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Wander Woman

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Wander Woman

How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction

Berrett-Koehler,

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What do women in corporate jobs really want? No, not just money and power, but something much harder to attain than that.

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Editorial Rating

8

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Recommendation

Surprisingly little research has examined why contemporary women leave their corporate jobs for new ones more often than men do. Organizational psychologist Marcia Reynolds interviewed 100 “high-achieving women” to discover why they often change jobs and don’t wait around to climb the career ladder. Their answers are not shocking, but they are enlightening, particularly when they underscore the differences between present-day females in the business world compared to previous generations of distaff trailblazers. Reynolds offers useful case studies, exercises and advice to help women understand their restlessness and find their heart’s desire, whether at work or at home. While her advice is not radically original – and she acknowledges her reliance upon many other sources – she has identified a new cohort of working people: meaning-driven, high-achieving women. And she writes with warmth, candor and clarity. getAbstract finds her book quite constructive for “wander women” seeking answers. However, its insights might also benefit men who want to understand the wander women in their professional and personal lives and who also seek purpose in their work.

Summary

“High-Achieving Women”

Women who began rising to corporate leadership levels around 1985 represent a different kind of worker than those in the previous generation. Contemporary high-achieving women are more self-assured, forceful and dynamic. They are more likely to take on active, high-profile roles within their firms. They are movers and shakers, confident of their talents and not shy about demonstrating or proclaiming them to whoever needs to hear. They bring passion to their work, not solely because they covet the salaries, titles and perks of corporate managerial success, but because they have a “strong desire to contribute.” They add their sense of mission to their work out of a yearning to create “something more” in their lives. Unlike their groundbreaking predecessors, who often had to fight for basic rights, these women rarely need help to “find their voice, balance their life or strategize their way to the top”; they’re looking for a new purpose.

The drawback is that when these women hit an organizational wall, such as a recalcitrant boss or an oppressive culture, they leave. When these “wander women” can no longer add value to their work, they seek greener...

About the Author

Organizational psychologist Marcia Reynolds is president of Covisioning, a corporate training firm. She is a Master Certified Coach.

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