BOOK REVIEW: 'Career GPS' Offers Specific Advice for Career Women
Your Attitude, Clothing Choices Could be Holding You Back
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
It's pretty difficult for anyone to accuse Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell, Ph.D. of being politically incorrect when she offers career advice to women in her new book "Career GPS: Strategies for Women Navigating the New Corporate Landscape" (Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins, 256 pages, $25.99, written with Linda Villarosa).
Dr. Bell is a black woman, so when she advises black women to check their Angry Black Women (ABW) attitudes at the door to the executive suite, she's sure to get attention. If a white man had said something like that -- even stating that there often is an ABW behind the stereotype -- he'd be pilloried, at the very least. Not only does Dr. Bell discuss attitudes, she gives tips on what to wear at work. One tip: ditch the severe black "corporate" look and go for bright colors. You don't have to look like a guy, she says, as long as you don't overdo it with revealing garb better suited to a party.
"Career GPS" is written by an academic -- Dr. Bell is an associate professor at the prestigious Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire, but she also is a consultant to many Fortune 500 companies. She divides her time between Hanover, NH and Charlotte, NC, with feet planted in both the academic and "real" worlds.
The workplace is constantly in flux, and even now there are new opportunities open to women. But to take advantage of these possibilities, it's essential to know the current rules for corporate success. This isn't your father's or your mother's workplace anymore. It isn't even the workplace of two or three years ago.
It's not enough to be a competent employee, Bell says. You must develop workplace relationships that will advance your career. The relationships often include people in technical support positions, including jobs that once upon a time were considered fairly menial. The guys and gals from IT or the administrative assistant to a big-shot manager are important and a smart woman -- or man -- learns to treat them with the respect and friendship they deserve.
Each chapter ends with a summing up of the tips, with bullet points to make it easy to check off what you should do. Speaking of bullet points, here are a few from the good doctor: