Product Description

Now in Currency paperback -- Sally Helgesen's  classic study of female leaders and how their  strategies represent a highly successful revision of male  leadership styles. Sixty thousand copies in print!  In her bestselling 1990 book, Sally Helgesen  discovered that men and women approach work in  fundamentally different ways. Many of these differences  hold distinct advantages for women, who excel at  running organizations that foster creativity,  cooperation, and intuitive decision-making power,  necessities for companies of the twenty-first century.  Helgesen's findings reveal that organizations run by  women do not take the form of the traditional  hierarchical pyranaid, but more closely resemble a  web, where leaders reach out, not down, to form an  interrelating matrix built around a central purpose.  The strategy of the web concentrates power at the  center by drawing others closer and by creating  communities where information sharing is essential.  She presents her findings through unique, closely  detailed accounts of four successful women  business leaders -- Frances Hesselbein of Girl Scouts  USA, Barbara Grogan of Western Industrial  Contractors, Nancy Badore of Ford Motor Company's Executive  Development Center, and Dorothy Brunson of Brunson  Communications. Helgesen observes their meetings,  listens to their phone calls and conferences, and  reads their correspondence. Her "diary  studies" document how women leaders make decisions,  schedule their days, gather and disperse  information, motivate others, delegate tasks, structure  their companies, hire, and fire. She chronicles how  their experiences as women -- wives, mothers,  friends, sisters, daughters -- contribute to their  leadership style.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #260306 in Books
• Published on: 1995-04-01
• Released on: 1995-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From AudioFile
This program begins and ends with a dense, but highly articulate, account of how women's psychological, social and communication skills help them succeed as leaders in complex organizations. Between these analytical sections, Helgesen describes the daily activities of four female executives and how they achieved success by being women, rather than molding themselves to the model of the male business culture. The author, a master storyteller and illustrator of complex ideas, reads with gentle authority. The flawless recording quality and simple organization allow the listener to enjoy, digest and appreciate these ideas over many listenings. T.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher
Now in Currency paperback -- Sally Helgesen's classic study of female leaders and how their strategies represent a highly successful revision of male leadership styles. Sixty thousand copies in print! In her bestselling 1990 book, Sally Helgesen discovered that men and women approach work in fundamentally different ways. Many of these differences hold distinct advantages for women, who excel at running organizations that foster creativity, cooperation, and intuitive decision-making power, necessities for companies of the twenty-first century. Helgesen's findings reveal that organizations run by women do not take the form of the traditional hierarchical pyranaid, but more closely resemble a web, where leaders reach out, not down, to form an interrelating matrix built around a central purpose. The strategy of the web concentrates power at the center by drawing others closer and by creating communities where information sharing is essential. She presents her findings through unique, closely detailed accounts of four successful women business leaders -- Frances Hesselbein of Girl Scouts USA, Barbara Grogan of Western Industrial Contractors, Nancy Badore of Ford Motor Company's Executive Development Center, and Dorothy Brunson of Brunson Communications. Helgesen observes their meetings, listens to their phone calls and conferences, and reads their correspondence. Her "diary studies" document how women leaders make decisions, schedule their days, gather and disperse information, motivate others, delegate tasks, structure their companies, hire, and fire. She chronicles how their experiences as women -- wives, mothers, friends, sisters, daughters -- contribute to their leadership style.

Inside Flap Copy
Now in Currency paperback -- Sally Helgesen's  classic study of female leaders and how their  strategies represent a highly successful revision of male  leadership styles. Sixty thousand copies in print!  In her bestselling 1990 book, Sally Helgesen  discovered that men and women approach work in  fundamentally different ways. Many of these differences  hold distinct advantages for women, who excel at  running organizations that foster creativity,  cooperation, and intuitive decision-making power,  necessities for companies of the twenty-first century.  Helgesen's findings reveal that organizations run by  women do not take the form of the traditional  hierarchical pyranaid, but more closely resemble a  web, where leaders reach out, not down, to form an  interrelating matrix built around a central purpose.  The strategy of the web concentrates power at the  center by drawing others closer and by creating  communities where information sharing is essential.  She presents her findings through unique, closely  detailed accounts of four successful women  business leaders -- Frances Hesselbein of Girl Scouts  USA, Barbara Grogan of Western Industrial  Contractors, Nancy Badore of Ford Motor Company's Executive  Development Center, and Dorothy Brunson of Brunson  Communications. Helgesen observes their meetings,  listens to their phone calls and conferences, and  reads their correspondence. Her "diary  studies" document how women leaders make decisions,  schedule their days, gather and disperse  information, motivate others, delegate tasks, structure  their companies, hire, and fire. She chronicles how  their experiences as women -- wives, mothers,  friends, sisters, daughters -- contribute to their  leadership style.

Customer Reviews

women as leaders
This carefully conducted research study of how women manage and how women lead provides a baseline for similar studies that follow. Women really do manage and lead differently, and that difference enriches the workplace. I am using this as one of the texts in a web based graduate course focusing on leadership that I am teaching. There are leadership lessons for everyone here.

A Woman's Touch: Feminine Principles in the Technological Age
The Female Advantage by Sally Helgesen is an insightful and interesting book that questions the efficiency of the standard corporate hierarchal structure. She notes that the business world has evolved significantly since the 1970s, when sports metaphors abounded and the goal was to crush human competition. As we've moved from an industrial age to a technological age, Helgesen interprets the modern business world as needing to rely less upon an "authoritarian chain of command" and more on an innovative, people-centric view in order to survive in the rapidly changing technological age.
Instead of stopping at mere criticism of the existing system, Helgesen offers a plan for the future: the "web of inclusion". This idea of a "web" rather than a hierarchy came about after extensive research into the leadership styles of women, who are increasingly entering upper-echelon positions in the business world. Helgesen focuses the majority of her research on "diary studies" of four influential female business leaders: Frances Hesselbein, chief executive of the Girl Scouts of America; Nancy Badore, director of Ford Motor Company's Executive Development Center; Dorothy Brunson, a minority owner of several radio and television stations; and Barbara Grogan, president of an industrial contracting company. Helgesen attributes the success of each of these women in their individual sectors to their use of feminine principles: a desire to strengthen interpersonal relationships, treat everyone with respect, share information, and think in terms of the larger group.
At the center of this revolution of "female principles" is the idea of the "web of inclusion", modeled after a spider's web. This management structure is at direct odds with the traditional hierarchal structure in that the leader of the organization is not "alone at the top", she is right in the middle of everything, "reaching out rather than reaching down". This kind of managerial construction eliminates jockeying for position as there is no up or down, just different spots. In addition, its very nature requires closer relationships between the members of the organization. Whereas in a hierarchal organization information would flow in a limited manner from the top down and a chain of command would be imperative, the web functions more democratically, with everyone being connected through the symbolic threads of the spider web. Thus a leader in the web draws her power from being close to her employees, rather than from keeping them at a distance, as in the standard hierarchal model. The "web of inclusion", then, empowers employees by making them part of a cohesive group, as well as streamlines the everyday workings of a business by eliminating cumbersome chains of command and enabling more direct and productive communication.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in business, feminism, or communication, as well as anyone just looking for something new to read. Helgesen's conversational yet informative book is a fast read sure to spark spirited conversation around the dinner table or water cooler, as well as being an asset to any business or academic course on leadership.

Time for a Second Look
You may have read this book in 1990, when it first came out, as I did. It's worth another look now, if only for chapter 9 - Reconciling the Efficient and the Humane. In the 90's, some of us speculated that the future of leadership would come from the skills women have posessed for generations. As we look for ways to integrate the human element back into the workplace, as we read books on Emotional Intelligence and Resonant Leadership, it's time to acknowledge Helgesen's foresight. What did she tell us we needed back then? She started with an ambience that represented a different set of values. Next, listening, followed by collaborative negotiation. She foresaw what she terms the end of the warrior age.
Helgesen's interviews are as interesting today - and as fresh - as they were when the book was first published. We may have heard this message a few times by now, but I don't think it will ever get old.