Customer Reviews

Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead... But Gutsy Girls Do: Nine Secrets Every Working Woman Must Know

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have worked 25 years in the workforce and now make a tremendous salary. I have 50+ books in my office on management, sales, business and marketing by the leading authors of our time. This is by far, the best book of its kind (targeted to women)on the market today. I wish I had read it 25 years ago! Many women, unfortunately, feel they have to play a "game" to get ahead in business. This book gives us insight to our inner selves and helps us realize we can be true to ourselves - and still WIN in the workplace. Fabulous book!!!!

Hated it! The piece on Julia Roberts was opportunistic and simply proved this woman may well be short on ethics and long on selling hype. Those who chose to overlook what is awful about this book are the very people the author is seeking.
Not my cup of tea! Hope my review was gutsy enough!

...you won't get a chance to read. Every woman who passes will want to stop and talk about it. This is the best book for a woman working in a man's world since "Games Mother Never Taught You". Kate White's breezy and readable text, chock full of real-life examples, makes her seem like a big sister who's finally telling you the good stuff. Juicy tidbits like "No, You Absolutely Do Not Have To Act Like A Man", "The Guy Secret of Never Taking Things Personally", and "The Hollywood Starlet Trick Even You Can Use" make this one of the few non-fiction books that has ever asserted its place on the top of my "to read" pile until it was finished

I was just out of college when my friend's mother gave me this book. My friend and I rolled our eyes - we were *definitely* not self-help-book readers. I still am not. But many times over the past ten years I have referenced this book in conversations with friends. I have found myself applying many of the tips that Ms. White provides. You don't have to be a hyper-ambitious, ladder-climbing corporate professional to get something out of this book. Among the tenets that have stood out to me over the years are:

-Don't always need to be liked
-Don't smile too easily
-Don't apologize too quickly
-Don't clean up after other colleagues (especially men)
-Don't be a perfectionist at the expense of innovative thinking or getting things done

Simply the notion that men and women (in broad strokes, at least) behave differently and are treated differently in the workplace was a novel idea to me, coming out of a liberal arts college during the mid-1990s. Reading this book gave me an awareness that everyone needs. Obviously, no one book will apply perfectly to each of us, so you can't go looking for that. But do look to this book for many useful ways of seeing the professional world and your own role in it.

This book revolves around two premises: Good Girls please others, Gutsy Girls please themselves. Whatever happened to focusing on results and what needs to be done at work? An effective person, male or female, doesn't matter which, focuses on the tasks and strategies that advance the business' objectives instead of playing gamesmanship (or in this case, gameswomanship) with others. Ms. White makes it sound so droll to be a "good girl" and denigrates her to no end, when in reality she is portraying a doormat straw-woman so that she can contrast with her "gutsy girl" persona who doesn't give a hoot about anyone but how she can get ahead and elbow her way to the top. Modern business relies on teamwork and collaboration, and such a self-centered approach will not get the best long term results.

Some of this book is abhorrent. So why do I give it five stars? Because the stuff that is worthwhile is fantastic. So I sighed at the silly stuff and let the rest help improve my life.

This is a guidebook for working women who believe that they are being held back in the workplace. A glass ceiling for women is not in place because of male management, according to Kate White. Rather, she maintains, women create their own glass ceiling because of their good-girl personalities. In nine steps, she details how a good girl can become a gutsy girl. Gutsy girls break through the glass ceiling and get what they want from the organization. This is an important book for any woman who wants to rise to upper management in a corporation. Men, too, can learn ways to be more aggressive at work. We from getAbstract recommend this book for anyone who wants a strong dose of workplace reality.

"Gutsy Girls" has become the foundation of my career strategy. Kate White's style is very readable, laced with wit and practicality. The real-life examples illustrating her basic concepts drive home simple yet powerful points. I raced through this book and have re-read parts of it since. I'm giving copies to my sisters and several work colleagues snapped it up as well. With "Games Mother Never Taught You" as a precursor and "Hardball for Women" as a follow-up, these three books are required reading for any woman wanting to succeed in her career.

I rarely finish self-help/inspirational books - in fact, I've only ever read a single one ("Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway") from cover to cover. Kate White changed that with her "Gutsy Girls" book. I adored this book - not only did I finish it, I have read some chapters multiple times. I highly recommend this book to any woman who works in the corporate world. I had no idea what a "good girl" I was until I read this and now see some of the ways that I have held myself back. This book is more than an inspirational read - it gives you specific guidance on how to handle yourself at work so that you'll rise to the top of the pack. Get it - I am buying copies right now for 2 friends!

I highly recommend this book. I am a classic "Good Girl" and found confirmation of a lot of stuff I had always suspected (like, they'll always promote the person with the great wardrobe rather than the hardworking, talented one). I think Ms. White's advice strikes a nice balance between being tough and assertive but at the same time being diplomatic and avoiding bitchiness. It was also entertaining to read the behind-the-scenes stuff at magazines like Glamour, Working Woman and McCall's.