Monday 17 February 2014

Book ~ "Nice Girls Still Don't Get the Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers" (2014) Lois P. Frankel

From Goodreads ~ Internationally recognized executive coach Dr. Lois P. Frankel teaches women how to eliminate unconscious mistakes that could be holding them back, and gives invaluable coaching tips that can easily be incorporated into social and business skills. The results are career opportunities women never thought possible and the power and know-how to occupy the corner office!

This was interesting an book because it was focused on women and the mistakes we make in the workplace, whether you are an admin assistant or a VP.

To start, there is an assessment to see what you should work on ... my scores were pretty even for all the categories.  My overall score was in the middle and indicated ... Fine-tuning is the name of your game!  Although you often engage in behaviours worthy of a winning woman, there are times when you don't get your due because you get caught up in nice girl syndrome.

And that led you to the 133 mistakes in chapters that you should work on (and I find myself guilty of some of them):
  • How you play the game - doing the work of others, working without a break, pinching company pennies, avoiding office politics, holding your tongue, etc.
  • How you act - being too thin-skinned, needing to be liked, not needing to be liked, trying to be one of the guys, flirting, acquiescing to bullies, being a doormat, etc.
  • How you think - thinking like employe, taking full responsibility, viewing men as authority figures, skipping meetings, letting people waste your time, ignoring the importance of network relationships, etc.
  • How you brand and market yourself - having an elevator speech, minimizing your work or position, waiting to be noticed, inappropriate use of social media, ineffective use of social media, being invisible, etc.
  • How you sound - asking permission, apologizing, using touchy-feely language, trailing voice mails, etc.
  • How you look - obvious ink and piercings, tilting your head, wearing inappropriate make-up, the wrong hairstyle, inappropriate attire, grooming in public, poor eye contact, etc.
  • How you respond - holding a grudge, believing others know more than you, allowing yourself to be the scapegoat, crying, etc.

In addition, there are real-life stories you can relate to and coaching tips for each mistake.

This book makes you aware of what women shouldn't be doing in the workplace and a reminder of things we already know.

2 comments:

Masshole Mommy said...

Men and women are different and I don't think women should be punished for that.

Dr. Lois Frankel said...

Masshole Mommy -- I hope you don't think that's what I'm suggesting in my book. The premise is that we need to let go of being those nice little girls we were taught to be in childhood and start acting like adult women -- not poor imitiations of a man.

Dr. Lois Frankel