University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
The Good Boss
Book

The Good Boss

Nine Ways Every Manager Can Support Women at Work

Kate Walker
BenBella, 2021
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Engaging
  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

PresenceLearning CEO Kate Eberle Walker draws on a depth of experience – her own, and others’ – to describe the world of work from a female perspective. She evokes empathy for today’s female workers, who continue to face many inequities and outdated attitudes. Although her practical advice is helpful to women who encounter overt and subtle sexism, she directs it mostly at male managers, who make up the majority of women’s bosses in America, and upon whom much of the solution depends.

Summary

Gender inequities in the workplace remain. A good boss makes all the difference in rectifying them.

Men still earn promotions to management at a rate more than 25% greater than women. Just 7.6% of Fortune 500 firms boast female CEOs. More men by the name of “John” lead S&P 1500 companies than women of all names do. Women still bear the bulk of household duties and primary responsibilities for parenting. Just one consistency exists for women who realize their ambitions at work: They had at least one good boss along the way – a person who recognized their talent, paid them fairly, coached them and promoted them.

Firms risk losing top performers when they fail to address women’s concerns, including fair pay, promotions, and protection from sexual and other harassment. The most important workplace relationships are often those between managers and their team members. Good managers make an enormous difference in the work life and career trajectory of their reports. Thus, the responsibility to encourage and support women at work lands not only with women bosses. Men must step up, too.

Many male bosses genuinely want to help...

About the Author

Former CEO of The Princeton Review Kate Eberle Walker is a Harvard Business School graduate and current CEO of PresenceLearning, which offers special K-12 education online.

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