Offering both a male and female perspective on the dilemmas women face in business, this book provides the benefits of high-level executive coaching to all women who want to take control of their careers and achieve their aspirations for corporate leadership. Despite efforts to increase diversity within Fortune 500 companies and larger numbers of highly motivated and educated women in the workforce, women remain vastly under-represented at the highest levels of corporate leadership. Only about 15 percent of women hold senior executive positions, and about 17 percent are represented on corporate boards; worldwide, only 3–4 percent of CEOs are women. These statistics are in spite of the fact that many companies are actively seeking to take advantage of the financial boost that gender balance at the corporate level brings: Companies that have women in leadership roles are showing higher performance in various measures of profitability, such as revenues, assets, and stockholder value. How can qualified women leaders overcome the myriad longstanding hurdles of the corporate environment and reach the top? Coauthored by executive coaches to some of corporate America's most notable leaders, this practical, research- and experience-based guide identifies the various barriers that block women from reaching positions of corporate leadership and offers readers specific strategies and approaches that they can utilize to advance themselves into the positions they want—and apply their talents and abilities at the very top. The chapters address very specific challenges for women in the business world, such as strengthening and leveraging their closest connections, including those with their mentors and their sponsors; understanding how "performance" means more than doing their jobs well; garnering positive attention and recognition for their efforts and results; and getting honest, practical feedback that will serve to advance their careers.

An esteemed executive coach shows managers and leaders how they can achieve personal and professional success—and leave a mark on the world. Dr. Joelle Jay's The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership draws on timeless principles and Jay's experiences with hundreds of leaders from America's most successful and admired companies, setting out ten essential components of leading well and living well. In The Inner Edge, Dr. Jay offers customized coaching to help leaders overcome challenges, leverage opportunities, and maximize their talents, teams, and time. Through vivid examples, conversations with accomplished leaders, insightful perspectives on leadership, and thought-provoking questions and exercises, Jay shows readers that leadership is not just a label, but a way of life. Finding your edge, gaining clarity, focusing and taking action, expanding your knowledge—under Jay's training these and other principles become concrete achievable assets for living and leading. The result is an essential resource for helping leaders get results for their organizations in a way that capitalizes on—and enriches—their own unique identity.