Nice Girls Don-t Get the Corner Office- 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Care Description:

Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers review:
5 stars (A must read for any Woman in a "man's" world) - This book is beyond helpful, and is presented in a manner that allows the reader to not only evaluate herself, but to immediately put into action solutions to potential problems. Each chapter is broken down into subjects that can affect a woman's progress up the ladder, with a mistake listed on one page and solutions to apply to the workplace on the next.



This is a no-nonsense book that is written by a woman for women, so "quit bein' a girl" and buy this book! The insight and results are more than impressive - they're life changing.
2 stars (Thinly Veiled Misogyny) - With all due respect to Dr. Frankel, I am a 37yr old professional who has been turned down many times for jobs well qualified for and promotions earned because I didn't either kiss the right butt, stab backs or play corporate cut-throat. And I'd hoped this book would help me figure out some way to either fix the problem or discover the root cause. And unfortunately, I walked away from this book feeling allot worse than before. So a warning before reading into it too far. Although Dr. Frankel coaches female professionals to become more successful in the workforce, this book has placing 101 `mistakes' strictly on our heads as a kind of `punishment' for being feminine. Meaning, she claims that we shouldn't act like men, but act less like young girls and more like women. All these mistakes being gleaned from childhood, everything you were taught was wrong and everything boys were taught was right.



More than half these mistakes poignantly made several references toward (after working with thousands of women) finding more often than not, `men don't do this, but women do.' As the list went on, I got the distinct impression that there's absolutely no way I could possibly fit into this mould and considering her statement of the mistake of `quit aiming for perfection' then leaving the paradox of being perfect and imperfect at the same time. This book make my blood pressure rise and my head spin. As if we're all totally screwed up and we should ultimately stop being ourselves and in fact, act more like men! Of course we should know not to behave in a diminutive or submissive, giggly way, which is logically not professional, knowing you don't get far taking `girly' to such an extreme.



Controversially to what she said about inequality in the workplace (kudos) she made several contradictions to this conviction. Such as, "men don't use only their first name". "Men don't trail off messages". "Men take up more space?" "Don't wear long hair, the older you get, the shorter your hair should be". Well, incidentally, men also have short hair. "Don't speak in a high pitched voice, men don't". So if you have a high pitched voice, you're effectively ruined?



Moreover, many of us are quite aware of what appropriates looking professional, such as not wearing too much makeup or dressing like a floozy. Then Dr. Frankel also says "don't wear too little makeup or you'll diminish your credibility" ? "You should dress better than everybody else" -now imagine if everyone were to heed all this advice, it would be humorous to see the ensuing office `fashion competition' for promotions. "Don't work too hard, men don't" ? "Men sit at meetings with hands on table". "Men don't touch their hair. Touching hair reduces your credibility by a full year" ?!! "Men don't wear reading glasses around the neck". "Men don't accessorize too much". And God forbid, do not ever enhance femininity.



"Don't be under-animated, don't be over-animated". "Don't smile too much, don't be too polite". "Don't tilt your head?!" "Don't accept dead-end assignments". However, what she doesn't seem to understand, is the more anyone who isn't popular with the boss says "no" will reflect on your performance review. Try getting around that in a recession. The squeaky wheel doesn't always get the grease, nowadays, it often gets replaced by a much more compliant wheel who will work for less and squeak not.



The Bottom Line: There were a good 20 recommendations to success. However, we already know every company has it's own unwritten rules and politics. Dr. Frankel recommends right away to get involved in corporate politics. Can you say "7th Grade"?



In reality, there is no logical reason why anyone should have to "play the game" as Dr. Frankel suggests. Meaning, be a professional, fine. But we all know, without all the politics, work would be more productive with so much less stress if there were less games & politics and more cooperation. Playing into "the game" only makes everyone's job harder and the stress much worse. I have tried to behave more like a man. However, I'm only 5-feet tall and 100lbs. I cant change that. I have strength that has been both loved and hated depending on where I go. "Don't be a scapegoat." When has anyone ever actually had a choice to be one or not? If someone dislikes you for whatever reason and wants to hurt you, they will. Period. I've been berated, insulted and fired for unfair reasons I couldn't fight against, particularly in a company where no one was willing to jeopardize their own corporate reputation or job security by coming out with the truth.



So, ladies? In closing, and with 20years of dealing with my own discriminations, the only way we, as women will ever be taken seriously and liked for the unique, intelligent creations we are? Is when all people's mentality ascends far enough to see beyond all these `mistake' behaviors, habits and `accessories' and ceases to find us as children or threats, lets us do our job, get paid equally and earn our happiness without all the unnecessary complication.
4 stars (Great tips for getting ahead) - Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office outlines the do's and don'ts of corporate America for women. It's the career version of 'The Rules' with straightforward, no nonsense advice. (You'll most likely want to cry over the 'don'ts' that you commit every day.) After reading this book and applying its principles, I felt more polished, professional and confident...and the job offers followed.