21 Ways Women in Management Shoot Themselves in
the Foot
John M. McKee
Paperback, 6x9 in, 132 pages
Wheatmark, June 2006
ISBN-13: 9781587366185
ISBN-10: 1587366185
Description
Despite all of the progress we've made toward equal rights over
the last few decades, less than 4 percent of America's largest
companies employ women as senior executives. This is not, according
to business coach John M. McKee, because female professionals lack
the desire or ability to lead. In his thirty years of experience in
corporate life, McKee has found that a working woman cannot improve
her situation until she more actively manages her career, gains a
better understanding of the traditionally masculine culture of the
workplace, and refuses to accept lower pay scales and unequal
treatment.
If you want to take control of your career—and not depend
on those who consciously or unconsciously subscribe to a lingering
"old boys" mentality for advancement—you need this book.
21 Ways Women in Management Shoot Themselves in the Foot
presents specific, practical tactics that will help you rise to the
top:
- How to navigate gender bias in the workplace (it still
exists!)
- How to avoid common habits that will sabotage your career
- The single most important tool used by highly successful
professionals
And much more . . .
About the author
Known as "the woman's success advocate," John McKee has been a
business coach since 1988. A former senior executive who has worked
in boardrooms and executive suites across North America, he was a
part of the original founding senior executive team of DIRECTV
prior to establishing BusinessSuccessCoach.net. He knows what works
and what doesn't, and provides a wealth of information to his
clients in a unique, easy-to-digest package.
John has created a new coaching method specifically for business
clients. His Four Windows Process guides people through a series of
steps in which they create a status review, then develop a game
plan to move forward with clearly defined and clearly timelined
objectives for career, finance, and personal life. Unlike other,
more tactical coaching methods, the Four Windows Process is
strategic, holistic, and encompassing. John's clients have found it
to be an excellent tool for getting tangible results in a very
short period of time.
Excerpt
Why is a man writing a book designed to help women become more
successful at work? I’ve been asked this question many times
over the past few months and it’s a great question. My
answer: the sisterhood needs more help from its brothers.
It’s my belief that many men have no idea how difficult it
is for women in the workplace, and until men in positions of power
start helping them advance into leadership roles, it’s going
to remain far too hard (unreasonably hard) for women to advance at
the rate they deserve. Although legislation and regulatory changes
over the ’90s were enacted to ensure greater equality in
hiring and promotional decisions, I think most business
environments are much friendlier to male employees. As a senior
executive, I saw how decisions were made when women weren’t
around. I heard how men discussed their female colleagues in their
absence.
I started in business with a female boss, and she set the
groundwork for my management development and skills training.
During the course of my career, I worked with and for both men and
women, in female-dominated industries like cosmetics, fragrances,
women’s footwear, and jewelry, as well as male-dominated
industries like furniture, cable broadcasting, and heavy
appliances.
At the jobs I held in female-dominated industries, I was often
one of the few men in meetings or travel groups, and I became kind
of like "one of the girls." In our after-hours dinners or daily
reviews, I learned just how differently women saw things than their
male counterparts. They also talked about how tough it was for them
compared to guys in similar situations. I was fortunate to have the
opportunity to see firsthand how many things a man takes for
granted that his female colleagues cannot.
I have been lucky enough to work with a lot of brilliant and
talented women. Many of them became my friends. From them I
discovered a great deal about different management styles,
differences in negotiating, and differences in attitudes. I think
male executives could learn a lot from women about building better,
more successful organizations if we’d just shut up and listen
better. I have also seen many women fail in their professional
lives, however, because they simply didn’t understand the
rules and responsibilities needed to succeed in their chosen
professions.
If I’ve chosen to break ranks, so to speak, with other
men, it’s entirely because helping women achieve positions of
leadership will benefit everyone concerned—women, men,
businesses, and society. I hope many men will read this book as
well. With new knowledge about issues facing women, they may become
more inclined to help their sisters get ahead. More success breeds
more success all around—a circle of success for all.
One of the problems with writing about women in the workplace is
that simply singling women out in any way perpetuates the view that
they are different. And while women and men are different in many
ways, equal opportunity is based on the shared premise that all
human beings, regardless of gender, should have the same chance to
achieve the goals they set for themselves.
So, to help women succeed in the workplace, and to let you in on
the way men think, I’ve decided to share my insights on the
challenges and opportunities facing executives today. It is a
reflection of my desire to bring greater understanding and equal
opportunity a little bit closer to fruition.
