Ladder Climbing in High Heels

Book excerpt: Women face challenges in the workplace on a daily basis, which largely go unspoken. These challenges include being judged by what they are wearing to the office, not being seen or heard in meetings and being overlooked for promotions because their male counterparts are better at selling themselves. Research tells us that women's careers suffer due to lower self-confidence, greater family responsibilities and fear of failure. Ladder Climbing in High Heels explores these issues and offers practical advice for women who want to get ahead at work without compromising their personalities or femininity. Kate Cousens shares her experiences of climbing the corporate career ladder in male dominated industries; offering light-touch theory and guidance on issues such as self-belief, communication, resilience, emotional intelligence, mentoring and networking. There are also some female specific areas including tackling jealousy from other women at work, romantic relationships in the workplace and juggling careers with motherhood. The book is peppered with bite-sized 'ladder lessons' which help the reader to be action focused; putting what they have read into practise straight away to assist their climb to the top.