I Can't Believe She Did That!
Why Women Betray Other Women at Work
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- 47,99 zł
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- 47,99 zł
Publisher Description
I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE DID THAT! offers a new and compelling perspective on conflict and competition among women in the workplace. Nan Mooney explores how and why some women hurt each other on the job, and what we can do to begin cleaning up the mess. Based on real stories from real women, I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE DID THAT! provides a provocative social and cultural exploration of the often troubled and painful dynamics that unfold among female coworkers.
The massive influx of women into the workplace in the past thirty years means a whole new category of problems has arisen. Suddenly women are working over, under and alongside other women. Their professional relationships are subject to the pressures and conflicts of organizational culture, not to mention society at large. Women on the job have grown more comfortable with ambition, competition, management and success, but that hasn't negated the value they place on communication and relationships, on being liked and being nice. Striking a balance between these two selves is a delicate undertaking and many women are uncertain how to interact in a workplace where such lines are regularly being blurred.
Working together, women have fostered a breathtaking degree of positive change. But there is another side to the story. If women are to continue moving forward, the time has come to examine — honestly and unequivocally — our very human impulse to compete with, hurt and even destroy one another to get what we want. In I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE DID THAT! Nan Mooney provides vivid insights on the emotional toll competition can take on women in business and charts a path towards more productive and fulfilling relationships for professional women everywhere.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mooney, whose well-received memoir, My Racing Heart (HarperCollins, 2002), about the world of thoroughbred horse racing, now examines a more vicious race-women versus women in the workplace-offering a vibrant, studied counterpoint to a touchy subject that's been fodder for many novels of the The Devil Wears Prada persuasion. The prickly dynamics that often develop between women in the workplace-both the subtle stabs-in-the-back and outright executive hair-pulling-are essentially tied up in our society's definition of what it means to be feminine, says Mooney; even though women have "grown more comfortable with ambition, competition, and success," they still place great value on "communication and relationships, on being liked and being nice." Mooney visits a broad range of offices from all over the country, and the voices of these "scientists, social workers, waitresses, lawyers, bankers, soldiers, editors, salespeople, athletes, and schoolteachers" resonate with the same frustrations, disappointment, feelings of betrayal and guilt, and reveal both patterns of behavior (such as "looking clean and dealing dirty" and "the new tokenism") and longstanding issues that affect interaction between women at work (physical attractiveness, work-life balance, race and class issues, and age differences). Any woman who's felt the sting of a workplace snub will appreciate this long overdue book and its jaw-dropping anecdotes about conniving, clawing and incredulous women.