Terrific New Books on Working, Marketing and Engaging in the World as Women

February 5, 2009

Several terrific books have crossed my desk recently that each relate to an aspect of women's leadership.  Four are new and one is a classic.  I'm lucky enough to know all of the authors personally, except for Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who is a legend in the business world. I hope to meet Dr. Kanter one day, and that at least one of these books is just what you're looking for:

  • The 85% Niche:  The Power of Women of All Colors, Miriam Muley.  Former General Motors marketing executive Muley has written a fascinating guide to understanding differences in marketing to Latina, Black and Asian women.  Women of color account for nearly $1 Trillion in consumer spending and another $23 Billion as entreprenuers.  Yet most companies continue to market to women as one -- primarily white -- monolithic group.
  • Sipping from the Nile . . . My Exodus from Egypt, Jean Naggar. Literary agent Naggar knows how to tell a story.  This one is her own, a lush memoir of growing up in Cairo at the time of the Suez Canal crisis that triggered dramatic historical events that changed her life and that part of the world forever.
  • Jobs 2.0 the New World of Work, Patty DeDominic. This is the second edition of timeless advice on successfully navigating the career highway, as valuable for seasoned professionals as it is for new grads. DeDominic knows of what she speaks.  Her expertise is based on the experiencing of placing thousands of job seekers through her work as founder of PDQ Personnel Services, Inc, which she sold to Select Staff and is now the largest privately-held staffing firm in the U.S.  
  • The Power of the Purse ...How Smart Companies are Adapting to the World's Most Important Consumers: Women, Fara Warner.  Globally, women's economic power is changing business forever.  Fast Company contributing editor and former Wall Street Journal reporter Fara Warner has written a book that caught the attention of Tom Peters who wrote about it, "Finally, the book about marketing to women that moves beyond theory and offers meaty case studies that should wake up any sane persson -- including males (!) -- to the world's #1, largely untapped marketplace." 
  • A Tale of O . .. On Being Different in an Organization, Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Perhaps the preeminent experts on gender dynamics in the workplace, Kanter has written many best-selling books.  I'd never heard of this one until a friend told me it was - - hands down -- the best book she had ever read on what happens when someone different tries to join and make a difference in a majority group. It uses x's and o's and minimal text, but the insights are as profound as they are practical. It's out of print but you can still buy copies online.  

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