training for negotiations, etc. I feel like it encouraged me to speak up more, to speak first and to make sure I have a seat at the table. I was at a seminar in a boardroom and was offered a seat at the head of the table. Initially, I demurred and then realized that I was doing something this book had specifically warned me against – so I took that seat and actually enjoyed feeling powerful in it there. I was very grateful for this book in that moment. It’s worth grappling with. Even if you also want to throw it out the window.
It’s really for women with jobby jobs in the corporate world so a lot of it has zero relevance to me. (What is this vacation time of which you speak? And who has an actual office?) But it hopes to be helpful for all of us. And sometimes it is. Maybe.
I had a lot of trouble with the ideas in this book because so much of it has a subtext of, “Yes, it is a sexist world and yes, you are discriminated against and the game is rigged – but here’s how you play.” It’s essentially about how to modify yourself to fit more easily into the heart of the patriarchal world. It’ll teach you how to pass more easily.
And this is where I really feel my inner radical feminist start to rage because…uh, no! The system is rigged! Let’s bring down the system! Don’t let’s all put on pantyhose and game the game! Let’s storm the corporate bastille, y’all!
But of course, storming the bastille won’t put food on the table – so maybe, yeah, you gotta put on stupid pantyhose sometimes. Maybe.
The book is structured around the idea of a multitude of “mistakes” women make in the world realm. I kept wishing she had a better word than “mistakes.” Because the things she’s talking about don’t strike me as mistakes at all – but obstacles in the road to a particular place. It is not a mistake to cry at work. It’s disruptive, perhaps, to the people around you who might be uncomfortable with tears. But it is not a mistake. It’s something to consider. Is crying publicly hurting your chance for promotion? Maybe. Is crying publicly opening up space for more empathy and sensitivity in your work environment? Possibly. It’s all about what sort of environment you want to be in.
It’s not bad advice. It’s saying – “Yep. It sucks that the world is age-ist and sexist but you might want to go ahead and dye your graying hair, old lady, so as to not get left out of the age-ist, sexist game.”
But it’s not a mistake not to dye your hair in an ageist, sexist world. It’s a choice. And, of course, choices have consequences.
She almost totally lost me when she suggested the solution to being sensitive at work was to “Just get over it.” I have never heard stupider advice in my life. This is impossible. For any human – about anything. Just getting over something is not a thing we’re built to do. People need tools, lady. And sensitivity is not a problem – it’s a characteristic and in some situations an actual advantage. See also my post on being a highly sensitive person. (https://artiststruggle.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/a-highly-sensitive-person-in-the-arts/)
I couldn’t believe someone trained in psychology said this.
I will concede, however, that there were a lot of really valuable tips in here. I did feel a kind of shoring up of the battle systems – the training for negotiations, etc. I feel like it encouraged me to speak up more, to speak first and to make sure I have a seat at the table. I was at a seminar in a boardroom and was offered a seat at the head of the table. Initially, I demurred and then realized that I was doing something this book had specifically warned me against – so I took that seat and actually enjoyed feeling powerful in it there. I was very grateful for this book in that moment. It’s worth grappling with. Even if you also want to throw it out the window.