I'd Rather Be in Charge

I stumbled upon this book by chance, while searching for literature on emotional issues faced by women in the workplace. What prompted me to buy the book (despite the dearth of reviews) was the author's focus on a proactive approach toward addressing workplace issues. The fact that Charlotte Beers is a prominent name in business and thus could draw upon her own experience as a successful woman was another factor that encouraged me to read this book.I'd Rather Be in Charge offers a solid treatment of the subject of women and power in the workplace, addressing many of the issues that may stand between women and positions of authority. Some of the issues raised by the author include:* approval-seeking ("It's good to enjoy applause, but not to need it");* the tendency by women to merge their work and home identities (Beers emphasises the need to distinguish between the two--and to be comfortable with the distinction, which the author presents as liberating);* emphasising performance over presentation, expecting that all the hard work will be noticed eventually .By identifying these issues and providing ample examples that demonstrate how the author or other women dealt with them (effectively or not so much), Beers helps the reader become aware of her automatic responses to a variety workplace situations. In fact, self-knowledge as a tool for change is a cross-cutting theme of Beers' book.Additionally, the author attempts to connect many of these emotional issues to the messages that girls receive while growing up. While certainly laudable, this attempt would benefit from being more grounded in psychological literature.On a positive side, the continual reiteration of the theme of power and "being in charge" in the book goes a long way toward making the female reader more comfortable with the subject--and with her desire to achieve greater power at work and in business.Finally, as a recent (2012) publication, the book offers a fresh perspective on the subject of women and power--and this sets it apart from the glass-ceiling-oriented books of the previous decade, which tended to emphasise external factors impeding women's upward movement in the workplace, while underemphasising women's personal agency.Despite the clear strengths of Charlotte Beers' book, it is somewhat repetitive, as the author seems to exhaust herself midway through the narrative. The book would definitely benefit from extensive editorial pruning. Otherwise, its important message (which is that women can--and should--address their emotional hangups around positions of power in the workplace) may easily get lost behind its repetitive prose.

I first knew of Charlotte Beers when she was the keynote speaker at the 2012 TX Women's Conference. I was so impressed with her wisdom and candid, no nonsense approach to career and life fulfillment. I saw that she had truly faced many obstacles, internal and external, and discovered how to get through them. Her spirit was amazing and I felt I'd had a mentoring session through her address that morning. Fast forward to my husband surprising me with the audio version of her book. Her words and her guidance are from a woman's perspective, and truly make sense and speak to the heart of the issues women face in the workplace. I've noticed a change in my attitude in the work environment, all for the better. More powerful than before. If you are female, no matter what age or where you are In your career, get this: it will change your thinking and attitude for the better! I lead a women's group, and have purchased a copy to pass around to the members.

I have read a lot of books geared toward executive women. The first section makes it seems like this is going to be the same--whining about how women are different and people don't value that. But keep reading! This book gives real career advice for women and men alike about how to make it to the next level and unleash their leadership potential. While some books are interesting only for women starting out (and offer only obvious platitudes to those who have already been in the workforce for 20+ years), this book gives valuable insight to people at all levels of their career and offers effective tools for leadership and how to improve your own style. I highly recommend it to anyone (regardless of gender or past experience) who is interested in taking their career to the next level.

In "I'd Rather be in Charge," Charlotte Beers writes about the qualities and skills women need to effectively pursue and succeed in leadership roles. Everyone, male and female, can benefit from her perspectives and insights. She also provides her own personal stories and how they applied to the lessons in each chapter. Particularly powerful are her stories on how she handled sexual harassment and attack by male clients and colleagues. All readers benefit from her discussion on these issues.This book gives you a look into the world of business women you cannot get any other way. Too often we look at successful professional women and see nothing but perfection. But this book made me realize that these women face the same challenges all working women do. Everyone can learn so much by how these women deal with these challenges.

Charlotte Beers appeared on Martha Stewart's show, well worth watching. She is tight with words and to the point. "It's not what you say,.....but what they hear" and this book lays it down on how to re-look at yourself as a woman in the business world. It does not matter WHAT business. I am a baker..o.k. no high finances here, I am already learning how to deal with management and myself in a whole new way. A great read, will give it to both of my daughters. The chapters on investigating why you respond or re-act, and making an updated picture of yourself to yourself could be life changing. Thank you Charlotte Beers.

Charlotte Beers was a keynote speaker at the 2012 Texas Conference for Women. I was so impressed, I bought this book and have not been disappointed. She explains how women can compete and really be successful in a world formerly dominated by men (still is in some foreign markets). She provides insight into the way men think and act to accomplish theircareer goals, and the differences between how we (women) see ourselves and our qualities, and how men translate that.I got this copy for myself, and immediately ordered more to share with some of the women I know. This could be especially helpful for young women as they are beginning their careers.

Ich habe Charlotte Beers in den USA an meinem College kennengelernt und finde Sie atemberaubend. Nach ihrem inspirierenden Vortrag habe ich mir ihr Buch bestellt und wurde nicht enttäuscht. Jede Frau, welche Karriere machen möchte, sollte dieses Buch gelesen haben. Es ist die Eintrittskarte zum Erfolg und zeigt uns Frauen zu was wir alles fähig sind.

There is a complete mystery about this book - or should I say these books. We ordered a book entitled 'Winning Women' by Charlotte Beers but instead received one entitled 'I'd Rather Be In Charge' by the same author but with a different ISBN. We sent it back and the same thing happened again. Order one - receive the other. Are they actually the same book? There is no guidance on either the Amazon website or Charlotte Beers' own. However I note that there is another book titled 'Winning Women' which is about women in sport. Under ISBN rules, you are not supposed to use the same name as an existing book so perhaps Charlotte Beers' US publisher found out they could not use 'Winning Women' and were forced to change to another title.Whether the book is any good, I cannot tell you as we sent it back unread (a received our money back from Amazon without question).DP