Nice Girls don't get the corner Office

• Book Title: Nice Girls don’t get the corner Office - 101 unconscious mistakes women make that sabotage their careers
• Author: Lois P. Frankel
• Year written/published: 2004
• Some extracts:

what’s a girl to do?

• give yourself permission to move from girlhood to womanhood
• visualise yourself as you want to be
• talk back to the fearful voice inside your head
• Surround yourself with a Plexiglas shield
• Create the word on the street
• recognise resistance and put a name to it
• ask for feedback
• don’t aim for perfection

Some mistakes: How you play the game

• working hard
• being naive
• waiting to be given what you want
• avoiding office politics - Work through political situations in a way that allows others to see you as a problem solver, not a problem
• protecting jerks - distance yourself from jerks. Don’t be found guilty by association
• not understanding the needs of your constituents

Some mistakes about how you act…

• acting like a man
• sharing too much personal information
• decorating your office like your own living room - Yes, your office or work space can be a reflection of who you are and what’s important to you… By emphasising your feminity, you diminish your credibility
• being financially insecured

some mistakes in how you think…

• putting work ahead of your personal life
• prematurely abondoning your career goals - Success breeds success. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You game courage and confidence from doing the things you think you cannot do.” The problem encountered by many women is that they often allow others to sidetrack them form their early dreams and career goals.
• ignoring the importance of network relationships: your team leader’s colleagues, senior management, your team leader, clients/customers, vendors, your staff
• striving for perfection

some mistake sin how you brand and market yourself…

• minimising your work or position
• using only first name or nickname
• waiting to be noticed
• refusing high profile assignments
• being modest
• being invisible
• using preambles: Why use fewer words ehn i can use more?
• using qualifiers: ‘it’s kind of like…”, we sort of did…”, perhaps we should…”, we could…”
• inability to speak the language of your business: read WSJ, get involved in personal finances and budgeting
• using non-words: erm, uh, oh
• speaking at a higher pitch than normal

mistakes on how you look…

• taking up too little space
• wearing inappropriate make-up
• wearing wrong hair style
• sitting on your foot: never sit with your foot tucked beneath you
• grooming in public
• sitting at a meeting with hands underneath the table