The Boss of You

There is a post over at The New Charm School, a blog written by Jennifer a very savvy career coach, that is brilliant enough that I’m going to quote the whole darn thing here.

“Climbing the corporate ladder is tough. Doing it in 3-inch pumps is tougher, according to the National Association of Female Executives.”

Let’s just ignore the fact that cliches are the mark of a lazy writer. Am I the only one who finds this image irritating, for reasons other than the fact that it’s completely overused?

There is a ridiculous new “self-help” book out for women called something like “Climbing the Corporate Ladder in Heels”…I’m so annoyed by the author’s conceit that I can’t be bothered to look it up. Basically, you take a little quiz to find out how you work, and then read your section for helpful career tips. Doesn’t sound too bad, right?

Well, the choices available include CEO…Diva…and Cheerleader. Is this career advice or a catalog of collectible Barbies?

Let me go on record once and for all as saying the following:

“Wearing heels while climbing a ladder is foolish: it’s dangerous, plus people can look up your skirt. “

Part of our motivation for writing Boss Lady has been to counter the trite and outdated approaches to women in the business world that Jennifer is lambasting so very well here. We have a few real groaners on our bookshelf, primarily for research purposes, that riddled with bad at best and downright insulting at worst cliches about women succeeding in business or “a woman’s approach” to business. While we’re not ones to shy away from discussions of gender, we’re far more inclined to see the women we know choosing to wear appropriate shoes for the task at hand (to follow Jennifer’s metaphor) when faced with a ladder to climb. But bad shoe metaphors aside, The New Charm School seems to be full of excellent, on topic advice and kvetching for any thinking business gal.