The Naked Truth: A Working Woman's Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters

By Margaret Heffernan

Book Overview

In this provocative book, Margaret Heffernan, former CEO and Fast Company contributor, fuses her own experience with that of hundreds of women to identify the biggest challenges and the best solutions that women face today. From VPs of Fortune 100 companies to entrepreneurs to women just starting their careers, she traces the patterns and themes underlying women's power, choices, love, sex, money, and many other vital topics for working women. Without sugar-coating the facts, preaching, or oversimplifying, she offers solutions and shares the truth about the working world: women's choices are limited, you can't have it all, women do work differently from men and, yes, it is possible to find success amidst all of this and feel good about it.

"Finally! A book that exposes the masculine myths about what it takes to be effective in business and helps women reclaim the relational intelligence we have been taught to ignore. A must-read for all women who want to increase their power and influence in the workplace--especially those who are thinking of leaving because they are tired of the corporate gamesmanship that requires splitting themselves into a 'work me' and a 'home me.'"
--Joyce K. Fletcher, professor of management, Simmons School of Management, Boston, Massachusetts

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1118401131
• ISBN13: 9781118401132
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Every woman must read

I normally borrow my books from the Library--if its good enough, I buy my own copy. This book definitely has a space on my shelf. It speaks to every woman who wants to build a career. The best piece of advice I got from the book is that "a peacock that sits on its tail is just a turkey" -

It isn't just you!

I thought this book was great and loaned it to a few friends who have also like it. The most important message in the book for many people will be the fact that "it isn't just you." One friend commented that she felt the entire book was telling her story, helping her understand that what had been happening to her in the workplace was not about her as an individual but reflected a culture that was steeped in old biases. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in how many women are perceived and treated in the workplace.

Highly Recommended!

Author and executive Margaret Heffernan fearlessly declares that decades of advice telling business women to act like men, follow traditional rules and cleave to heartless stereotypes are wrong. Breathe a sigh of relief. It's not you; "It's the system, stupid!" In her eyes, the business world inherently does not welcome, respect or value women. Refreshingly, instead of blaming women, the author conveys the advice of hundreds of female survey respondents who say men hold the aces in the business world and don't want to share. Honest, funny and sometimes disconcerting, she offers advice, inspiring examples and helpful stories. She explains how to find or create a humane, cooperative, supportive workplace that fits your principles - and how to make a realistic appraisal if you are at the change-it-or-quit stage. The one shortcoming is the author's absolute unstated assumption that women are innately, inevitably more cooperative, honest and caring than men. This stereotype is a two-edged sword, wounding those men who do have sound values, and reinforcing the typecasting that women ought to be sweet and nurturing because it's in their genes. That aside, we recommend Heffernan's clear view of the hurdles that block a woman's path to business success and work-life balance. She confronts painful realities and adapts them, or adapts to them, even if in nontraditional ways. If you have to be one person at work and someone different at home, her dynamic vision can help you pull it all together.

Muy Fantastic!!!

5 stars for certain and a must read for business women. My hat is off to margaret who speaks directly to issues and DOESN'T ask women to be more like men. She presents many different ideas - some her own and some presented by other women. Its wonderful to read a book that speaks to you and you feel involved in. Well done indeed.

A must-read for working women in any job

Regardless of your career, your career aspirations, your status in the job market, or your status in life, READ THIS BOOK. The author pinpoints those vague, somewhat ambiguous feelings we have all had at our job, affirms that we aren't going crazy, and provides concrete and helpful examples of how to deal with a variety of situations. Most of all, this book gave me hope that there is hope to find a respectful, honest and dynamic place of business that will help me be me.