Success on Our Own Terms: Tales of Extraordinary, Ordinary Business Women: Virginia O’Brien
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this clearly written study, O’Brien (The Fast Forward MBA in Business), a former communications consultant, puts a positive spin on the progress women have made in corporate America during the last three decades. According to the author, current research that focuses on “glass ceilings” or the small number of female CEOs obscures what women have actually achieved in the workplace. Drawing on 45 interviews she conducted with women holding high-level positions in a variety of industries, including banking, manufacturing, sales and telecommunications, O’Brien convincingly demonstrates that her subjects are satisfied and successful. In their own words, executives describe the positive changes they have made within the corporate world by contributing new ideas from a woman’s point of view. As a vice-president at Proctor & Gamble, Carol Tuthill’s cross-cultural skills enabled her to restructure the human resources department, while Jean Brennan and Erin Andre’s successful managerial job-sharing at Pacific Gas and Electric impressed their clients and managers. An eye-opening look at women in the business world that is also filled with useful pointers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
O’Brien sets out to track the business journey that women have taken over the last 25 years. Her research includes interviews of 45 women in companies that she considers friendly to women, presenting her findings on how these professionals feel about the level of management they have attained, what motivates them, what their visions and goals are, and what strategies helped them achieve their objectives. Also, she references the 700 responses received from a survey with Executive Women magazine on being happy, meeting goals, and having passion about work and life. She effectively changes the definition of corporate success. O’Brien concludes that women have risen high enough to show that cultural change is taking place and are progressing even though they are not CEOs of the Fortune 500. Although the author acknowledges that her feelings of satisfaction about the overall advancement of women put her in the minority and may be a disservice to women, she nevertheless offers this book to celebrate her conviction about their success. Mary Whaley