The Gender Penalty: Turning obstacles into opportunities for women at work

• Feeling undervalued, overlooked or ignored at work?
• Want practical strategies to get ahead?
• Want to succeed as a woman without changing who you are?

Work is a game originally developed by men, for men. Though the players have changed, the rules to succeed have not. When today’s talented women play like men, they often get punished for not being ’ladylike’, and when they play like women, they can get punished for not being ’leaderlike’. Welcome to the gender penalties that sideline women from the game of work.

The Gender Penalty is a playbook for navigating career success in a male-dominated environment. If you want to stand out without stepping on toes, get what you want without compromising who you are, and make your mark without becoming someone you’re not, this book is for you.

The gender penalties covered are:

• Confidence - being seen as arrogant
• Communication - being interrupted, talked over or ignored
• Boasting - being expected to be humble
• Strength - being seen as aggressive
• Motherhood - being seen as uncommitted to work

Packed with easy-to-follow practical strategies, insights, case studies and stories, (and a bunch of bonus resources) this book will help you not only overcome the gender penalties on the field, but also change the game of work for good - for yourself and other women.

The book is broken into three parts: ’The state of play’, ’The gender penalties’ and ’The power plays to advance the game’.

Part I- The State of Play - covers the current corporate context.

• What does the leadership landscape look like for women?
• What’s going on for women at work?
• Why are women facing invisible obstacles despite being overqualified?
• Why do the solutions for men create problems for women?
• And why are we still playing this outdated game in the first place?

Part II - the Gender Penalties - dives into the five gender penalties (the Confidence, Communication, Boasting, Strength and Motherhood penalties) and how they are currently playing out for women at work.

• What are the rules women are expected to follow?
• What’s the backlash they face when they do?
• What strategies have successful women used to overcome these obstacles and turn them into opportunities?

Part III - The Power Plays to advance the game - wraps up with strategies on how to shift the game of work for good.

• How do we change the game of work to make it better for women (and men)?
• How do we challenge the conditioning that keeps us stuck in the old game?
• How can we brave the backlash created by breaking the rules of the current game - in service of creating the new game, with new rules and a better outcome for all?

Digital bonuses include:

• The Coaches Playbook - a guide to help your manager fend off the gender penalties you might face at work
• The Gender Penalty workbook - a summary guide to help you personalise the main plays of the book
• The Gender Penalty Quiz - to see which penalty you need a stronger strategy for overcoming
• The Chick Chat Guide - guided discussion questions to facilitate reflection and learning with a group of friends or colleagues
• and various other bonuses like cheat sheets, summary checklists, and videos etc.