The beauty of Womenomics is that it is not just an academic business trend. Far from it. The wave we are describing has a direct impact on your life. If, like us, you love work but love life too and want to find time for both, then the power of pink profits is the foundation on which to build your own New All.
We believe we have uncovered a valuable secret. Businesses have known for a while how useful and profitable women are. By sharing this privileged information with you here we’ve given you the tools to negotiate. You can now go to your firm with the knowledge of just how much they want to keep their good, professional women. That gives you a strong hand to play.
One of the women we interviewed for this book, Sarah Slusser (whom you’ll get to know better later on), hit the spot about this newfound power of women to negotiate for not just the job positions we want but also for the lives we want.
“I think that there’s definitely been an understanding that it’s really important to have women in the workplace,” Sarah told us. “That the women who have been there as long as I have, have so much to bring to the table that anything the company can work out with us is worth it. There’s definitely that feeling. That our experience is so valuable to the company.”
It’s one of the great virtuous circles of Womenomics. You have power, so you feel more confident, so you come across as in control, and that is very attractive to an employer. You suddenly seem like an even hotter commodity because you project your power. Employers are far keener to accommodate someone who seems on top of themselves and their work— professionally and mentally. Pandering doesn’t work; power does.
But what, exactly, does this mean for you? What does this power look like, on the ground or in the cubicle or even in the corner office? How are you supposed to wield it? When is the best time to squint your eyes and demand to live and work the way you’ve always really wanted? When and how do you have this conversation with your boss?
All of these are important questions, and each of them will be answered in the course of Womenomics. Our new power is only part of the story —think of it as a critical tool to help us get what we want. That turns out to be the heart of the revolution— figuring out what we want. As you’ll learn in chapter 2, the roar from the trenches for a new way of working, for a New All, is almost deafening.
Once upon a time big bad companies treated women as pawns not princesses. As in all good fairy stories, the princess has triumphed, which, let’s face it, doesn’t really surprise us. Princesses, like most women, are very good at what they do.
news you can use
1. Companies that employ more women make more money. It’s documented.
2. Your perspective and management style are hot.
3. We do most of the buying, so they now know they need us to do the selling.
4. A talent shortage looms, and women account for more than half of the educated workforce.
5. It’s expensive to lose experienced, professional women, so businesses will compromise.
6. In a downturn, companies are looking for creative ways to cut labor costs without big layoffs. This could be the perfect time to negotiate for time.