 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | This is the story of how and why women's full participation in leadership matters is still seemingly a well-kept secret. To have the future we all want, women must play a more robust role in setting priorities and allocating resources. "Women Lead the Way" presents argument, research, and tactical guidance to help readers wedge the door open and bring more women through and up. The evidence from around the world validates the findings of the United Nations General Assembly in 1995, which set a baseline of at least 30 per cent women at the table as a prerequisite for genuine partnership and lasting, positive change in the international arena. We see the same phenomena in the business world. More women as corporate officers and members of boards of directors results in stronger financial performance. At 30 per cent representation, we see concrete, positive outcomes for everyone not just women including increased shareholder value, more flexible management approaches, a broader definition of success, and better bottom lines. More women at the table means more progress for all of us. This book helps readers get started on a win-win women-led strategy to bring about the leadership balance we all need. You will learn how to do away with cultural baggage that boxes us in, gain a clear understanding of how and why Women Lead the Way, and receive practical, road-tested tactics to help you and other women step up and into leadership. 'Linda has produced the first seriously practical guide to stepping up to leadership. Her clear, concise, down to earth approach challenges us all to keep moving forward and leading the way. Any woman [or man] reading this book can be left in no doubt of what needs doing and more importantly, how to do it. A must read' - Rt Hon Baroness Catherine Ashton, EU Trade Commissioner [the first woman British Commissioner and first woman Trade Commissioner]. 'Straightforward, empathetic and balanced, this compelling guide tells the stories that women positively engaged in changing the world will recognise. Though American in background, the messages are international and well researched. From the time of Hypatia of Alexandria through to the present day, women like Linda Tarr-Whelan do make a difference. Let's listen' - Dr Melissa Hardie, Director, The Hypatia Trust Honorary Fellow, Exeter University. |
Average Customer Rating:  Women Lead the Way Great, quick read. Very practical messages and great stories shared. Relevant for all, especially women, young and old. Women's rights are human rights! Women Lead the Way
This book about women stepping up to our leadership roles in social and economic power activated many conflicting emotions in me. It is, primarily, directed toward women in business that are already in a position to make a significant difference in decision-making processes. This leaves me out, I felt, since my lifestyle and contributions are more right-brained than left. And yet in all fairness, the author makes it clear that she is speaking to all women, and gives numerous practical examples of how women not in the business world can support and participate in women's leadership.
Ninety years after achieving the right to vote, women in the United States still only account for about 15% of the key positions of political and economic power in this country. And yet, women hold more higher education degrees, account for 80% of consumer decisions, and the sales generated by women-owned businesses equals the GDP of China. This and all that it represents in terms of the continuing inequality of pay, dismissing of women's concerns, and dogmatic attachment to a hierarchical status quo, aroused a deep, cellular rage of injustice within me, which was quickly followed by shame that I have allowed myself to be so passive about using my own voice and power to enact change. But Tarr-Whelan is not rabble rousing and wisely advises women to move beyond divisive thinking and look for how women's issues are also collective issues. She also acknowledges that both men and women are involved in, and benefit from, women achieving a critical mass at decision-making tables.
Women Lead the Way presents a clear road map for organizational, economic, and political change, with a vision toward quickly achieving the 30% solution: all organizations/entities must have at least 30% of positions of power filled by women. In many countries where women are already powerful leaders and already have greater balance in leadership, studies have demonstrated that this shift has yielded higher profits, greater efficiency and workplace satisfaction, and long-ranged collaborative values, among many other assets. Again, I was rankled by the need to "justify" or "prove" that women's rights and our concerns require empirical research to ratify. It's quite obvious women deserve equality: as Secretary of State Hilary Clinton says, "women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights." On reflection I realized that while this is true in and of itself, vision without action is impotent and lacks integrity. If we say something is true and don't follow through by our actions, then how can we expect anything other than what we already have?
Consequently, this book offers an exciting manifesto and is an impassioned clarion call for closing the leadership gap. I recommend that all women (and men too) read this book: we are without question the key players in being agents of change for a sustainable recovery, and we will pass along the consequences of our efforts to our children. If you, like me, are aroused to make one small leadership effort toward making the world a better place from reading this book, each power of one will create a chain-reaction that can and will make a difference.
Very highly recommended for any women's studies library WOMEN LEAD THE WAY: YOUR GUIDE TO STEPPING UP TO LEADERSHIP AND CHANGING THE WORLD comes from a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the think tank Demos who was an Ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, among other powerful political posts. Her ideas on closing the leadership gap for women uses her diverse background as an organizer and diplomat to provide a women-led strategy for change and a set of tools readers can use to become partners and leaders in a changing world. Very highly recommended for any women's studies library. "Women Lead the Way" - We need women's leadership and we need it now Thank you Linda for this incredible book. The conversation about why we need women has shifted dramatically of late, and your book summarizes all the reasons for it. Adding women is no longer just the 'right thing to do', but rather there is clear evidence that it is in everyone's self interest as it is a key to economic growth and prosperity for all. We are not fully utilizing the skills, wisdom and resources of one half of the world's population, and it is this recognition and this shift that will change the direction of our collective future for the better. It is about "critical mass" and we all have to embrace the strategies that will get us there. What is great about your book is you give everyone something to do. As an individual we can both know and use our power to address minor inequities that we face every day, and as a CEO we can choose to have a minimum of 30% women on our board of directors. Progress has been slow and that may be because we have not seen the need to change. Don't we see it now? We had a financial crisis and are still in the midst of an economic crisis, and by the way much of the rest of the world has always been facing crisis of violence and poverty. This is a book for everyone. Young, old, men and women.... buy many copies and give it to everyone and change the world. ( JZ ) Women Lead the Way Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and CHanging the World A journey always begins with the first step and, all too often, womens' participation in the social, political and business arenas has been hampered by how, when and why to take that first step.
Tarr-Whelan's book provides such guidance in clearly understood language. Her examples of the successes of women in all walks of life provide support for those considering taking on the "status quo" to bring about change. Her strategies for goal accomplishment are readily customized to individual situations, from modest undertaking to major enterprise.
The book is a practical, easy to follow progression of ideas and subsequent actions that also helps build a woman's confidence in her own judgment and ability to make a difference.
The perfect gift for every woman on every occasion!
Connie Brotzman
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