Nice girls dont get the corner office is a big corner of negativity. If you want to feel aweful just give this CD a listen. Lois Frankel put me to sleep. She sounds like the the unseen teacher in the charlie brown series. "Mistake number 6854984742 dont pick your nose the board room...wah wah wah." Terrible. Dont waste your money. Try Tom Hopkins advanced sales survival training CD#2 hilarious, uplifting and helpful to all.

I hadn't realized just how many things I was doing on a daily basis that were keeping me from acheiving my full potential at work. Some things in this book applied to me, others did not, but I have learned what I have been doing that is holding me back from moving forward at work and am working on changing those bad habits. A MUST READ for every professional woman.

As a father of two toddler daughters, I read Dr. Frankel's book to open my mind to ways I could avoid instilling in them unhelpful behaviors. I found a well thought out list of workable suggestions focussed mostly on a few central topics - better communication and ways to play "the game" without merely adopting behaviors typical to men. This book does not make judgments about how the business world operates mainly according to historically male behavior. Rather, it focuses on how to work within this world without changing who you are.

Some of the suggestions were definitely simplistic ("have a firm handshake") while others were more involved (defining your "personal brand" and promoting it to others). Mostly they were common sense business tactics and strategies for self marketing that one could find in countless business self-help books. Indeed, I found several helpful suggestions that I felt were applicable to myself. Overall, much of the advice could have been pulled from a bigger picture course for men and women on how to interact more effectively in the workplace.

In Dr. Frankel's book this information is obviously presented from a woman's perspective. She states in the first pages of the book that not all points will apply to any one person, that the way to use the book is to select those behaviors that are the biggest hindrances to the reader's advancement and then follow her advice to change those behaviors. She makes an attempt not to suggest women act like men, but rather "quit bein' a girl".

The tone can sometimes feel condescending which will be off-putting to some readers, but if one looks past this there is a range of good advice covering many topics. Dr. Frankel's frequent use of anecdotes from her consulting career serves to make the book readable without feeling like a textbook or list of action items.

I believe many women would find this book helpful in identifying and modifying behavior that is giving others the wrong impression of who they are or even masking their true capabilities. Men, too, can find new ways to understand women's behavior and hopefully achieve greater communication through that understanding. As a father I feel more aware of some things to focus on or avoid as I raise my daughters. This book will not feel useful to everyone, but for those who approach it with an open mind it can provide new insight into business relationships between the sexes.

I use this book all the time in my life leadership coaching with women whether they work in corporations or they're entrepreneurs because for women to succeed anywhere they have to grow to overcome their own self-limiting behaviors and beliefs.

What I love about this book is how clearly the 101 mistakes are organized under 7 broad areas. I am not big on quizzes because they often stop at only giving information. That is not the case here. Instead the author has created a quiz that very easily identifies and ranks an individual woman's 7 areas from strong to weak. Then once a woman identifies the two or three areas she's weakest she can read the chapters and further focus in on which of the mistakes she makes. The coaching tips and simple exercises at the end of each mistake support practice and self-improvement.

Every time I've used this quiz with clients they have benefited from the clarity and direction. This is one of the best thought out and useful books for self-employed women, managers and executives I have ever seen or used. To step up as leaders of their lives women must get to know and change self-defeating behaviors. Nice Girls can help get them started.

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Every woman should read this book. The assessment gives you a starting point and you won't need to read every page...just those that apply. Everything else is a bonus. I swear! The material will enlighten you and stick with you years after you've read it. Practice will make it stick. I've given this book as gifts. Even if you are not ready to apply yourself to practice, just recognizing how you are perceived is worth it. Buy this book and read it today! It's not about becoming an overachieving "B" and man hater; it's about learning to play the game.