Mean Girls at Work: How to Stay Professional When Things Get Personal

by Katherine Crowley, Kathi Elster Narrated by Kelley Hazen

Overview

One of the New York Post's Top 10 Career Books of 2012 and a Booklist Top 10 Business Book

DO YOU WORK WITH A MEAN GIRL?

A woman's field guide to the new frontier of professional development-working with other women

Women-to-women relationships in the workplace are . . . complicated. When they're good, they're great. But when they're bad, they can ruin your day, your week-even your year.

Packed with proven advice from two of today's leading experts in workplace relationships, this one-of-a-kind guide gives women the tools they need to navigate difficult situations unique to women-to-women relationships-whether with a boss, a colleague, a client, or an employee.

Have you dealt with a woman in the workplace who:

• “Accidentally” excludes you from important meetings?
• Seems intent on taking you down professionally?
• Gossips about you with other coworkers?
• Makes you look bad by missing deadlines?
• Forms a “pack” of mean girls to make your life miserable?

Mean Girls at Work isn't just about surviving difficult situations. It's about transforming a toxic relationship into one that benefits and supports both of you.

This book is also for women who engage in mean behavior . . . but don't know it. After all, who hasn't gossiped about a female coworker? Who hasn't rolled her eyes in the presence of a woman she doesn't like? Who hasn't scanned another woman head to toe-which is just a nonverbal way of saying, “You've just been judged”? The authors provide invaluable advice to the more subtle ways of being mean-even if they're not intended.

With a workforce composed of a higher percentage of women than ever, workplace dynamics have changed. Crowley and Elster cover every conceivable scenario, providing critical advice on how to rise above the fray and move forward professionally.

Mean Girls at Work is your map to dodging the mines and moving forward in today's transformed workplace.

Praise for Mean Girls at Work

“An invaluable suit of armor for surviving nine to five!”
-Leil Lowndes, bestselling author of How to Talk to Anyone

“If you think the emotional cruelty of comedies like Mean Girls and Heathers doesn't exist in the real world workplace, think again. In Mean Girls at Work, Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster valuably chronicle female vs. female predators and offer solid defensive strategies.”
-Ann Kreamer, author of It's Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the New Workplace

“Whether you are in your twenties and just starting your professional career, your midcareer forties, when you are supposed to have figured it out already, or a woman in her fifties or sixties who's seen it all-this book is a must-read. . . . The authors have finally given women the tools and the sound advice necessary to deal with . . . conflicts that keep us all from succeeding. . . . Carry this book with you to work every day!”
-Carolyn Cassin, President, Michigan Women's Foundation

“A must-read for women of all ages in today's workforce. This book offers what we all need to develop the capacities to endure this ever-changing workplace. We know it is all about relationships and you need the skills outlined in this book to survive and thrive when the Mean Girls attack.”
-Kim Harrington, Coordinator, Professional Development and Training, Office of Human Resources, California State University, Sacramento

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

For their latest, business coaches Crowley and Elster (coauthors of Working with You Is Killing Me) offer a wan, patronizing look at office politics between professional women. The authors break down the various kinds of “difficult” women one may encounter at work—those for whom being mean, overtly or covertly, is a method of career survival; cliquey women; drama queens; and those who are unaware they’re being mean. They break down the subtle kinds of insults and injuries that women inflict upon each other in the workplace, including gossip, exclusion, small slights, and outright sabotage. Crowley and Elster suggest a somewhat passive course of action—the “Don’t Go There” route, which describes a strategy of professional defusing—illustrated through a series of Cosmoesque exaggerated fables. While the suggested solutions are reasonable, and some of the scenarios are doubtless a concern for some women in the workplace, the overall tone is superficial. The opening (“Just as there’s a little bad in every boy, there’s a little mean in every girl”) should be a signal to the reader that unless she is a 14-year-old girl, she should look elsewhere for help navigating office politics. Agent: Elaine Markson, Markson Thoma Literary Agency. (Nov.)

Bust Magazine

"Offers a friendly, consoling tone that is sure to help women who are at their wits’ end. The book even asks readers to examine their own office behavior, pointing out that even seemingly innocuous gossip can be harmful to others."

Library Journal

Psychotherapist Crowley and management consultant Elster (coauthors, Working with You Is Killing Me) return to the subject of toxic workplaces, but their focus is on "mean girls," or especially noxious women colleagues, and the numerous ways they can affect the satisfaction and career goals of their fellow female coworkers. It's a narrow subject, and the book reads more like an online advice article than a cohesive narrative. Each chapter describes a different type of mean girl, from "meanest of the mean" to "group mean," and every mean in between, and then offers advice in the form of "Don't Go There" (actions you shouldn't take) and "Go Here" (actions you should), as well as sidebar "Coffee Breaks" that give general advice for such challenging workplaces. VERDICT If working with a "mean girl" is truly a reader's biggest problem at work, dipping into this book for specific advice might help. Those looking for broader suggestions on workplace relations might prefer the authors' earlier book or more engaging titles like Robert Sutton's The No Asshole Rule.—Sarah Statz Cords, The Reader's Advisor Online, Middleton, WI

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176298567
Publisher:	McGraw Hill-Ascent Audio
Publication date:	10/30/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	579,094

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