Hardball for Women: Winning at the Game of Business [Paperback]

Pat Heim (Author), Susan K. Golant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1993

This guide to professional success for women explains how to be assertive, how to use verbal and non-verbal cues, how to engage in smart self-promotion, and other tips on getting ahead. Reprint. 40,000 first printing. Tour. LJ.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this constructive, no-nonsense guide, business consultant Heim addresses women executives who, despite technical proficiency, hard work and managerial skills equal or superior to those of their male co-workers, have been passed over for promotions. With Golant ( No More Hysterectomies ), she stresses the need for women to study the sports-modeled, competitive culture of men, focused on money and status, and to learn to work according to its rules without betraying their "inner selves." Using sports jargon and examples, she advises such techniques as attacking a problem--not the person responsible--adhering to team goals and accepting criticism from a "coach." She also offers valuable tips on positive body language (no tears), dressing and more, and reminds women that "in a man's world--as in sports--winning is all that matters."
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The game of business (and here you can substitute any profession) is hardball, played according to the rules of the male culture. Heim acts as an interpreter, explaining the different behaviors and mind-sets boys and girls learn and carry into their lives as adult men and women. For example, boys learn to compete; girls learn to get along. Each chapter begins with a summary of the hardball lessons boys learn and the house-and-doll lessons girls learn and concludes with key pointers for playing hardball successfully. Concepts are illustrated with compelling real-life examples. This landmark work will likely become essential reading for professional women everywhere. At the same time, it offers men considerable insight into the strengths and contributions of the female culture. Highly recommended.
- Nancy Myers, Univ. of South Dakota Lib., Vermillion
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Plume (September 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452270804
• ISBN-13: 978-0452270800
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,151,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Want to Be a Successful Businesswoman, Read This!!, August 11, 2000

By 

Rachel Hancock (Vail, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardball for Women: Winning at the Game of Business (Paperback)

This book was recommended to me during my first year of MBA school when I was trying to understand the men I was forced to work with and their seemingly impossible behavior. It unravels the game of office politics and sets forth an achievable and sensible set of behaviors to guide all working women on the path to success. Now after having acheived my second promotion in two years post-MBA working in a male-dominated industry, I credit much of my success to playing by the rules of the game of business as set forth in this book (being an avid golfer doesn't hurt, either!) The rules are designed by men and based on the rules of their childhood games, rather than ours. Neither way is better, it's just different, and in order to survive in the business world and be successful it is imperative that women understand the rules of the game in order to be effective players. Your mother doesn't teach you these rules, neither do MBA professors nor your male colleagues. You must get this valuable information from somewhere, and this book is an excellent resource. This book is my work "bible" and I find myself referring to it often depending upon the particular work challenge I'm facing at the time. Kudos to Pat Heim. No working woman who aspires to be successful in business should be without this valuable and insightful guidebook to a man's world.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gender Insight, December 8, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hardball for Women: Winning at the Game of Business (Paperback)

I read Hardball for Women in 1995, when I was a manager at a very large Fortune 500. The book was recommended by a VP -- now I am one. I highly recommend this book not only because it gives one insight into a businessman's world, but more importantly, a woman's. Most woman managers already know how to suceed in a male dominated business -- its dealing with other woman, particulary those at a lower level, that can be painfully difficult. The book's most critical message is that woman are raised to keep the playing field level -- men are not. Moreover, men view work as a game with structure and rules, ever vegilant to keep their own sucess in the forefront. If you don't think there is merit to gendar differances, the next time you negoatite salary with a man, note the differences from negotiating with a woman -- a man will ask you for more money at least 7 times before he even considers the offer - a woman will ask twice, if at all. I highly recommend this book, and I plan to keep passing it along to other women.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes the Scales off your Eyes - Now I see what's happening, February 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hardball for Women: Winning at the Game of Business (Paperback)

As women we view the world through what our childhood games and expectatations have taught us. Pat Heim does a great job of opening our eyes to how the "boys" view the world. Since men have shaped the business world like their childhood games, it makes a lot of sense that women have to be aware of the unwritten rules. One of the most important eye-openers to me had to do with hierarchy and winning in contrast with "let's-all-get-along" and consensus. No wonder women get mired at the middle management level, and as managers are viewed as mother figures or babysitters. Any woman who wants to penetrate the higher echelons of management needs to understand the dynamics portrayed in this book. This book is vastly superior to "Games Mother Never Taught You", because it does not tell women to be just like men, but rather to adapt the game to our own unique advantages while being aware of how the boys do it.