What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You: Advice from Senior Female Executives on What You Need to Succeed [Paperback]

Pamela F. Lenehan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2006

To move ahead in your career you need to be concerned about many issues that are not taught in school or the company handbook. What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You covers a wide range of topics explored candidly by experienced female executives who learned how to navigate the unspoken and often debilitating rules of corporate life. This book will show you how to actively manage your career, communicate in the language of business, find leadership opportunities and good mentors, and develop a personal style that projects confidence and competence. The book also shows how you can handle the nuances of dating, emotions, and office politics, how to understand the rigors and rules of business travel, and ways to balance work and family comfortably. Unlike other books geared toward women on how to succeed in corporate life, What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You offers specific advice from a group of successful female executives that will help empower women to take charge of their careers, instead of letting their careers take charge of them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Pamela F. Lenehan is President of Ridge Hill Consulting, a strategy consulting firm based in Needham, Massachusetts. Her career in financial services spans over 20 years, including the position of Managing Director in Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston. Lenehan is active on many corporate boards and committees, including Avid Technology and Spartech Corporation. She has a BA in Mathematical Economics and a MA in Economics from Brown University. She and her husband have four adult children and live in Needham, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: Syren Book Company (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929636597
• ISBN-13: 978-0929636597
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #914,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you're entering the workplace, March 23, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You: Advice from Senior Female Executives on What You Need to Succeed (Paperback)

Drawing from her 30 years of business experience and personal interviews with 35 women executives, Pamela Lenehan offers a practical perspective on the "unwritten rules" for getting ahead in the corporate workplace.

Lenehan shares helpful advice for career novices by acknowledging that career management is a personal responsibility. One has to rely on more than just hard work in order to get ahead. A successful professional must also balance the sound use of self-promotion, good communication, personal leadership, relationship building, and a solid understanding of the corporate culture. Workplace hazards such as dating co-workers, emotional displays, attire, business travel and worklife balance are also covered adequately in subsequent chapters.

While the book helps readers navigate the turbulent waters of corporate politics and relationships in the workplace, the author's repetitive use of quotes and qualitative approach to the research made it difficult for me to follow the logic in her arguments. I found myself putting the book aside often, attempting to make sense of how the quotations and experiences of these unknown women Lenehan interviewed had relevance for me personally.

At times, language like "a significant minority of the women... confused me since significant minority seems like a contradiction. Although the takeaways nicely summarize the content, I found the "career-limiting moves" unnecessarily restrictive when they cautioned the reader to "never" take certain actions.

In a time where organizations are struggling to attract and retain good employees, it will be interesting to see if the same rules the author discusses in her book will apply in the future, particularly as diversity and inclusiveness rise in importance. Will multicultural employees have to change in order to "fit in" to corporate cultures, possibly losing the precious perspective they offer? Or, will companies change their cultures to truly embrace the value diversity brings rather than expecting talented employees to always "play by the rules"?

Regardless of what the future holds, this book provides valuable insights and suggestions for career management and planning in today's job market.

Armchair Interviews recommends this book for those who are just entering the workplace and desiring to fit into a corporate culture.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent primer for young corporate workers, June 14, 2009

By 

Diverse "bobh" (Glendale, WI, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You: Advice from Senior Female Executives on What You Need to Succeed (Paperback)

Very good overview of the political and soft-side of corporate success.
Often, graduates come out of university thinking they know the inefficiencies and silliness of corporate life. Maybe their professors have given them this info. Well, you need to rethink that approach.
Read this book, and put this strategies into place. I've seen them work for decades.
The writing style is excellent: clear, succinct and to the point.
For both men and women.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expert Advice from Those Who Know, March 12, 2006

By 

Susan Farrell (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You: Advice from Senior Female Executives on What You Need to Succeed (Paperback)

This easy-to-read book is the bible of what you need to know as a younger woman - or man - in the business world. Filled with great advice from senior executives, it provides lessons learned which remind us all what we should, and should not, do to succeed. I am sending it to colleagues and friends as gifts!