In 2001 when I began my unexpected research into how men think, I consistently heard surprising things about two different areas: how men think in relationships, and how they think in the workplace. When these interviews led to the development of For Women Only, my first non-fiction book on the subject, I quickly realized that I couldn’t focus on both applications in one book. So I focused on the “relationship” application, and have been waiting and preparing for more than five years to tackle the workplace application. Just as women can unintentionally sabotage their marriages by not understanding some of the key ways that men privately think, we can also sabotage our careers.
The Male Factor Hits The Shelves
In 2007, I ramped up the research for The Male Factor: The Unwritten Rules, Misperceptions and Secret Beliefs of Men in the Workplace. It was published January 2010 under Broadway, the business division of Random House, and on January 15th I had the exciting opportunity to be interviewed on the Today Show. watch here
The Male Factor: The Unwritten Rules, Misperceptions and Secret Beliefs of Men in the Workplace, Shaunti Feldhahn
This is a startling and confidential exploration of what men privately think, including about the words and actions of women in the workplace. This book, seven years in the making, is based on nationwide surveys and confidential interviews with more than 3,000 men, ranging from corporate CEOs to factory workers.
Many talented women today risk undermining their careers without realizing it, simply because they don’t understand how they are perceived by their male colleagues and customers. In her new book, bestselling author Shaunti Feldhahn reveals the inner reality behind men’s views—the unspoken expectations that no man would dare to publicly acknowledge, and no woman would learn from an HR department. These revelations include:
- Men’s unwritten ‘rules’ of the workplace
- How men perceive workplace emotion
- What common situations with female colleagues most frustrate men-- and why
- Why revealing clothing can sabotage a woman’s effectiveness
- Why some men think flextime is fine, but equal compensation for it is not
The Male Factor: The Unwritten Rules, Misperceptions and Secret Beliefs of Men in the Workplace, does not tell women ‘what to do.’ It equips women with some critical knowledge that they may not have had before, so they can make informed decisions about their workplace strategies, and compete on a level playing field.
Shaunti Feldhahn is a nationally syndicated columnist and the bestselling author of For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men and For Men Only, which together have sold more than one million copies. She holds a Master in Public Policy from Harvard, worked on Wall Street and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.