You’re a Woman in Business. But Are You Hot?

I’m excited to share with you my new article: “You’re a Woman in Business. But Are You Hot?”

Getting the article to this point has been quite the process. Originally, the upcoming book Date Your Career: The Longest Relationship of Your Life didn’t include a piece on what it was really like to to have been a female manager for two decades.

Thomas Mulready of Cool Cleveland encouraged (pushed!) me to it, saying I can’t release a career book without talking about this. That the readers have a right to know. And that the book’s energy shows too much restraint.

“Thomas, I’ve been living the entire past year under tremendous restraint.”

“Yes, and this book is your opportunity to unleash.”

So then I wrote a draft, a piece called “10 Things Women Must Do To Succeed” and shared it with long-time writing collaborator and contributor Deena Nyer Mendlowitz. Her response to it?

“Hm, that’s not the piece you should be writing. And your opening quote? I knew  you’d go with that one.”

Deep sigh. One of my trusted writing advisers, who once told a room full of people that I live my life as an improviser, had just called me predictable.

So. I kept thinking about what to write. How to say it. How to start it.

I couldn’t finish the book without it.

Then a couple of weeks ago, on Facebook, I posted a bit of a rant about all the skin I’m seeing on LinkedIn. Specifically, how women on LinkedIn are posing in bikinis and whether or not that’s actually getting them jobs.

And Deena was the first to comment on my post, “I think you just found the intro to the essay you’ve been trying to write.”

Today, finally, the words came together. There’s little subtlety here. There is, however, truth, including the truth that was very tough for me to admit, much less write. It’s information I really wish someone would have shared with me back in 1995, when the featured picture of me at my first office job was first taken.

Excited to share it with all of you via The Huffington Post. Here it is:

You’re a Woman In Business. But Are You Hot?

“Funny business, a woman’s career. The things you drop on your way up the ladder— so you can move faster— you forget you’ll need them when you go back to being a woman.” – Bette Davis, All About Eve

Lately, I’ve been seeing more women showing more skin on LinkedIn, finding very “stretchy” reasons to make those posts. How does posing in a bikini and writing about leadership have anything to do with leadership?…

to read the rest of the article, click here