How Women Lead: The 8 Essential Strategies Successful Women Know

Book description

LEAD LIKE A WOMAN

“Rich with proven, practical knowledge and insights from highly successful women that you can put into action immediately to create your executive presence, be viewed as ‘leadership material,’ and maximize your opportunities.”
—Nina McLemore, Founder and CEO, Nina McLemore, Inc.; founder and former President, Liz Claiborne Accessories; former member Executive Committee, Liz Claiborne, Inc.

“A fabulously insightful and powerful book for women who aspire to business leadership. Relying on decades of experience and research, the authors reveal key insights and successful strategies, including practical how-to advice, to en¬able women to hone and enhance their inherent leadership strengths. The book provides women with a compelling and straightforward blueprint for accelerated business success! This is a must-read for women and for all mentors and coaches of women!”
—Richard Falcone, Chairman, Xperior-Consulting, Inc; former Chairman/CEO of Securus Technologies, Inc; and former AT&T Senior Vice President

“Sharon Hadary and Laura Henderson have written a book that will be a blueprint for success that will inspire women in business for years to come—and not a moment too soon, given women’s steadily expanding influence in business. The authors have combined personal insight, research-based knowledge, and real-life lessons in a thought-provoking guide that will benefit women just beginning their leadership journey and women at the pinnacle of their professions. How Women Lead is a celebration of the perspective and power of successful women. This book belongs in every leader’s personal library.”
—Maria Coyne, Executive Vice President, Consumer and Small Business Segment Head, KeyBank; member Executive Council, KeyCorp

IT’S A NEW WORLD FOR WOMEN IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP.

Did you know that:

. . . companies with more women in high-level positions report better financial performance than those with fewer women at these levels?

. . . 40% of all privately held businesses are owned by women?

. . . more than half of all professional and managerial positions are held by women?

. . . the number of women earning $100,000 or more has grown at a faster pace than it has for men in the United States?

. . . 6.3% of the top earners in the For¬tune 500 companies are women?

Women are moving into leadership roles in business, government, and the military, and they’re gaining positions of increasing stature and higher salaries. BUT . . . women’s upward movement is not matching the rate of their movement into professional and managerial positions.

It is time to own your destiny. Gain the confidence and know-how you need to navigate it all. Your roadmap to achieving your aspirations, How Women Lead provides hard-won wisdom from women who have reached truly impressive heights in their careers.

Written by two women’s leadership experts who are themselves successful leaders, How Women Lead gives women the information they need to become high-potential leaders but don’t get in business school: how to build a career on their own terms, gain the critical business management skills needed to advance, and advocate successfully for themselves.

Whether you’re already in the leadership pipeline, contemplating your next career move, or are working to empower women in business, the lessons of How Women Lead will show you the sky’s the limit when you combine women’s leadership strengths with sound business acumen.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. How Women Lead: 8 Essential Strategies Successful Women Know
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. The Women Leaders Interviewed for This Book
  8. The New World of Women’s Leadership
    1. Sharon’s Story
    2. Fast-Forward to Today
    3. Women Won’t Wait for the System to Fix Itself
    4. Why We Wrote This Book
    5. What We Bring to the Table
    6. The Eight Success Strategies Successful Women Know
  9. SUCCESS STRATEGY ONE: Empower the Woman Leader Within
    1. Testing the Waters
    2. Become Confident Leading Like a Woman
    3. Realize Women’s Leadership Styles Have a Foundation in Science
    4. Lead Like a Woman
    5. Position Yourself for the Future
  10. SUCCESS STRATEGY TWO: Own Your Destiny
    1. Break Free of the Boundaries
    2. Define Success in Your Own Terms
  11. SUCCESS STRATEGY THREE: Be the Architect of Your Career
    1. Career Progression Is Not a Straight Track
    2. Choose the Right Place to Work
    3. The Basics of Building a Strong Foundation
    4. The Building Blocks
    5. Options and Opportunities
    6. Continue the Journey
  12. SUCCESS STRATEGY FOUR: Advocate Unabashedly for Yourself
    1. Be Your Strongest Advocate
    2. Create Networks of Advocates and Allies
  13. SUCCESS STRATEGY FIVE: Translate the Stories Numbers Tell to Drive Strategic Results
    1. Laura’s Story
    2. Make Business Acumen a High Priority
    3. Make the Numbers Your Allies
    4. Your Company Is Not An Island
  14. SUCCESS STRATEGY SIX: Create Exceptional Teams
    1. Be the Orchestra Conductor, Not the Tuba Player
    2. Create a Culture of Success
    3. Hire the Best
    4. Be a Team Player Yourself
  15. SUCCESS STRATEGY SEVEN: Nurture Your Greatest Asset—You
    1. Integrate Your Life; Balance Is a Myth
    2. Invest in Yourself: Your Intellectual, Physical, and Spiritual Well-Being
    3. Create the Personal Wealth to Give You the Life You Want
  16. SUCCESS STRATEGY EIGHT: Turn Possibilities into Reality
    1. Women Reaching Up and Reaching Back
    2. The Power of Philanthropy to Create Change
    3. Be Open to Serendipity
    4. Celebrate the Journey
  17. Biographies
  18. Works Cited
  19. Notes
  20. Index

Product information

  • Title: How Women Lead: The 8 Essential Strategies Successful Women Know
  • Author(s): Sharon Hadary, Laura Henderson
  • Release date: September 2012
  • Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill
  • ISBN: 9780071781244