When there is a talk about power, there is always the mention of Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the renaissance era. He is best known for his book The Prince which talks much about political philosophy and strategies. He is also known as the father of political science and has always been associated with power, strategy, and politics. And no place demands greater politics of power than the corporate world.
The book Machiavelli For Women: Defend your worth, Grow your ambitions, and the workplace is a blend of the career lessons from one of the greatest strategists in history and her long and successful career. She shares her experience of going through the life story and teaching of the legend and deriving career lessons fir for the corporate world. Reading this book feels like going through two awesome books simultaneously: the life and lessons of Machiavelli and the writer's own life lessons. It drives the lessons for modern working women from the philosophies of Machiavelli.
The book begins by pointing out the gaps in women's participation in the workforce. It's overwhelming to realize how the most well-performing females in school and college somehow get lost in the corporate world. Citing the facts from the book '80% of CEOs are men, corporate boards are more than 80% male, women make about 80 cents for every dollar a man makes, two third of federal judges are male, 75% of elected representatives are men, and women start 40% of the business but 98% of venture capital goes to men.'
This sole fact makes the reader scratch their head and think about where things went wrong. One can easily notice the vicious cycle that exists for women when there are very few of them in a key decision-making positions. That's a man-made problem more than a natural phenomenon. It makes them harder to climb up the corporate ladder which makes it seem harder for starters.
Along with these structural problems, it also illustrates the subtler yet significant problems of misogyny in a workplace such as unwanted flirting; getting asked to do petty tasks like serving coffee and arranging meetings, and dismissing ideas in meetings. As per the book, they are indirect ways of reminding women that men are in charge of the workplace.
Women can relate more to the issues presented in the book and for men, it's an eye-opening moment. It's thought-provoking to realize how we have been overlooking all these tiny acts of misogyny that have been shattering the concept of an inclusive workplace all the time.
For aspiring women in the workplace who have just started working, Smith and this book are like a mentor who teaches tips to handle the bullshits at the workplace. She shares the hands-on approaches to fighting disparity, asking for promotion and increments, and delivering well in demanding jobs. More than that she teaches to lead. She makes aware of all types of bad guys and girls at work and different approaches to tackling them.
For the women who have already been at the workplace for a long time and facing all this stuff, they might find her as a best friend who is sharing the exact same thing that she too has been facing. At times, they might have been so used to it that they have started feeling it a natural way at the workplace. Then after reading the book, it feels like a sudden awakening and realizing all the things that you have been facing are unjust to you. It then guides out of the sinkhole.
This book is a great guide for all corporate leaders to make their workplace more inclusive, welcoming, and safe for women. This helps to outline the misogynistic acts and combat them well. They can be more attentive while evaluating the performance, dividing the responsibilities, and promoting the staff to make sure that they are not guided by the motive of gender disparity. It would help to break down the wall of gender discrimination in the workplace turning the vicious cycle into a virtuous one for all women.
Machiavelli's For Women: Defend your worth, Grow your ambitions, and the workplace is a great read. It kept me hooked from the beginning till the end. It is an eye-opening and thought-provoking experience for me to realize the issues of gender discrimination that I have been overlooking all the time. I sincerely like to thank Stacey for bringing such an amazing book. I would love to read more from her in the future.
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