Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Difficult to follow at times and a little slow. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Being in a male dominated industry, sometimes you crave more of the female input for so many reasons, from empathy to feeling validated.

While I didn't feel a connection with everything in this book, I still took away enough information to make me feel heard and understood.

I love women leaders. I feel like women leaders can tap into their emotions while being able to read the room. This book solidifies my opinion. Every stories told are exhilarating and compelling, making me wanting to root for them.

The book reads like a mémoir with many personal stories, rather than a study. The sense of admiration for women Julia interviewed is almost palpable so overall it felt like a nice touch

WHEN WOMEN LEAD by Julia Boorstin offers a look, in the author's words, at "understand[ing] how some women had been able to become exceptions. ... how they had done it - and what we can learn from them." Boorstin is CNBC's Senior Media & Tech correspondent, an on-air reporter who created and launched CNBC Disruptor 50, an annual list of private companies that are transforming the economy and challenging more established industry leaders. She uses her networking and reporting skills to identify and interview mostly female executives and entrepreneurs. Those narratives, combined with insights from academic research, provide the outline for Boorstin's book which highlights strengths like being more empathetic, being more open to varied views, and leading with vulnerability. Her book is divided into three parts: How and Why Women Build Strong Companies; Fixing Problems; and Creating New Patterns. Boorstin is an engaging writer and provides anecdotes across a variety of industries, including healthcare, fashion, and finance. I particularly liked the image she referenced of Bumble going public with founder Whitney Wolfe Herd ringing the opening Nasdaq bell with her toddler on her hip. Our business students (and readers in general) will benefit from discussing and embracing Boorstin's summary of women's leadership models: "communal, empathetic, vulnerable, and purpose driven." WHEN WOMEN LEAD received a starred review from Kirkus ("show[s] the positive impact of diversity and argues convincingly that the best counter to bias is citing the profitability figures and performance evidence for women-led firms.").

CONCEPT: 4.5/5
WRITING: 4/5
OVERALL: 4/5
Introduction

Julia Boorstin, the debut author of When Women Lead, has herself worked in a highly power-imbalanced environment as a reporter at CNBC.

For this book, she interviewed various women in business about the discrimination they faced and how their leadership changed things. Workplace discrimination is not limited to the boardroom alone; it is in fact the reflection of the pervading gender norms in the world.

What is the book all about?

To explain how women founders and company heads face blatant discrimination, Julia uses social experiments, statistics as well as personal experiences as proof. She also talks about why it is beneficial to have more women on the board of directors and in leadership positions.

Now, this isn’t a new concept and has been previously affirmed by various sources.
In this book, we get to know not only the woman entrepreneur but the woman within her too – her passion, purpose, and what led her to the business.

The book touches upon aspects like workplace diversity, business research, and scaling, but more from a societal angle.

The author emphasizes how women in business have not only made profits for themselves but created a real change in the world. This is not only in the areas of business across myriad sectors but also in non-profit and social responsibility sectors.

Some of the women spoken about in this book are Whitney Wolfe Herd (Bumble), Reese Witherspoon (Reesesbookclub), Jennifer Hyman (Rent the Runway), Sallie Krawcheck (Ellevest), etc.

Writing style and criticism

Julia’s presentation and details are in an extremely generic format with hardly any financial analysis or jargon. So, one doesn’t need to be from a finance or business background to understand the book. The language is also very simple and broken down for a layman to comprehend.

As for the length of the book, it is quite bulky. Also, because it is nonfiction and doesn’t have a story, this is a book not meant to be rushed in one sitting. I took my own time, reading a few chapters a day, and my recommendation to you would be to do the same.
What I liked and didn’t 

My favourite part of the book was the discussion of sexual harassment in the workplace. Workplace harassment has a lot to do with the skewed power equation, and unless that changes, the laws can’t do much for the victims. 

What I felt was insufficient about the book is that it doesn’t mention the reason why women are not the CEOs they could be – because of the expectation to run the household and have kids and raise them.

While the author does talk about how a woman’s worth is downsized after she announces her pregnancy, there is no further discussion of what happens later. Millions of women leave the workforce to care for their families (not like they have an option) and hence the minuscule percentage of women in power. However, this isn’t considered in the book.

When Women Lead is a book that can be read by anyone but is an enlightening and worthy read, especially for women entrepreneurs, employees, and investors.

This book offers a deep dive into the benefits of having more women in leadership positions. The author profiles many women, from those leading start-ups to publicly-traded company CEOs. These womens' stories were enlightening and encouraging, while highlighting hurdles that women continue to face in the workplace. I found myself wishing the author would have dug deeper into ideas for supporting the female workforce as it continues to grow over the long term, but that's an idea for a sequel!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

When Women Lead highlights the disparate realities that women and men face in the workplace.

Initially I was drawn to this book with the hope that beyond the stories and experiences shared that there would also be an way forward, and indication for the reader on how to navigate the complex challenges that arise for women in leadership. Whilst it fell short on an individual action level Boorstin did an exceptional job of unveiling the need for systematic change to address the majority of projects facing female leaders.

Upon reading I'm left feeling frustrated and discouraged with the current state of the world but remain optimistic that systematic change is on the horizon.

Shout out of appreciation to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

This one is a good book to read if you are having second thoughts about your abilities in your workplace. It will certainly inspire you. Although for a very seasoned self help book reader, this book has not offered a lot of ordinary ideas that I will say 'oh this one is not your usual stereotyped book!' coz it will eventually read like that.

However, if you're just starting in the self help reading journey, you will find this one to be an inspiring especially if you are trying to lead or bring yourself to the top in your job.

Using her own experiences, Julia tells the readers what is happening when women take up leadership in organizations. While this book seems personal, the author also provides various researches to support the arguments throughout the book. Overall, it is a delightful read and I really appreciate the author's efforts behind this book!

Leadership is not about women only, it is a non-gender related confidence of communal power and support, striving to reach goals for the best of team, business and humanity. The book provides interesting examples that teach empathy and resilience, support and confidence, learning by doing and creating new things to covers gaps. The stories are very powerful and you learn as you read.

Boorstin did an exceptional job of laying out the disparate realities that women and men face in the workplace, and especially in the realm of entrepreneurship, through a series of personal stories that are seamlessly interwoven with studies and data showcasing the gender divide and its implications.

This book really resonated with me. It was upsetting to see how much of Boorstin’s experiences and those of the women that she interviewed mirrored my own, and undoubtedly reflect the circumstances that countless women endure on a daily basis in their professional lives.

I really appreciated how Boorstin highlighted the advantages of having females in leadership with quantifiable data and facts. It helped reinforce something that I believe myself and many other women are already aware of, and I almost thought it would be more helpful for men to read this book to gain a deeper understanding of the advantages that women bring to the table.

I do wish there had been a greater focus on how to navigate these challenges. For example, Boorstin mentioned that female CEOs of start-ups tend to have more success obtaining funding if their business has a social purpose. I thought that this was a very useful and practical bit of advice that could be applied on an individual level, and would have liked to see more similar tips. However, Boorstin makes it clear that systemic change is needed to address a majority of the problems facing female leaders, and, accordingly, this book just left me feeling largely frustrated and upset about the current state of the world.

It truly was an exceptionally done inside look at women who lead, and I’m very glad that I read this one.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you @netgalley for the eARC in exchange for a review

It's been a while since I've read a nonfiction, and it's been even longer since I've read feminist literature. This book definitely grabbed my attention, although we've been talking about leadership in science for quite a while.

First of all, I'm genuinely shocked by author's personal experience. Right from the beginning we are put into to the world where you have to put on a mask of resilience and "genderlessness" in order to be acknowledged by your colleagues.

From my personal experience as a woman in science it was never as harsh as for Julia. When she cites her mother saying "when you grow up, you can be anything you want" (loosely phrased here) and later tells us that she still agrees with this statement only partially, I rather disagree. BUT it hurts to know that in other professions, maybe in other countries women still cannot get leading positions just cause they are not males.

The book reads like a mémoir with many personal stories, rather than a study. The sense of admiration for women Julia interviewed is almost palpable so overall it felt like a nice touch.