CHICAGO (Aug. 16, 2022) – Women’s career paths in any and every sector of the workforce are fraught with hazards. The gender pay gap and under-representation in the C-suite, to name a few, are well documented. In addition, career women often fail to see and manage the obstacles that obstruct their job progress, preventing them from reaching the higher rungs of the career ladder.
In I Wish I’d Known This: 6 Career-Accelerating Secrets for Women Leaders (Berrett-Koehler, 2022), Bravanti veteran executive coaches Brenda Wensil and Kathryn Heath (press kit here, book trailer here) leverage their decades of experience coaching hundreds of women to explain the six common blind spots that can derail women’s careers, and offer concrete strategies to advance in their chosen profession. Their collective wisdom and the book’s guidance are informed by assessment data gleaned from 4,000, 360-degree interviews conducted over many years of working with women leaders, along with their extensive leadership and executive coaching work at Bravanti. This treasure trove of data and the case studies they have amassed inform their keen insights into what works for women’s career advancement.
In I Wish I’d Known This, Brenda and Kathryn highlight how these blind spots can minimize career potential, impact, and—ultimately—advancement. As a result, women may end up drifting instead of driving through their careers, going it alone instead of building a posse, and leaving their “reputationality” (that special something women are known for) to chance.
To avoid becoming adrift, the authors coach women on how to:
- Set a vision, strategy, and plan for their careers
- Learn who they are, what they offer, and how to tell their stories
- Seek and act on feedback to guide their paths
- Prepare and practice for the best outcomes
- Enlist help and support from others
There is good reason to help women up the professional ladder. Research has proven that effective women leaders inspire innovation, sustain profitability, manage risk, and create environments conducive to inclusion and diversity. I Wish I’d Known This is chock full of strategies, stories, and practical skills to hasten a career woman’s progress and impact as a professional, liberate her to excel in her career on her own terms, and render her a valuable asset to any organization.
Whether a human resources professional or manager, a seasoned veteran who is feeling “stuck,” or a new graduate just stepping into the workforce, this comprehensive, must-have resource is packed with compelling stories and tried-and-true strategies that provide women with the skill set to accelerate through obstacles along their leadership paths while boosting progress and advancement.
Brenda Wensil is co-author of I Wish I’d Known This: 6 Career-Accelerating Secrets for Women Leaders and a managing director at Bravanti, a preeminent firm in the field of leadership development. She is a coach, writer, speaker, and former executive in the financial industry as well as the U.S. Department of Education. Learn more about Brenda on LinkedIn, Amazon, and Goodreads.
Kathryn Heath is co-author of I Wish I’d Known This: 6 Career-Accelerating Secrets for Women Leaders and a managing director at Bravanti. She is a distinguished thought leader and sought-after speaker on the topic of women’s leadership and has co-authored two other books and several Harvard Business Review articles on the topic. She is a former executive in the financial industry. Learn more about Kathryn on LinkedIn, Amazon, and Goodreads.