Customer Reviews

Closing the Leadership Gap: Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Marie C. Wilson is absolutely correct in stating that women can and must help run the world. The book is well written and inspiring. However, the tone of the book directs Wilson's message toward women readers only. This can be extremely detrimental because it fails to speak to the leadership role that male readers play. Both women and men can together bring about change in the workplace but Wilson suggests that women, themselves, must be the only catalysts to bring about change. Although this is true and women must be a catalyst and strive for change, men also have a large part in recognizing the leadership traits of women to and altering the thoughts and perceptions of society. Change cannot be brought about if only one group is emotionally and physically invested, both genders must join together to change the world for the better.
The book also talks a lot about the nurturing traits of women. These traits of nurture, self-sacrifice and sensitivity are both valued by society and by women themselves. Wilson states that the qualities women bring do not match the traditional actions of a leader. This statement groups all women together and further stereotypes the roles and attributes of women. All women are different and hence their leadership characteristics are different. On the other hand, Wilson does a better job in diversifying the occupations and types of women involved in leadership positions. From the United States government and military positions to British parliament, Wilson shows the importance and benefits of female leadership all over the world.
The author also makes it a point to state that gender biases are products of television, Hollywood and advertising. One of the movies Wilson feels combats these biases is the movie Legally Blond starring Reese Witherspoon. I feel that this movie contradicts Wilson's message. In fact, the main character had many attributes that contributed to the biases and gender stereotypes of women. In the movie, Reese Witherspoon is overwhelmingly concerned over her hair, nails and clothing and entered law school not for herself but to gain admiration from her boyfriend. This movie is not sending the same message that Wilson is trying to get across in her book. In general, Wilson's book brings up many points that are overlooked by society. The book is an inspiration for women who, in the twenty first century, strive to become the next leaders of the world and challenge the "comforts" of business, politics and domestic life. This book should be read by everyone, men and women, who strive to be a leader and make a difference.

This is a great book, but I can not decide whether it should be in the political section or the business section or in the self help section. What the author has done is created the story of what obstacles women as leaders have faced, and what the impact on society has been as a result. As a political book, she maps all the possibilities that women can create to change the stagnant way of politics by achieving leadership in that realm, and working for the common good of all, like education, child and eldercare, as well as taking a pro-active role in foreign affairs. As a business book, the author demonstrates the value of women leaders who are more in touch with the ways the business can be done to bring all to the table to achieve greater productivity with more humane and less stressful ways of getting there. As a self help book, she gives women the courage to create themselves as leaders, shows us the value of our leadership, and provides ideas and resources to become leaders, in all realms of life. She sees the importance of inclusion and recognizes that we must learn to lead as partners with men, and together, achieve the possibilities of a more just and more powerful society.
It's also a fun book filled with surprises, as she wonderfully weaves the story of Hester Prynne of the Scarlet Letter into the body of this book, reminding us that though Hester was branded with the A of adultery, she rose to display the "A" of authenticity, ambition, authority, and ability, as she lived her life. Marie Wilson challenges us to do the same.

As we enter an important presidential election, this book's message holds even more import. Marie Wilson eloquently writes about how we can and must begin to change women's level of participation in the leadership of our country, and indeed, the world. This is true regardless of one's political orientation. And, while this book speaks to me so strongly on a political level, it is much more than that. It is a cultural and economic examination of women's role in our society and is the type of book that makes you, as a reader, think and re-think your values and how you participate in effecting change in our society.
But this is no hard-line, soap-boxy type of overwrought treatise. It is warmly written and totally engaging. You will be inspired by this book.

As a leading women's activist, Marie C. Wilson, explains the reasons why more women are needed at the highest level of government. Wilson explores the political and cultural factors that support women in government as well as offering motivational change to help close the leadership gap. Wilson helps give women in the governmental workplace a stronger voice by eliminating stereotypes of women and giving them powerful ambitions. Her valid claims through facts and statistics helped create her own authority and authenticity. This book gives women ideas to redefine the term "leader" through inspiration and motivation through government and politics. Wilson proved that women in high government positions should never be underestimated because they have the full potential to get work done. Closing the Leadership Gap is "our new `Emancipation Proclamation!'", as Pat Mitchell, president and CEO, the Paley Center for Media stated.

Marie C. Wilson does a masterful job of outlining the problem and supporting it with credible information. Essentially, it is the general perception of women as leaders. Men speak with authority even when they are winging it with no facts to back them up. They are given a pass, while women seldom are. Witness the 2008 primaries and the election campaign that followed. I suggest another issue that is seldom mentioned: women are speaking to the choir. Nearly all the books along this line are written to women and reviewed by women. What is perhaps lacking in Wilson's book is a clear solution and an outline of action steps to take to get men to listen and to elevate the perception of women as leaders.

This cannot be successfully addressed as a general issue, it only be achieved on a personal level. The question is what is doable now? What should each woman do today to improve their own lives, to elevate their own credibility, to position themselves as leaders on a local level? In this regard, I suggest women augment their personal education with a book titled "The Four Minute Sell" by Janet G. Elsea. It is available on Amazon in used copies for a low cost. In my judgment, it is one of the best books written on personal image for females. Also look for "Women Make the Best Salesmen" by Linda Luna Brem. Both of these books inspire and pragmatically instruct and will lift you to another level. Critical mass will only be achieved one woman at a time.

The most important sentences in Marie C. Wilson's Closing the Leadership Gap are these:

"Everyone knows at least one woman who should be urged to follow her dream, a woman who is utterly capable of being more than she is if only she were given encouragement. We need to find her and feed her ambition. Don't wait for the culture to change. Change it yourself by helping others to step forward."

Step up. Encourage others. It's just that easy.

Wilson draws on more than 30 years of experience as an advocate of women's issues to create a virtual road map for women who aspire to be leaders, no matter where they live, no matter what they do or who they are. She reveals where cultural obstacles are, why they exist and why we must not let them stand in our way.

In this, Wilson leads first by example. Founder and president of The White House Project and co-creator of Take Our Daughters to Work Day, she dives through layers of surveys and research to reveal deeply rooted cultural biases that keep women from bringing their unique contributions to the head table.

Wilson founded The White House Project in 1998 to address one of the biggest impediments to women's leadership - the lack of a real pipeline. Reports that President George W. Bush is encouraging his brother Jeb to run for the office in 2008 shine a bright spotlight on this phenomenon among men, who start running for office earlier in life and work their way to the top through connections and raw ambition, a quality often criticized in women. Wilson's recap of studies that show how women politicians fare in the media is nothing short of infuriating.

Now more than ever, we need the outrage driven by America's stubborn loyalty to the male leadership paradigm. We need it to overcome the inertia of a life that's not so bad, even though it's not so good, either.

And as Wilson does in this book, we need to encourage other women, to inspire other women to live their best and highest dreams.

Whle I enjoyed readying this book and the infodump that came with it, I can't bring myself to give it a five. There were several quotes that were elipsesed in places that made them a little less credible, and I think that's an editing error that is easliy fixed. Oherwise, the book didn't layout an effective and plasuible action plan to deal with the lack or plurality in American leadership, or to get more women into leadership possitions.
That said, this book it more of a call to arms than an review of the situation, and does get the juices flowing about how one feels about the current state of women in the world, but especially in the US, which is not even the top 100 on equality for women (taken from the book) and make you upset enought to consider other options.
Over all, effective and enjoyable, but not the perfect read.

It was interesting to me to see a shift in the way Marie Wilson talked about women. At first, she seemed to be playing into the stereotypes often weighing down females in the workforce and in politics, but then she began to twist these qualities into a glorification of feminine characteristics and how these qualities can make women great leaders. There was an incredible amount of valid facts and reliable studies as well as numerous examples of strong females in high power positions. These mentions are powerful and inspiring, but also sad because despite all the successful women they are still a small fraction compared to men.
The main point of this book that I enjoyed was that women should stick together and help each other out. So many times we try to back stab each other and compete, but that just brings the gender down as a whole. If we work together, it will be more possible to close the gender gap.
The only critique of the book I have is that for most of my reading I felt Wilson was victimizing women, sort of like a "woe is me" approach. But towards the end, I realized that was not the case but I wish it would have been more clear earlier, and more would have been mentioned about taking action.

Marie C. Wilson's book, Closing the Leadership Gap: Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World pinpoints politics as Feminism's last frontier. One might easily forget the need for Feminism in a world where women CEO's, lawyers and scientists are becoming a norm; but Wilson lets us know that although the doors of business, politics and law have opened to women that doesn't mean women have achieved equal opportunity or equal status with men.

Wilson focuses on the need for women in all levels of government and the current lack of women in positions that can lead to Mayor, Governor or President. She notes that although these positions are open to women, women have several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the typical "image" of a leader is masculine. Another disadvantage is the line drawn between personal and public life. Many businesses are run in a fashion that makes women choose between family and career. Wilson argues that if there were more women "at the top" businesses could become more female friendly and thus merge the lines that divide "family time" and work.

One of the things I love about Marie Wilson is that she loves and values women's unique qualities. Although many Feminists have been slow to acknowledge that men and women are different (for fear that this would indicate women are weaker or less qualified to lead than are men), Wilson explains how women's relational skills make them leaders who are sensitive to the needs of those they are leading. Women also view decisions in light of their impact on the group as a whole. These womanly qualities are "resources" that need to be mined in order to make democracy an institution that is best fit to serve and protect.

The statistics found in the book, although necessary, can become quite cumbersome. There were many times when I felt Wilson should have elaborated more on an anecdote rather than statistics. Some stats do not read well because they are written out of chronological order (Example page 171).

Otherwise, I loved Wilson's energetic and hopeful writing style. Her book is necessary reading for any Feminist. It is also proof that Feminism's work has yet to be done.

This book was really intriguing and so informative. Marie C. Wilson writes in a relatable way and her stories and experiences bring the book to life. If everyone were to read Closing the Leadership Gap the world would be a better place!