Permission to Prosper: What Working Wives Crave from Their Husbands--And How to Get It [Hardcover]

Azriela Jaffe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002

What a difference a husband who encourages and supports your professional ambitions and achievements can make. In reality, though, many women encounter resistance, stress, and even subtle sabotage from their husbands when it comes to career growth. You may wonder, Can I really have it all—a thriving career, a husband who is supportive, and a healthy and terrific marriage and family life? The answer is yes. All you need is permission to prosper.
Permission to prosper? It's simple: Do your husband's words and actions promote, communicate acceptance of, and even celebrate your career successes?
Inside, you'll uncover the secrets to overcoming the difficulties and stresses a dual-career marriage can create between spouses, including the most effective ways to:
·Facilitate your husband's acceptance of your personal and career growth
·Recognize and adjust your behaviors that may trigger negative responses
·Create an environment for mutual development and success, both professional and personal
·Anticipate specific pitfalls in dual-career marriages and avoid their consequences
·Identify spousal sabotage and learn to deal with it effectively
·Thrive in your career and still be committed to your family's needs
·And more
In any marriage that is full of love and respect, permission to prosper granted and received by both husband and wife will lead to a relationship that nurtures deep, spiritual, and stable bonding. By applying the valuable principles in this book, your marriage will be one of support and opportunity, your career will be what you want it to be, and life with your husband will be a source of never-ending encouragement and satisfaction.
"Azriela Jaffe takes a fearless approach to a topic most writers wouldn't dare tackle. Her column at FSB.com is one of our most popular, simply because she is brave enough to discuss what really goes on between married couples." — Elaine Pofeldt, executive editor, Fortune Small Business Online

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Echoing many of the retro values expressed in 1999's The Rules, Jaffe dishes out tips for working wives on how "to lessen your husband's grumpiness and fear, so that you don't have to sacrifice your career for your marriage." The author, a married mother of three, is a motivational speaker and former columnist for Fortune Small Business. She dedicates this book to her husband, a man who she says has enabled her to work with his blessings. How can other career women so inclined get their husbands to do the same? For one thing, there's Jaffe's dress code. At the office, women "should not dress in an overly provocative way." But once home, they should never "kick off the heels and throw on the old... rag that they've been wearing since college before they start cooking dinner." Jaffe's more up-to-date in the "Household Responsibilities and Stress" chapter, in which she cites studies indicating that when it comes to two-career couples, wives usually do more household chores and child rearing than their husbands. She offers commonsense advice on how to motivate unproductive husbands, suggesting, for example, that wives resist the temptation to micromanage their husbands through domestic tasks. Frustrated middle- to upper-middle-class working wives who have the money and the time to buy and read this book may benefit from it. But hardworking couples struggling to make ends meet may find it difficult to relate this advice to their own lives.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

What a sneaky way to approach a relationship self-help book--by disguising it as a work-success guide. Therapist Jaffe starts with the high drama--and tension-- involved in being a working wife, building on the philosophy that a marriage means the interdependence, not independence, of two people. Along the way, there's a lot of good commonsense advice, including overcoming the five forms of husband resistance as well as recognizing your own, listening in a nonstressful fashion as money talks, dealing with kids and burnout, and splitting household responsibilities. An example of a smart suggestion is this: when discussing dollars, timing is essential, as is the avoidance of teasing. Both personal and client stories enliven the lessons; she's marvelously open about including her own child and spouse frustrations as well as solving her own problems. No double talk; just plenty of wisdom. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761563563
• ISBN-13: 978-0761563563
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,961,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Success Comes To Those Who Ask, January 9, 2003

By 

S. D. Haltzman (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Permission to Prosper: What Working Wives Crave from Their Husbands--And How to Get It (Hardcover)

Azriela goes beyond political correctness and leaves the reader with thoughtful perspectives about the struggle for individuality within a marriage. We all want to realize our potential as individuals, but being part of a couple means that unilateral decisions can be harmful to the marriage. The beauty of this book is not in its warnings that "permission" to prosper is necessary for women who join the work force--but rather in its inspirational message that your relationship with your husband can dramatically improve in the process. She gives step-by-step instructions in attaining this goal. Permission to Prosper is well researched, and told lovingly by an author who guides her reader to a better work life and a better love life. Bonus: Introduction by blockbuster author Michelle Weiner-Davis

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A huge help for any working wife!, January 10, 2003

By 

Peter J. Sander (Granite Bay, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Permission to Prosper: What Working Wives Crave from Their Husbands--And How to Get It (Hardcover)

I'll admit that I bought this book with some trepidation... Permission? Who says I might need my husband's "permission" for something?! But after reading it, I agree with Azriela and see that there is much here I could use in my own marriage. True, my husband takes pride in my accomplishments and gives me encouragement. He is delighted by the income that I bring in. But he also expects me to work my career in and around my family obligations in a way that he doesn't feel he has to with his career. And he doesn't always seem comfortable with the idea of business travel that leaves him in charge of the household. I can see we have a lot of communicating to do on these points before he truly "buys in" at a deeper level to the idea of me prospering! Thanks for the insight, Azriela Jaffe!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overcomes self-sabotoging ways we undermine ourselves, March 5, 2003

By 

Paula Langguth (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Permission to Prosper: What Working Wives Crave from Their Husbands--And How to Get It (Hardcover)

I've been working with a lot of salespeople recently on issues of self-sabotoge. All those little ways we undermine our own prosperity. As a result, I began doing a lot of research into the subject, and in the course of my research I stumbled across a new book that takes on a controversial subject: our deep-seated need to have permission to prosper. I knew, when I read this quote from Azriela Jaffe's new book, Permission to Prosper, that this was a book that was destined for greatness:

"To prosper, a woman needs her own permission more than anyone else's."

This book offers up some breakthrough guidance that's applicable to every prospering woman I know -- and the spouses and family members they turn to for support. You may find that this topic brings up a strong emotional reaction in you. Make a note of what comes up for you and keep moving forward toward creating the business, or the career success you truly desire!

I'm positive that Permission to Prosper is the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" of the publishing industry. It won't be long before everyone is talking about it. Here's why:

"Permission to prosper is not about the husband's right to control his wife; it is about the expectation of involvement in the life choices of your spouse, male or female.

"A wife can succeed without her husband's active support, but it's like hiking alone up a mountain with a backpack full of rocks. Wouldn't you rather picture yourself running a marathon while your husband cheers you on from the sidelines, handing you water bottles and snacks along the way and greeting you with a warm hug and a smile at the finish line. If a wife believes that her husband can't endorse her career success, she may unconsciously (or deliberately) sabotage her career, because even in this modern feminist age, most married women value marriage and family over all other aspects of their lives."

Read this book. Then give it to your spouse to read, or simply start implementing the strategies Az gives you -- either way,
you'll create a win-win situation.