Womenomics: Work Less, Achieve More, Live Better [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Claire Shipman (Author), Katty Kay (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 29, 2010

Finally, here is a book that gets to the heart of what professional women want. Like most of us, you've had enough of the sixty-hour workweeks, the day-care dash, and the vacations that never get taken. You want to work, but on your own terms and in ways that make it possible to have a life as well.

In Womenomics, journalists Shipman and Kay provide a fresh perspective on the largely hidden power that women have in today's marketplace. Inspiring, practical, and persuasive, Womenomics offers a groundbreaking blueprint for changing the way you live and work—with advice, guidance, and fact-based support that show how you don't have to do it all to have it all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Want to work less but achieve more? Coauthors Shipman and Kay argue that this is possible and desirable for women who like their jobs, but are tired of logging 60-hour work weeks and sneaking out to catch their children's Christmas plays during school hours. Kay and Shipman open the audiobook themselves by reading their introduction. Both women are broadcast journalists very experienced in narration. Why, then, do these talented women surrender the rest of the book to a third party? Gabra Zackman does a credible job with the remaining chapters, but her soothing tone seems out of place, and she has to begin alternating sections by announcing which author wrote them—a problem that didn't exist in the introduction, when both authors simply read their own material. Despite strong content, the delivery falls flat. A Collins Business hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 16). (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

“Womenomics describes the workplace trend that finally makes it possible for women to be successful and sane at the same time. And happily, it’s a recession-friendly formula. (Tina Brown, founder, The Daily Beast )

“Employers should be listening to what talented women want and use this book to hold up their end of the bargain, so that the best and brightest can have both a job and a life.” (Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, and author of Confidence )

“Shipman and Kay have issued a rallying cry for women that is also a wake-up call for men. Our wives, daughters, sisters, and mothers are reshaping business as we know it. And that can make us all better off.” (Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind )

“Every woman who’s ever been knocked off course in the quest to have the elusive ‘all’ should run out and buy this book today!” (Dee Dee Myers, former White House press secretary and author of Why Women Should Rule the World )

“A personal, provocative and challenging book for career women who want less guilt, more life.” (Diane Sawyer )

“Buy a copy of Womenomics for yourself, your best friend, your daughter, your star employee, and even your boss.” (Cathie Black, president, Hearst Magazines and author of Basic Black )

“Womenomics makes a compelling statement about the financial impact women can have in the workplace and offers valuable ideas for capitalizing on this trend, even in this economic climate.” (Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook )

“Without wasted words, Shipman and Kay provide practical suggestions for how you can take charge of your career with courage and confidence.” (Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D., author of Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 1 Reprint edition (June 29, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061697192
• ASIN: B004TE6X2C
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #986,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for the savvy women executive May 31, 2009

By Dr Cathy Goodwin TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Womenomics is based on the premise that women are demanding new rules of engagement with the corporate world. Women achievers are not willing to sacrifice family and freedom. But many don't know how to go about negotiating for what they want, say the authors. They have to overcome their own guilt and fear, so they can ask for what they want.

The book's advice seems entirely sound and appropriate for senior women executives in many fields. The authors refer to women in politics, media, finance and other industries. They suggest very specific strategies to negotiate for a desirable work schedule. The best part of the book demonstrates what happens when companies stop worrying about face time and focus exclusively on results. Just about everyone who works for an organization has tales of useless meetings and absurd ideas about what constitutes work.

However, I will be interested to see if female executives find the book helpful. As a sometime career consultant, I believe that implementing these strategies calls for strong corporate political skills. You have to know just how and when to make your pitch. The women we meet here have demonstrated their ability to contribute uniquely to their organizations. Many hold competing offers so they're in very strong positions.

I'd also like to see more discussions of the trade-offs involved Turning down a lifetime opportunity to enjoy your child's first day at school may seem like a no-brainer. Later those opportunities may be gone and the world looks different when you're ten years older. Regrets go both ways.

Ultimately, I'm concerned that Womenomics suggests that only married women with children face challenges of juggling work and personal life. Increasingly both men and women are resisting corporate demands and more of us are living in one-person households. Companies that claim to be family-friendly often expect single people to take up the overflow. Many corporate executives (both male and female) will understand when you say, "I want to see my son's soccer game." Meanwhile the components of a single person's life can seem frivolous and unnecessary, yet single people need time to develop and maintain networks of personal and social support.

The authors do not mention the trade-offs that take place in family-friendly workplaces. To take just one example, a female college professor negotiated for a teaching schedule that would allow her to be home by early afternoon, when her kids got home from school. Since there are only so many classrooms and time slots, someone else had to accept a less desirable schedule to accommodate her needs.

So bottom line: The book's advice seems sound, although I wonder if a strong, successful corporate women will need to read this book to figure out how to get what she wants. And I'm all in favor of family-friendly workplace policies, as long as we remember that some families consist of just one person and maybe a dog.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Sounds nice but... June 21, 2009

By Rushmore TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The timing of this book's release is unfortunate. Women who work for more traditional companies and are somewhat desperate to keep their jobs don't think about carving out time for themselves. They want more hours. They don't want to make waves.

The authors are powerful and prominent women in a relatively creative environment. They have the luxury to seek balance in their work and personal lives. Also, many of the women profiled in this book can negotiate from a position of strength with their employers. The reality for many of us who work in more prosaic industries, whose companies see their top and bottom lines dwindling, in workplaces where layoffs have taken place or could at any time, is that we are grateful to have a job to come to, and we are not writing our own tickets. The sad part is that many women probably do pick up this book hoping for a magic bullet, only to discover that it might as well be fiction. It's not about us.

The authors do make an ineffective argument that their strategy is suited to hard times as well as boom times. Also, to their credit, their underlying message that all women do valuable work is important. However, it is not groundbreaking and not particularly convincing. If this book had come out in rosier financial times, it would have a much different impact. Instead, the authors seem out of touch and only remind many of us what we can't have. Not a message we need to hear right now.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars For working mothers September 2, 2009

By Alexandra B. Adams

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is for working mothers not really for working women. I was so disapointed in this book! I do not have kids and did not feel like this was applicable to my life at all. Here's the big mystery solved: if you have kids, your career won't/can't be first. Wow. Really? If you didn't know that you should NOT be having children.