| Title | : | The Glass Cliff: Why Women in Power Are Underminedand How to Fight Back |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1035038749 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781035038749 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 331 |
| Publication | : | Published March 7, 2024 |
'Clever, brilliantly researched and vitally important' - Dawn O'Porter, bestselling author of The Cows and Cat Lady
The Glass Cliff is a conversation about what happens when women break the rules, and break through The Glass Ceiling.
Have you ever wondered why there are so few success stories of women in business leadership? Or maybe you’ve wondered what life is really like on the other side of The Glass Ceiling? The world of work is supposedly changing, embracing diversity – yet are the opportunities we’re giving to women really equal to those of men?
Drawing on almost 20 years of research from around the world, The Glass Cliff phenomenon - whereby women are often only hired in leadership roles when a business is already underperforming, meaning their chances of success are limited before they ever even start in the role - is well established, but little known. Until now.
This is the story of The Glass Cliff: a story of a structural inequality disguising itself as the personal failures of women. When Sophie Williams gave her viral TED talk on the subject, she was subsequently flooded with accounts of confident, accomplished women who had taken what seemed like a dream leadership role only to quickly find themselves in a waking nightmare. Without the language to describe their experiences they had been left blaming themselves. But learning about The Glass Cliff enabled them to reframe and reexamine what they’d gone through.
Once we understand The Glass Cliff – once we can stand together and face it head-first – we can start to unravel so many other false narratives about women’s leadership experiences that just don’t make sense without it. By understanding the phenomenon, and by telling one another about it, we can affect the conversation, empower one another to overcome societal bias and, ultimately, change the world of work for women forever.
The Glass Cliff: Why Women in Power Are Underminedand How to Fight Back Reviews
-
The gist of this is: it's a book that might be useful, but it's still steeped in such a 'capitalist realist' perspective that I couldn't truly find it interesting. I don't think we're gonna save the planet if we can find a way to have more women / minority as CEOs or in other 'C-suite' positions. At the same time, I guess we live in this particular world, where there's plenty of room for improvement, even if I don't care about corporations that much.
Will possibly write a better / longer review when I'm not recovering from dental surgery. -
Many of us who have worked in corporate culture might be aware of this concept called 'glass ceiling'. I had attended a few workshops on this topic, so coming across a similar title in the book was an immediate green tick to read.
The book starts by introducing the readers to workplace biases, followed by live stats, examples and an overflowing account of instances when and where they occur. According to the book, these prejudices are not limited to just women in the workplace, but the whole universe of ethnicity (anyone other than white male). Another great area that I felt was the highlight of this book was the point of presenting a female in a leadership position, which in the majority of the cases is only when a male or the role cannot fill it is already set to doom.
Carrying the zest of discrepancies forward, the book then delves into a map that extends alternate ways of countering such situations. The book is informative but could have been more crisp by devoting a major portion of the section that talks about tackling them rather than about providing lengthy attestations of their existence. The book may also be better suited to be consumed in a physical book format as the audiobook gets a bit overwhelming.
Thank you @netgalley @macmillan.audio @sophiewilliamsofficial for the Audiobook ARC.
Genre: #nonfiction #business #leadership
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️ -
I am slightly blown away by this book. And angry. And determined. This book really focuses on a phenomenon that I had never known had a title, that I probably hadn’t paid much attention to and that I am now so annoyed I didn’t pay attention to it. So as cross as it’s made me, I’m also really thankful for that it’s made me aware.
This book is well written, accessible and provides clear explanations of the Glass Cliff and what it means for women.
The arguments are well made and evidence based. The author clearly researched this topic hard and this is a well thought out and intellectual account of the phenomenon.
I liked that the author tried to counteract what could be a really depressing topic by providing ideas about how we can counteract the phenomenon. How we can try to fight the tide and claim back some power.
I think this is an important read that everyone should read and I’d love to see more people talking about the Glass Cliff in the future
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review -
"Twenty per cent of women say they are often the only woman or one of the only women in the room at work, in other words, they are the onlys"
I'm not surprised by anything in this book, but it also didn't give much direction -
I knew before starting this that it would be smart, incisive, and thoroughly well-researched, but I wasn’t prepared for how deeply the stories used to illustrate different concepts and instances relating to the Glass Cliff phenomenon would resonate with me. Sophie elegantly weaves together real-world examples, demonstrating exactly how the deck is stacked against women and minorities who “break through” the glass ceiling. For a woman in the workplace it is both sobering - almost all of the stories told have been echoed in some way in my own observations working for startups over the last decade - and galvanising, with its persuasive argument that it does not need to be this way. The book combines warmth with a firmness and clarity of purpose - just like Sophie herself (watch her excellent Ted Talk for an example of her speaking style). I was very lucky to be able to read a pre-release proof and can’t wait to share this book with friends and colleagues.
-
**Listened on audio book**
I usually love Sophie Williams - but I really struggled with this book. I found the writing to be really complicated, and had to listen over bits a few times. I found the choice of case studies to be pretty dull and I switched off. I don't think the book knew what it was, it tried to be too many things and then the point became lost. Was it about Williams and her perspective? Was it about famous businesswomen? Was it about psychology and sociology?
Just didn't enjoy it! Not what I expected based on the title and tagline - it doesn't 'do what it says on the tin'
I liked the fact that Sophie Williams narrated the audiobook herself, but this was the only positive for me. -
Glass Cliff - Now I can name it!
This book really brought home many experiences I have had as a wahine Māori leader. Now I have a term to name it!
Whilst some of the language differs from what I would use in my cultural context, the experience, feelings, and results are familiar, raw, and so real. It is a great read for our indigenous leaders to use as a frame of our own reference. -
“Even once they become leaders, women are expected to take on hidden work”
.
I first heard about the glass cliff at the World of Women festival I attended last year where I was able to listen to the panel that discussed this phenomenon. So when I saw Sophie, who was on the panel, was publishing a book about the topic, I knew I had to read it!
.
This book is so insightful and informative and so validating. It discusses what happens if women (especially woc) are able to break through the glass ceiling and be in a position of power. Does it mean you’ve made it? Or is there another barrier that you now have to deal with?
.
This was written in an easy to understand way with compassion and had action points to help anyone that finds themselves on the glass cliff.
It goes through explaining what it is, how it impacts us and real life situations we’ve seen happen to women in positions of power.
How it doesn’t necessarily mean you were bad at your job and how much extra burden women have to take on. How they are treated with a different standard than men (especially white men).
.
I listened to the audiobook and read the book and I highly recommend listening if you enjoy audiobooks. It kept me engaged and narrated by Sophie too.
.
One of my fave reads this year already and I know I will keep coming back to it again and again. -
4.5
