Women Management Leadership

Women on corporate boards is strictly a business issue. Independent research studies demonstrate that public companies with women on their boards are more profitable, more productive, and their workforce is better engaged. Even more compelling, shareholders large and small have the best chance for positive returns on their investments when women are on the boards.

Let these 15 leadership skills help you overcome the challenges of today so that you can lead for a better tomorrow. Stepping into the shoes of a leadership or managerial role is never easy. It’s a challenge that constantly puts you face to face with conflicts, disagreements, decisions, and people – all of which need to be brought together to work like a well-oiled machine. But the biggest challenge is the thoughts in your own mind that bring you down, especially those of the confidence-busting, imposter syndrome variety.

Less than 10 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women, and the pace of growth is shockingly slow, made worse by COVID-19 and its aftermath. What does it take for women to ascend permanently into leadership roles? In Her Own Voice sheds some light on this timely topic. Based on twenty-five years of research, Jennifer McCollum offers sage advice for the unique hurdles facing women in business, from contending with our own inner critic to having to navigate the often-intimidating world of negotiating for ourselves.

Navigating the workforce as a woman can feel like making your way through a minefield. Step too far in one direction, and suddenly, you're considered bossy and overbearing and difficult to work with. Tricia Kagerer uses her experience and the experiences of other women to provide guidance to help women of all ages and in all walks of life achieve their goals. Kagerer identifies the challenges - both internal and external - that hold women back both personally and professionally, explores their impact, and outlines strategies for overcoming them.

Why are women so often overlooked and underpaid? What are the real reasons men get raises more often than women? How can women ask for - and actually get - the money, the job, the recognition they deserve? Prompted by her own experience as cohost of Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski asked a wide range of successful women to share the critical lessons they learned while moving up in their fields. Power players such as Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Harvard's Victoria Budson, comedian Susie Essman, and many more shared their surprising personal stories.

Kym Gold's mantra - "never settle for a no, always look for a yes" - is what led her to co-create True Religion Brand Jeans, a major retail clothing company that she sold for close to a billion dollars in 2013. In Gold Standard, she finally gives her side of the story of how the once fledgling jeans company that nobody wanted,went on to become a giant, revolutionizing player in the fashion industry.

Carey Perloff, Artistic Director of San Francisco's legendary American Conservatory Theater, pens a lively and revealing memoir of her 20-plus years at the helm and delivers a provocative and impassioned manifesto for the role of live theater in today's technology-infused world. Perloff's personal and professional journey - her life as a woman in a male-dominated profession, as a wife and mother, a playwright, director, producer, arts advocate, and citizen in a city erupting with enormous change.

Lisa Lisson's life seemed perfect: she had married her high school sweetheart, applied her marketing degree to a position at FedEx Express Canada, and would ultimately become president of the company. One night, after putting their four children to bed, her husband, Patrick, marvelled at their lives. Just a few hours later, Patrick had a massive heart attack and was in a coma. Part leadership guide, part memoir of loss, and part personal empowerment primer on how to achieve your goals, Resilience is an inspirational story.

In the audiobook, mediation guide, popular YouTuber, and yoga instructor Rebekah "Bex" Borucki features her favorite healing and stress-reducing modalities, including her signature four-minute meditations. Deeply personal, heartfelt stories of her struggles and tender moments raising five children will be highlighted throughout the audiobook. As a birth doula and meditation and yoga guide, Bex offers a wealth of personal and professional experience in managing the demands of motherhood and the need for self-care and stress management.

Sexism. Self-doubt. Invisibility. When you're one of the only women in your workplace, it can be difficult to gain your footing. Organizations need to change, but in the meantime, women can find success in these settings—and even flourish in them. Thriving in a Male-Dominated Workplace provides the advice you need to ensure your professional growth in roles and industries that have traditionally been filled by and controlled by men.

Although proportionally women continue to lag far behind men as CEOs and board members at major institutions, there has been a marked uptick in the number of female business leaders in recent years. Looking at the changes that have happened at Berkshire Hathaway - Warren Buffett's holding company, The Women of Berkshire Hathaway: Lessons from Warren Buffett's Female CEOs and Directors provides a unique look at the gradual shattering of the glass ceiling at one of America's top firms.

As a woman in Silicon Valley who worked her way to the top of the corporate ladder—she's a former VP at Facebook and the current president and CEO of Ancestry—Deborah Liu knows firsthand the challenges and obstacles in the workplace that keep the deck stacked against women in the workplace...and the ways to overcome them. For every woman who grew up competing on the uneven playing field, who is told she is too aggressive, assertive, dramatic, or emotional, this book is the battle cry you need to learn to thrive within the system that exists today.

Claim your worth, unlock your full potential, and negotiate your way to the career success you deserve through proven strategies tailored for women. Women face unique challenges when it comes to negotiation, from internalized self-doubt to external barriers and discrimination. But the truth is, you have the power within you to shape your own destiny, overcome obstacles, and achieve extraordinary success.

You’ve worked hard for your money and now it’s time for your money to work for you. Growing your money significantly doesn’t require starting with a lot of money. It requires a little bit of knowledge about taking smart risks and as much time as possible to take advantage of the glorious power of compound interest. From automating your savings to easy, no-stress investing strategies, Nicole will teach you how to take your financial knowledge and portfolio to the next level and start you on your journey to your ultimate destination: true financial independence.

With its gripping narrative and relatable takeaways, The Grit Factor is both inspiring and pragmatic, a book that will energize and enlighten current and aspiring leaders everywhere - whether male or female.

The Memo is the much-needed career advice guide for women of color specifically, finally ending the one-size-fits-all approach of business books that lump together women across races and overlook the unique barriers to success for women of color. In a charismatic and relatable voice, Minda Harts brings her entrepreneurial experience as CEO of The Memo to audio, as well as her past career life as a fundraising consultant to top colleges across the country.

Too many people, men and women alike, have bought into a notion of leadership that exclusively emphasizes traditionally "masculine" qualities: hierarchical, militaristic, win-at-all-costs. The result has been corruption, environmental degradation, social breakdown, stress, depression, and a host of other serious problems. Nilima Bhat and Raj Sisodia show us a more balanced way, an archetype of leadership that is generative, cooperative, creative, inclusive, and empathetic.

Increasingly, new employees and junior members of any profession are encouraged - sometimes stridently - to "find a mentor!" Four decades of research reveals that the effects of mentorship can be profound and enduring; strong mentoring relationships have the capacity to transform individuals and entire organizations.

More than 50 years since the passage of the Equal Pay Act, the wage gap still hovers at 80 percent, and only five percent of CEOs in the Fortune 500 are women. Today, rising up the ranks in many companies still often means cutthroat, win-at-all-costs tactics, where being the loudest voice in the room is more important than being the person with the best ideas for moving the company forward. Not surprisingly, most women don’t want to play this game.

If you're a woman, especially a woman of color, you know this already: You face unique challenges and obstacles as you work to scale the corporate ladder. From not seeing other faces in the room that look like you to dealing with the stereotypes and (often unconscious) biases in the workplace, you may know what to do to succeed, but not how to get it done in this environment. Show Your Worth shows you how. Shelmina Babai Abji speaks directly to professional women about how the power of being intentional and strategic can help transform the headwinds you face into tailwinds.