31 thoughts on “Women in Business Books”

  1. You want to connect with the wonderful, insightful Marti Barletta at trendsight.com. She invented the category of marketing to women and always is a step ahead of all others with detecting emerging trends about how women navigate business culture. Tell her I sent you!

  2. There’s a book called “The Big Sister’s Guide to the World of Work” that was published a few years ago. I think it might be out of print now, but it’s for young women just entering the workforce, and it points out a lot of things that women might instinctively do in the workplace/while interviewing, and how/why not to do them. The tone is definitely geared for a younger audience, but it’s interesting.

  3. Try Deborah Tannen’s work on gender communication differences, Talking from 9-5.

  5. “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office” talks about certain female behaviors and how they can undermine effectiveness.

    1. On a related note: “Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide,” Linda Babcock.

  6. You could try the Australian book “7 Myths about Women and Work” by Catherine Fox (ISBN: 9781742233475). She refers in part to the “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office”.

    Kath Walters comments on the book in her post Should Geroge Eliot have acted less like a man?, and notes that “Fox critiques one of my favourite authors, Lois P Frankel, author of Nice girls don’t get the corner office. Frankel’s subtitle is “Unconscious mistakes women make that sabotage their careers.”: http://leadingcompany.smartcompany.com.au/managing-me/leadingwoman-should-george-eliot-have-acted-less-like-a-man/201209112423

  7. You might be interested in reading “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” by Sheryl Sandberg.

  8. Dear Evil HR lady,

    I have particularly enjoyed Mireille Guiliano’s third book, Women, Work & The Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility,

    Mireille was one of the first ladies to work in the Wines and Spirits industry in the US as a CEO (she is the ex CEO of Veuve Clicquot Inc) and I have found her very inspiring.

    Good luck in your search!

    1. I second this – the thing I like about Ms. Guiliano’s book is that she isn’t theorizing how to change gender issues in the workplace. She presents her thoughts more along the line that “this is the way things are and here’s how best to work within the system.”

  9. I just finished “Basic Black” by the impressive Cathie Black – she tells some incredible stories about breaking through glass ceiling after glass ceiling. Her advice is sound, but her stories are dynamite! An easy quick read.

  10. Depending on how your German is coming along, try “Das Arroganz-Prinzip: So haben Frauen mehr Erfolg im Beruf” by Peter Modler. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be an English translation. Really a pity. He also quotes quite extensively from the work of Deborah Tannen that Lesa recommended.

    1. Ha! Mein Deutsch ist fast perfekt! Zum beispiel kann ich sagen “Zwei hundert grams Englisch Cheddar, bitte,” und, “Wo ist die Toilette?”

      Ich denke dass ein Deutsches Buch ist nicht für mich!

      1. Sehr gut getan, Boese HR Frau! (Ich habe Deutsch ehemals studiert..)

  11. Why So Slow? by Virginia Valian is a classic, though it’s 15 years old at this point.

  12. I’ve enjoyed reading ‘Where have all the senior women gone?’ by Ines Wichert. Not only does it cover gender differences, Ines’ research suggests 9 critical job assignments for women wanting to develop into top leadership positions.

  13. “Dearie”, a biography of Julia Child. It could have been called “Fearless”.

  14. Who Says It’s a Man’s World, by Emily Bennington (full disclosure, I’m a publicist who worked on the book campaign) because it’s a career guide written for women, speaking directly to their particular workplace experience: managing time and priorities (and family); the need for more women in top levels of management; competition in the workplace; handling emotions; finding a mentor.

    Send me an email with your address if you’d like to take a look at the book.
    – Elizabeth

  15. You guys are the best! Lots of things to look through here. I really appreciate it.

  16. I do not have a suggestion for a book but now my reading list has grown and I look forward to picking up some of these interesting books and reading more about it.

  17. Hi, I did some research on gender differences at work when I was writing an article a couple of months ago. I found these articles really insightful:
    “Women matter- gender diversity, a coporate performance driver” by McKinsey;
    “What coaches of women need to know” by M. Ruderman & P. Ohlott published in Leadership in Action;
    “Holding women back” a special report from DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast.
    – Laura

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  20. Look for What’s Next by Joy Chudacoff. That is one truly outstanding book for business women and a terrific source of inspiration. I’ve read over it a couple of times and I’ll probably go back to it again occasionally when I’m in need of some motivation and direction.
    http://whatsnextthebook.com/book

  22. Hi! This post could not be written any better!

    Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting about this.

    I will forward this article to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read.
    Many thanks for sharing!

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