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How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work and Life Kindle Edition

by Joanna Barsh (Author), Susie Cranston (Author), Geoffrey Lewis (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 264 ratings
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The Remarkable discoveries about what drives and sustains successful women leaders.

Based on five years of proprietary research, How Remarkable Women Lead speaks to you as no other book has, with its hopeful outlook and unique ideas about success. It's the new "right stuff" of leadership, raising provocative issues such as whether feminine leadership traits (for women and men) are better suited for our fast-changing, hyper-competitive, and increasingly complex world.

The authors, McKinsey & Company consultants Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston, establish the links between joy, happiness, and distinctive performance with the groundbreaking model of Centered Leadership.

The book's personal stories and related insights show you the magic that happens when you put the five elements of Centered Leadership–meaning, framing, connecting, engaging, and energizing–to work. They include:

• How Alondra de la Parra built on her strengths and passions to infuse her life with meaning and make her way in the male-dominated world of orchestra conducting
• How Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon, avoided a downward spiral when the company turned down by "firing herself" on Friday and re-emerging on Monday as the "new" turnaround CEO
• How Ruth Porat's sponsors at Morgan Stanley not only helped her grow but were also her ballast for coping with difficult personal and professional times
•How Eileen Naughton recovered after losing her dream job, landing on her feet at Google and open to a new leadership opportunity
• How Julie Coates of Woolworth's Australia makes energy key to her professional success, with reserves for her "second shift" as wife and mother

How Remarkable Women Lead is both profoundly moving and actionable. Woman or man, you'll find yourself in its pages and emerge with a practical plan for breaking through at both work and in life.
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  1. Print length
    370 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Crown Currency
  5. Publication date
    September 22, 2009
  6. File size
    5142 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"How Remarkable Women Lead offers some interesting ideas, such as learning to frame events in a positive light and to adapt to setbacks with optimism rather than self-doubt and pessimism. But some of the book's interviews with top executives—like Avon's Andrea Jung, Xerox's Anne Mulcahy and former Qantas chairman Margaret Jackson—are long on platitudes and short on the details of how these business leaders handled various challenges."--The Wall Street Journal


"We are always looking for new perspectives on growing great women leaders. How Remarkable Women Lead is a great read, with real insights and actionable ideas! The inspiring stories give an intimate look at how remarkable women really get things done, providing a development model valuable to both women and men. This refreshing and action-oriented book stands out!"
—Susan P. Peters, vice president, executive development and chief learning officer, General Electric

"What makes this book singular and valuable is its wide-lens focus on the personal qualities that lead to exemplary leadership. Don't be taken in by the title: men have as much to learn from this book as women."
—Warren Bennis, distinguished professor of Business Administration and university professor, University of Southern California, and author of On Becoming a Leader

"Here are the stories of amazing women leaders in the context of an imaginative and pragmatic framework that rests on a rich fact base. It puts to rest stereotypes we have about who leaders are and how to lead. The seeds for our future are in here. The new CEO is a woman or a man who is not afraid to drop the John Wayne costume."
—Gary Hamel, author of The Future of Management and Leading the Revolution

"How Remarkable Women Lead is a book that will truly resonate with all women. It is personal, powerful, and revealing and thereby true to how we women live and le...

About the Author

Pam Ward has performed in dinner theater, summer stock, and Off-Broadway, as well as in commercials, radio, and film. An experienced narrator, Pam has recorded many titles for the Library of Congress Talking Books program. She is the recipient of an AudioFile Earphones Award and the prestigious Alexander Scourby Award.

Susie Cranston, co-author of How Remarkable Women Lead, is an organization consultant at McKinsey & Company's San Francisco office.

Geoffrey Lewis, coauthor of How Remarkable Women Lead, is a journalist and editor.

Joanna Barsh, coauthor of How Remarkable Women Lead, is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and leader of the McKinsey Centered Leadership Project.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002PYFWAW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown Currency; Reprint edition (September 22, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 22, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5142 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 370 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 264 ratings

About the author

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Joanna Barsh

Joanna Barsh

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Director Emerita at McKinsey & Company after 30+ years, Joanna Barsh is also the best-selling author of "How Remarkable Women Lead" and "Centered Leadership," which is the companion piece that teaches you the skills, tools, and practices to lead remarkably. Joanna created and launched The Centered Leadership Project in 2008 at McKinsey & Company in collaboration with dozens of colleagues to accelerate development of aspiring leaders.

In 2015, Joanna embarked on new research to explore how high performing, high potential younger professionals face challenges at work. Her groundbreaking new book, "Grow Wherever You Work" will be published in October, 2017. It includes the real-world stories of rising leaders, Joanna's hard-nosed advice, and concrete actions to turn your own work challenges into accelerated growth.

Joanna is a strong advocate for women. Invited by Mayor Bloomberg, Joanna served on NYC's Commission on Women's Issues from 2002 to 2013. She led seminal research on unlocking the potential of women for The Wall Street Journal's Women in the Economy Task Force in 2011 and 2012 and for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2013. She has spoken with many business and government leaders on women's advancement, including Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. Co-chair of the Leadership Working Group of the U.S. State Department's International Council on Women's Business Leadership, Joanna helped launch a program to develop women leaders globally.

Joanna holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

Bold Consumer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Thoughtful Book That Is Worth The Time Spent Reading It
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2010
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The more I got into this book, the better it got. Toward the end I didn't want to put it down. I found myself reaching for my highlighter, a sure sign that there was good information there that I don't want to lose.

Some chapters in this book didn't really reach out and grab me, because they better apply to women starting out in their careers. I found a chapter that not only reached out and grabbed me, but it shouted at me! I suspect that most women will find something worthwhile in this book, even if not every chapter applies. I found a technique that I hope will help me avoid one of my problematic habits.

In addition to my problem section, which I will not share here, <grin>, I particularly enjoyed the chapter on making your own luck. "The core lesson in engaging is taking charge and making things happen for yourself." That's an improvement over what seems to be the trend, especially since the internet, message boards, etc., where everyone plays the victim. "This is what was done to me" and "How dare you tell me I should take responsibility for myself when these people have mistreated me." The author tells us we have to recognize what we want and then take steps to get it. You have to take a few risks, and before you do, you need to "know what you know and what you don't know."

There are stories and excellent quotes throughout the book from leaders, women and men, to illustrate the points the author is making.

Adapting To The New Realities is a section I would like to recommend along with the Stepping up to Lead. "You can manage a lot of people, but to lead you have to inspire, not intimidate. Have passion and compassion." Then I was delighted with the section on "Energy in Your Toolkit" where an example was given of treating your energy as an asset that you invest and grow. The information on how to "Minimize the Drains" on your energy is right on target. Having boundaries. What an interesting idea! OUCH! The comment also got me about a Pavlovian reaction to your phone ringing and fragmenting your time through ongoing e-mailing, texting, and phonecalls causing you to lose concentration and lose control of your schedule. I DO allow others to highjack my time on things that may be far less important. Urgent is not important. Kicking the "always-On" habit. Can you do that? It sounds wonderful to me.

I'm going to have to spend more time on that chapter.

Then I'm going to devote a little more time to the chapter on "Recovery Time" I think.

Now where is that highlighter.
29 people found this helpful
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bevsandbooks
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and Helpful - Not Just For Women
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2015
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This insightful and helpful book is another necessary book for the library of a woman in leadership in any capacity. Using their well-researched and effective Centered Leadership model, Barsh and Cranston walk readers through functional and clearly communicated steps to maximize their work and personal hours.

This is not a typical "how to have it all" type of book. In fact, they point out several times that no one can have it all and that there is no such thing as work/life balance. All there is is yourself and your center and maintaining as close to your center as you can. They advocate for self-evaluation as the starting point for career success - what do you want to do? What gives you energy? What drains energy? How do you combat anxiety and fear? Are you someone who needs medication in order to do that? Physical activity is necessary for centering - are you someone who needs a lot or a little to achieve that.

Every point the authors make is demonstrated through anecdotes from women with strong leadership experience in a variety of disciplines. I would have liked a few less CEOs and a few more social service or religious leaders, because their leadership challenges would not only add diversity to this book, but would be personally more in line with the challenges I face in my day job.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book for anyone in leadership - not just women. It's one to read through and refer back to and perhaps even teach from. If you are in any capacity to lead or mentor young women in particular, I would recommend giving this book a gander to be able to pass on some of its wisdom to them.
5 people found this helpful
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Winnie W
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read on leadership
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2023
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I purchased this book for one of my staff as a gift because it was very helpful to me in my career journey-still have it and use it.
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Diana M
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book. Very motivating to hear that many of ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2016
Verified Purchase
Good book. Very motivating to hear that many of these woman had to fail and pick themselves back up to build the reputation and career they have today! Good tips would have loved to see some more insight on how to build some of these skills in networking and finding a mentor.
One person found this helpful
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Steiermark1
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Remarkable !
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2012
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This excellent book describes the concept of "Centered Leadership" and breaks it further down into Meaning, Framing, Connecting, Engaging, and Energizing. The description of concepts alternates with specific stories and experiences of top women leaders, for example IMF director Christine Lagarde. This way the story keeps moving very nicely and one finds it difficult to put the book down. My own career journey has so far taken me to a director level of a Fortune 100 company including people leadership. This book helped me to discover that certain traits,my personality and background have helped me be successful. I did not necessarily realize that before reading this book and would not have imagined that these ingredients would be helpful to other women in their career. For example, an optimistic mindset and the consistent habit of treating oneself well by getting enough sleep, exercise and vacation time are part of my behavior pattern, but it was fascinating to understand that they can actually be ingredients of a successful career. Having a meaningful job or role that one has a passion for is obviously great, that we can actually get energized on the job was something I have experienced but never really put in words for myself. Other essentials, like networking became enjoyable and natural only in recent years. I should have made it part of my regular behavior much,much earlier in my career. Bottom LIne, I hope many young aspiring professional women will read this book to gain an understanding of Centered Leadership. It will save them time and instead of slowly climbing the career ladder, testing each step carefully, they will be able to fly.

Sabine Jansen, Switzerland
11 people found this helpful
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Angelo Colucci
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente atendimento do vendedor.
Reviewed in Brazil on March 31, 2022
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Segurança na compra pelo site. Atenção do vendedor. Leitura atual para quem quer inovar com liderança e gênero.
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Angelo Colucci
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente atendimento do vendedor.
Reviewed in Brazil on March 31, 2022
Segurança na compra pelo site. Atenção do vendedor. Leitura atual para quem quer inovar com liderança e gênero.
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lr
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read!
Reviewed in Mexico on September 10, 2020
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I cant believe I hadnt read it before! Its really good, fun to read, and has super useful advice!
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niaa Shah
3.0 out of 5 stars Late
Reviewed in India on January 24, 2016
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Received very late still cannot track purchase of other book I made along with this "notes from the universe" very inconvenient.
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Manuela Damant
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for the new kind of leader out there!
Reviewed in Germany on April 20, 2015
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A great book. A book for the new kind of leader out there. 'Men and women who are vulnerable and powerful, empathic and self-aware, grounded and connected - leaders equipped to address the enormous challenges of complexity, volatility, and increasing pace of change.'
If you're looking for a book which defines leadership through meaning, framing, connecting, engaging and energizing and not just through power, money and winning the race then this is the one for you.
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Agnes
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2013
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Written in plain simple language. Not only must any woman aspiring to leadership read this book, men must also read it to get a better understanding of what drives women leaders.
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