Product Description

Women make up almost half of today's labor force, but in corporate America they don't share half of the power. Only four of the Fortune 500 company CEOs are women, and it's only been in the last few years that even half of the Fortune 500 companies have more than one female officer.

A major reason for this? Most women were never taught how to play the game of business.

Throughout her career in the supercompetitive, male-dominated media industry, Gail Evans, one of the country's most powerful executives, has met innumerable women who tell her that they feel lost in the workplace, almost as if they were playing a game without knowing the directions.

She tells them that's exactly the case: Business is indeed a game, and like any game, there are rules to playing well. For the most part, Gail has discovered, women don't know them.

Men know these rules because they wrote them, but women often feel shut out of the process because they don't know when to speak up, when to ask for responsibility, what to say at an interview, and a lot of other key moves that can make or break a career.

Now, in her book Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman, Gail Evans reveals the secrets to the playbook of success and teaches women at all levels of the organization--from assistant to vice president--how to play the game of business to their advantage.

Sharing with humor and candor her years of lessons from corporate life, Gail Evans gives readers practical tools for making the right decisions at work. Among the rules you will learn are:

• How to Keep Score at Work
• When to Take a Risk
• How to Deal with the Imposter Syndrome
• Ten Vocabulary Words That Mean Different Things to Men and Women
• Why Men Can be Ugly, and You Can't
• When to Quit Your Job

Evans is not saying that every woman has to play exactly by men's rules--not at all. Women bring many inherent traits to the workplace that can provide them with a potential advantage over men, such as a woman's ability to form relationships, or her intuition. But women do need to know the basic rules so that they can understand the full consequences of their every action and how it makes an impact on their career.

An honest and practical handbook that reveals important insights into relationships between men and women and work, Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman, is a must-read for every woman who wants to leverage her power in the workplace.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42005 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-11
• Released on: 2001-09-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 191 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780767904636
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
The fact that there are few women occupying top-level positions in corporate America has, for a long time, been blamed on a ubiquitous "glass ceiling." But according to Gail Evans, this is a tired myth implying a woman is a "person-who's-done-to instead of a person-who's-doing." In Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman, CNN's ebullient--and successful--executive vice president puts forth a new thesis: women are not in star positions because they haven't yet learned how to play the game.

The game of business is played on a field where males have been comfortable since they were very young, says Evans. It's a game where winning is the obvious (and only) objective and where aggression, self-promotion, a tough skin, and an effective display of power are the signs of a winner. Women, on the other hand, enter the game disadvantaged, having been taught to be cooperative rather than competitive, to enjoy the process rather than simply the result, and to seek approval rather than assume success. In her entertaining, informative, and practical book, Evans sets out to level the playing field by providing instructions on how men play and by teaching women to play smarter and win on their own terms. In one section, where she offers such advice as "Toot Your Own Horn," "Accept Uncertainty," and "Be an Imposter," Evans presents a common business scenario. She shows the typical male and female responses to it, analyzes the problem with the woman's reaction, and offers advice on what to do differently. Writing in light, accessible prose, Evans supports her observations with both personal and professional anecdotes and covers the gamut of women's experiences on the corporate path. Evans's message is inspiring: women can learn to play the game as well as any man and bring with them a unique set of skills and experiences.

It's impossible to ignore a woman who has reached the top of her profession in a tough business and is still prepared to claim that "everything I ever needed to know about business I learned driving the car pool." --S. Ketchum

Review
"I want to let you women in on a secret I've learned through my years in the corporate world: There is a set of unwritten rules in business and, while you may not choose to follow all of them, if you don't know what they are, you might as well be playing the game with both hands tied behind your back."
--Gail Evans

Praise for Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman:

"[This] book is perfect for any woman looking for a step-by-step guide to becoming just as ruthless?and successful?as her boss."
--USA Today

"It's?The Rules for women on the corporate ladder, a no-nonsense look at what isn?t fair and how to get beyond it."
--Palm Beach Post-Cox News Service

"Gail Evans?has put together a practical, honest, often humorous playbook for career success that every woman (and a few men) should read? Read the book. Learn how to play the game, and win. Men shouldn?t be the only ones having fun."
--Press & Sun -- Review

Review
"I want to let you women in on a secret I've learned through my years in the corporate world: There is a set of unwritten rules in business and, while you may not choose to follow all of them, if you don't know what they are, you might as well be playing the game with both hands tied behind your back."
--Gail Evans

Praise for Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman:

"[This] book is perfect for any woman looking for a step-by-step guide to becoming just as ruthless–and successful–as her boss."
--USA Today

"It's…The Rules for women on the corporate ladder, a no-nonsense look at what isn’t fair and how to get beyond it."
--Palm Beach Post-Cox News Service

"Gail Evans…has put together a practical, honest, often humorous playbook for career success that every woman (and a few men) should read… Read the book. Learn how to play the game, and win. Men shouldn’t be the only ones having fun."
--Press & Sun

Customer Reviews

EVERY DAUGHTER SHOULD GIVE THIS BOOK TO HER MOTHER
If you are a woman and have ever needed a reason to stop taking everything everybody says or does personally, this book says it. This is the guidebook to business that baby-boomer-females-in-the-businessplace never had. Gail Evans has lived what she preaches and speaks in a language women can understand. I was shaking my head "yes" throughout the book, as I recognized my own situation and frustrations in workplace. I knew it had something to do with my gender, but other than pointing the finger of blame at all men, I could not pinpoint what was happening in this male-created domain. I guess I thought I was the only person (read woman) who couldn't figure out the rules for success in the workplace. I also needed to hear the words from a very successful woman who learned by doing. I learned that I can still be a woman, but succeed in the male-created, male-dominated business world, and not feel like an imposter...which is exactly what one of her chapters deals with. You don't have to be a sell-out, but quit taking everything so damn personal....this is business. This is not a book written by a man who thinks he knows what women are thinking. And, it is not a book written by a woman who is so well-connected, or glamorous and beautiful, that you would wonder how she could not be a success in the businessplace. This is a book written by "one of us", and concentrates on exactly why many women struggle so hard to succeed in her job, no matter what that job is. If you are a manager, or a clerk, or anything in between, this book will help you as a female. I am giving a copy of this book to every working woman that I know...with a few exceptions; those who have already figured out the rules. Now I know why they are so successful, and it has nothing to do with their luck and my unluckiness. I feel so much better and unburdened after reading this book. I am going to keep it at my bedside and use it as my affirmation support..."I will not personalize workplace issues...I will not.....".

2 Savvy Ways Women Can Get Ahead
As women we need to educate ourselves about the business and financial worlds. For finances I strongly recommend "SIMPLE MONEY SOLUTIONS: 10 WAYS YOU CAN STOP FEELING OVERWHELEMED BY MONEY AND START MAKING IT WORK FOR YOU," by Nancy Lloyd. Nancy is the personal finance commentator for NPR's Morning Edition, a former Federal Reserve Board Economist and a former IBM executive and tells you the insider secrets that most financial planners will not reveal. It's a quick read but brimming with important and easy-to-follow financial moves. "PLAY LIKE A MAN, WIN LIKE A WOMAN" shows you the insider secrets about how men play in the corporate world. Both books will prepare you and your daughters (or even sons) to make their way in the real world without shooting themselves in the foot.

A Helpful Book for Men to Read!
This book is pitched as one that is helpful for women. I am sure that is the case. Not being a woman, I have to share its benefits from my perspective.

I have been a mentor for many working women, and this book does a nice job of addressing the kinds of issues that the women have brought up with me as well as the ones that I have brought up with them. In the past, I have provided copies of How to Be a Star at Work as a way to assist these women. In the future, I will provide this book, as well.

Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman does an excellent job of explaining how relationships and results need to be balanced at work. That is a juggling act that seems to confuse many women, and I found this book to be accurate and constructive in this area.

Interestingly, I find that a lot of men miss these points, too. I would also recommend this book to male colleagues and subordinates, both to make them more effective and to improve their understanding of how to communicate with female colleagues.

Basically, the book is all about miscommunication and misconception stalls that occur at work, especially the ones that tend to occur among men and women. The book is very effective in exploring those stalls and inproviding sound advice for overcoming the same stalls.

The only weakness I found in the book is that some subtle points about business interactions were missed. A lot of male aggressiveness and bluffing was described as just being acceptable, while the same thing by women is unacceptable. What Ms. Evans missed is that there is usually a kind of kidding humor involved to let everyone know that the aggressor is simply indicating a strong desire to play, backed up by self-confidence. That takes the sting out of the aggressiveness. When some women are aggressive, they often forget to use the kidding humor that makes the aggressiveness tolerable to all.

Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is that it permits the reader to choose her/his own goals (and those may not be material success or power) while adapting the advice to one's own personality and preferences. Basically, any advice we get that suggest we act like the individuals we are is good advice. Well done, Ms. Evans!