How Women rise.
By Sally Helgeson and Marshall Goldsmith
I hope all of you agree that an audible book review counts as a book review!
Like many busy leaders, I don’t always find the time to sit down to read a book; there is always ironing, housework, mum-taxi duty to fit in! An audible book allows me to fit in my passion for learning. This is around a 7 ½ hour listen, which in my life is about one week worth of chores!
I had the absolute pleasure of attending a small webinar with Sally Helgesen a few years ago and having been a fan of this book even before this happened, it has cemented my appreciation for it even further.
The book is designed to help women overcome the specific challenges they often face in their careers. The authors argue that while women may excel in certain areas, they often fall short in others due to ingrained habits.
The book identifies 12 habits that can hinder women's professional advancement:
Reluctance to Claim Your Achievements: Women often downplay their accomplishments or attribute them to others.
Expecting Others to Notice and Reward Your Contributions: Relying on others to recognize your work without actively seeking recognition.
Overvaluing Expertise: Focusing too much on technical skills and neglecting relationship-building.
Just Building Rather Than Building and Leveraging Relationships: Building a network without actively using it to advance your career.
Failing to Enlist Allies from Day One: Not seeking support and mentorship from colleagues.
Putting Your Job Before Your Career: Prioritizing immediate tasks over long-term career goals.
The Perfection Trap: Striving for flawlessness, which can be counterproductive.
The Disease to Please: Overly concerned with pleasing others, often at the expense of their own needs.
Minimizing: Downplaying your own abilities or achievements.
Too Much: Taking on too much responsibility, leading to burnout.
Ruminating: Dwelling on negative thoughts and experiences.
Letting Your Radar Distract You: Being overly sensitive to negative feedback or criticism.
The book offers practical advice on how to overcome these habits and develop the skills necessary for career success. It emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, assertiveness, and building strong relationships.
I think the book resonated so much with me, because I could see myself in so many of the self-limiting habits that it addresses. I am by no means “cured” of this purely from reading this book and I find myself re-listening to parts of it occasionally, giving myself a constant reminder that I can break through barriers and achieve their full potential.
