Table of Contents
Foreword xiii
Preface xv
How to read this book xxi
Introduction: The Way Forward 1
1 Ambition: Men are ambitious; women are ambivalent 16
Ask for what you want; ask for what you need 18
Ambition is a stranger to me 22
Jostling the big boys 27
Use the frustration 29
Feel the fear, then do it anyway 33
Wherever you go, you take the weather with you 33
One voice: Tessa 44
2 Creativity: Men strut their stuff; women tend to play it down in order to conform 48
Borrow it 51
Don't zig, zag 54
Don't fear failure 57
Tear it up 61
Be naïve 64
One voice: Kelly 71
3 Cutting Through: Men like to be noticed; women like to get on with the work 75
Brand yourself 77
Speak their language 83
Ha ha: be funny 84
Sbhhh: cutting through as an introvert 90
Managing up - and sideways (that's your job too) 93
Don't be a doormat 96
Be seen 99
One voice: Mercedes 105
4 Trouble: Trouble troubles women differently from how it troubles men 108
Keep going 110
Is sex a problem? 114
Sex in the office 118
The Conspiracy of the Sisterhood: kindness can kill 120
Mean girls 124
Know when to back down 129
The burnout 132
One voice: Rachel 138
5 Resilience: Men take things in their stride that can seem to throw women off course 142
Don't ask, don't get 144
When to walk away 148
The secret rules of work 151
The numbers game 155
The playbook 159
Don't take it personally 162
One voice: Megan 172
6 Anger: Men exploit their inner bastard; women hide the inner bitch 173
Power grip 173
Odd one out 176
Use advocates 179
Go feral 183
Play the long game 186
One voice: Gloria 192
7 Karma: Women are not in the network of chaps: how to pay favours forward and how helping others helps you 196
Always on 197
Be your best self 200
Make a memory 204
Pay it forward 207
We're all human 209
One voice: Carys 216
Afterword 220
41 Strategies for Success 223
Acknowledgements 231
Bibliography and further reading 232
Appendix: Lightspeed survey results 238