Stop Whining and Start Winning: 8 Ways for Women to Get Ahead in Business

In this detailed book on achieving career success, Shepard and Stimmler assert that, until each woman learns to properly self-assess and play to her strengths, not enough women will ascend the corporate ladder and, thus, no real change will occur in male-biased corporate culture. Shepard, founder of the women's executive leadership firm the Leader's Edge, and Stimmler, a corporate communications expert, have identified eight areas that they say are holding women back and explain exactly what women should be doing to succeed—from aggressively networking and self-promoting, to relearning communications skills and availing themselves of mentors. While some of their guidance comes in the form of storytelling, much of it involves checklists, word-by-word dialogues and rigorous self-assessment questions and exams. While applying all their advice may seem Herculean—at first, keeping a database of networking contacts analyzed and prioritized by usefulness while still doing one's job, finding a work/home balance and creating "you" time may feel near-impossible—any woman who works through even a sampling of these exercises is going to find something to improve her professional effectiveness. Agent, Denise Marcil. (Oct.)