The Myth of the Nice Girl

Achieving a Career You Love Without Becoming a Person You Hate

1.One of the main messages from the author is that she wants women to feel that they can bring their whole selves to work. Have you experienced a time in which you felt like you were censoring your authentic self, whether at work or in a personal setting? After reading the book, what did you take away that you can implement to feel comfortable bringing your whole self to work? 

2.There is a lot of discussion in the book about niceness, kindness, and empathy. Would you have used the words nice, kind, and/or empathetic to describe yourself before reading this book? What about after reading the book? Is it important to you to have these words associated with your personal brand?

3.There is a Forbes article about this book which asks, “Why can't traits like 'nice' and 'kind' live in conjunctionwith 'strong' and 'assertive'? Do we really need to cultivate a tough girl persona to be successful?" Do you feel like women are often referred to in either-or terms -either nice and kind OR strong and assertive? Do you think men experience the same dichotomies when they are described? Have you ever changed your natural personality -either to appear softer or more assertive -based on a situation or your environment at the time?

4.Can you think of a time where you were described by others in a way that was surprising to you or doesn’t align with how you would describe yourself –something that was not in alignment with your personal brand? How did that make you feel? Did you make any changes to your behavior to align the two? 

5.The last chapter of the book, "Multiply your Superpower" is about mentorship. According to a study in 2011 -only about 20% of women had ever had a professional mentor. We know mentorship and networking is key to growingyour career and rising in business. Have you ever had a mentor and/or mentored someone else? If not, what is holding you back to engaging in a mentoring relationship? After reading the book, are you encouraged to participate in a mentor/mentee relationship?