Women's Leadership Books

[Melanie Wing]

In order to help grow our leadership skills, it would be helpful to recommend books that you have read that have helped you to develop as a woman and a leader.

[Babette Bensoussan]

Have a look at Dr. Lois Frankel's site - www.drloisfrankel.com - she has written a number of books on women leadership including "Nice Girls Don't get the Corner Office" and "See Jane Lead". Her web site is a good resource as well. I attended a one day workshop of hers when she was in Australia and she really had some excellent basic tips about leadership for women. The one key thing I took away was that women leaders can operate very comfortably as coaches - as long as they bring to the fore their instinctive coaching skills (see mothers teaching/leading children). If leadership is understood and seen as a form of coaching, then women are well placed to be good leaders.

I don't deny there are other forms of leadership (ie dictatorship, benefactor, etc.) however the style that is most intuitive for women is that of coach. And I suspect this is the way of future leaders anyway!

[Laura Mitchelson]

Thanks for tip about Dr Lois Frankel. I will definitely take a look. "The Women's Advantage" by Mary Kantando is a book that I found had some great tips in it. Not specific to CI in any way but a generally good read about how to use our many advantages.

[Eliana Benjumeda]

Thanks for recommending "Nice Girls Don't get the Corner Office". I had in on my hands in a bookstore and I was tempted to buy it but not completely sure. I will do it next time.

Instead I got "The Nonverbal Advantage" by Carol Kinsey Goman which is good to find out many interesting things about how to read the position of feet, the way of walking, how to seat around a meeting table, etc. We can express confidence, assertiveness, status, authority or just the contrary in each one of these little things. She also mentions Joe Navarro theories. I enjoyed it.

[Melanie Wing]

I started this and then never posted some books that I enjoyed and found helpful.

How to Say it For Women by: Phyllis Mindell Made me concious of how I use languange everyday.
Seducing the Boys Club: Uncensored Tactics from a Woman at the Top by Nina Disesa - entertaining reading about a woman making it to the top in Advertising
The Oz Principle -- A classic book about taking ownership. Has helped me both professionally and personally!

[Heather Disher]

Thanks Babette, I've picked up a few tips from the drlois website. I recently read Life Law and Not Enough Shoes by Judith Fordham it's a sometimes comical view of her life as a beaten wife, returning to school mother who becomes not only a key lawyer (and the only female one) in Australia to start the forensic movement. It's not written that well - certainly better than I could ever do but I was really impressed with Judith's attutidue and her humour. I have to saw that of the dozen or so books I've read in 2009 it's the most inspiral story so far.