WHY THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB IS A WOMAN

Asserting that a “new leadership paradigm” has emerged, a journalist offers breezy, admiring profiles of women executives to illustrate how their working styles differ from those of successful men.

Business journalist Book sees the keys to her subjects’ success in self-confidence, a keen sense of what the customer wants, and a collaborative management style. She has selected 14 women who personify the 7 characteristics of her new model of leadership. Many of the women are in technology, but a variety of fields—utilities, travel, television, advertising, candymaking—are represented. The profiles, which are based on Book’s interviews with the subjects and their colleagues, have a distinct magazine-article feel and not only show the women’s management styles but delve into their upbringing, education, prior careers, how their offices are furnished, how they dress, and even how they wear their hair. Among those featured are Marcy Carsey (developer of The Cosby Show and Roseanne) and Meg Whitman (CEO of the online auction house eBay)—both of whom are included for their talent at reinventing the rules of the game. Another important characteristic, according to Book, is being able to sell one’s vision of what the company should be—and to demonstrate that ability she has selected the chairman of a management consultant firm and a partner in a venture capital firm. A third attribute, courage under fire, is shown by two especially gutsy older women who stepped in to run businesses after their husbands died. Other stories depict women executives who focus on opportunities that others have missed, take time to build collegial relationships, transform challenges into opportunities, and attract new business by listening closely to clients.

While Book’s claim that women have created a new model of business leadership needs greater substantiation, these easy-reading portraits of dynamic winners do provide young career women with encouraging role models.