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Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead... But Gutsy Girls Do: Nine Secrets Every Working Woman Must Know
Career women looking to get ahead will find straight answers and nine proven strategies in this guide from one of the most savvy, successful, powerful women in American business. Top magazine executive Kate White shares the systematic plan that took her from being a "good girl" to a "gutsy girl".
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 12, 1995
20 people are currently reading
477 people want to read
About the author
Kate White
60 books2,833 followersKate White is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nineteen novels of suspense: eleven standalone psychological thrillers, including The Last Time She Saw Him (2024), and eight Bailey Weggins mysteries.
A former Glamour magazine Top Ten College Women Contest winner and cover girl, Kate had a long career in the media business, eventually running five national magazines. For fourteen years she was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, which under her became the most successful magazine in single copy sales in the U.S. Though she loved her magazine career, she decided to leave eleven years ago to concentrate full-time on another passion: writing suspense fiction.
Kate’s first mystery, If Looks Could Kill, was a Kelly Ripa Book Club pick, a #1 bestseller on Amazon, and an instant New York Times bestseller. She has been nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award in the fiction category, and her books have been published in over 30 countries.
Kate is a frequent speaker at libraries, bookstores, and conferences, and has appeared on many television shows, including The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Morning Joe, and CNN’s Quest Means Business.
She is also the author of several bestselling career books, including I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This and the ground-breaking Wall Street Journal bestseller, Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do.
Kate is an avid traveler and spends each winter with her husband at their home in Uruguay. She holds an honorary doctorate of letters from her alma mater, Union College, where she gave the 2022 commencement address.
A former Glamour magazine Top Ten College Women Contest winner and cover girl, Kate had a long career in the media business, eventually running five national magazines. For fourteen years she was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, which under her became the most successful magazine in single copy sales in the U.S. Though she loved her magazine career, she decided to leave eleven years ago to concentrate full-time on another passion: writing suspense fiction.
Kate’s first mystery, If Looks Could Kill, was a Kelly Ripa Book Club pick, a #1 bestseller on Amazon, and an instant New York Times bestseller. She has been nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award in the fiction category, and her books have been published in over 30 countries.
Kate is a frequent speaker at libraries, bookstores, and conferences, and has appeared on many television shows, including The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Morning Joe, and CNN’s Quest Means Business.
She is also the author of several bestselling career books, including I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This and the ground-breaking Wall Street Journal bestseller, Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do.
Kate is an avid traveler and spends each winter with her husband at their home in Uruguay. She holds an honorary doctorate of letters from her alma mater, Union College, where she gave the 2022 commencement address.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 19, 2016
Writing/references are a bit dated but advice is still good.
January 28, 2018
This was a re-read for me as I read it not long after the book was first published in 1996 (I received it as a free gift at a women's conference). I felt that it contains a lot of useful information for women in the working world and was and is definitely good for women of my generation - I felt I needed a refresher in how to deal with those good girl, people pleasing, tendencies and become more gutsy. As this book is over 20 years old now, it did feel a bit dated in parts and as the author states at the end, even she hopes that it becomes redundant! I am looking forward to reading the Gutsy Girl Manifesto when it comes out this year.
June 22, 2019
DNF @ 16%
She started to talk about strategies on Chapter 3. I just read her mini titles only, I felt sufficed. The rest? She's just ramblings, dragging and bore me out. Not me cuppa tea
Read : 09/05/2019 - 22/06/2019
She started to talk about strategies on Chapter 3. I just read her mini titles only, I felt sufficed. The rest? She's just ramblings, dragging and bore me out. Not me cuppa tea
Read : 09/05/2019 - 22/06/2019
dnf
January 5, 2023Deleted from my kindle by mistake at 57%. Oh well. The references are dated but there are some different pieces of good advice which makes it stand out from the usual self-help books that just over-explain one topic.
February 18, 2019
Book 3 in a series of reads recommended by work people.
June 15, 2022
Gutsy Girl
Interesting take on women in the re as l business world. Good advice. I read this to determine if a good book for my daughter. Result:Yes.
Interesting take on women in the re as l business world. Good advice. I read this to determine if a good book for my daughter. Result:Yes.
August 4, 2022
Great book! Really eye opening. A MUST READ fo all women out there!
August 20, 2025
It is an amazing book! I did not know I needed it, tbh. Pretty straightforward and talks to you. It’s like you can read the author talking.
November 16, 2013
Kate White's photo on the cover of this book, her references (like Julia Roberts and Demi Moore,) and her advice on how to develop the career of women made me a little nostalgic to the mindset and the movies of the nineties. The attitude in this book was reminiscent of older TV screens airing films such as "working girl" or "philadelphia". The book itself is more like an article in reader's digest, or in a journal from the 90s with a title that appeals to working moms on how to be 'gutsy' and 'make it' in the male-dominated corporate America.
The points that Kate shares could all summarized in a page or two. Basically, what she is saying is that to "get ahead," a girl must ask for what she wants; she must break the rules, trust her instincts and take (smart) risks; she must walk and talk and dress like a winner, and have clear goals; more importantly, a girl must stop being a doormat and a people-pleaser, and she must not worry about whether people like her or not. She must ask for the raise she deserves, and she must never say "I'm not sure". She must be aware of the "competitors" around her, and she must be 'snappy', 'gutsy,' and not a 'loser'.
That is more or less it. The rest of the book is made up of examples Kate uses to explain her points, and most of these examples are based on her own lessons learned and successes experienced. "You wanna be successful," she seems to be implying, "be more like me, or like Donald Trump, and his wife, and us people who have made it in the United States." While I realize that this might have been deemed a generous book in the 90s, this go-get-em-tiger attitude nevertheless does not sit so well in my stomach. Perhaps that's because the concept of "those who get ahead and those who don't" will always sound a little foreign to me.
The points that Kate shares could all summarized in a page or two. Basically, what she is saying is that to "get ahead," a girl must ask for what she wants; she must break the rules, trust her instincts and take (smart) risks; she must walk and talk and dress like a winner, and have clear goals; more importantly, a girl must stop being a doormat and a people-pleaser, and she must not worry about whether people like her or not. She must ask for the raise she deserves, and she must never say "I'm not sure". She must be aware of the "competitors" around her, and she must be 'snappy', 'gutsy,' and not a 'loser'.
That is more or less it. The rest of the book is made up of examples Kate uses to explain her points, and most of these examples are based on her own lessons learned and successes experienced. "You wanna be successful," she seems to be implying, "be more like me, or like Donald Trump, and his wife, and us people who have made it in the United States." While I realize that this might have been deemed a generous book in the 90s, this go-get-em-tiger attitude nevertheless does not sit so well in my stomach. Perhaps that's because the concept of "those who get ahead and those who don't" will always sound a little foreign to me.
May 26, 2012
Kay White was a keynote speaker at the Women's Leadership Conference I recently attended and I enjoyed her witty irreverent style and wanted to see if her books were as entertaining as she was as a speaker. In addition to the business books she's written she's done a mystery series as well. This book is one of the most useful and yet entertaining books I've read on how to be a more effecctive leader. She gives concrete lessons to help women get over the "good girl" programming we have. It's a great book for women in the corporate world, whether you're experienced or just starting out in your career.
July 1, 2012
This book was fairly informative and interesting, and provided plenty of tips on being gutsy, helping yourself get ahead, and how to take calculated risks, as well as how to watch your back/protect yourself from those who would intentionally or unintentionally sabotage you. The biggest drawback to the book is that most examples are from the magazine/publishing industry (understandable as that's the author's background), so those examples are difficult to translate over to the engineering/building industry, in my case.
October 23, 2012
As other reviewers have stated, this is definitely a dated book. I think the overall message is sound and something most women -if not all- should hear at least once in their lifetime. I wasn't thrilled with the delivery. The schtick of "good girl" and "gutsy girl" was lame. I think the message could have been re-packaged with less fluff and more substance. The author has a good point, but it is lost in the delivery.
January 22, 2012
The advice presented in the book is interesting even though the examples were primarily in the magazine publishing industry. Of course, that is where the author's experiences were gained. I thought that there were useful tidbits.
August 20, 2012
I picked up a few useful things from this book, but I felt like it was longer than it needed to be. The sources used were repeated often, and I wish that there had been either a wider range of experiences represented or more data to back up the author's points (or both). Overall, worth reading.
February 25, 2015
Advice-wise, this book is solid in terms of offering women leadership strategies for the workplace and suggestions on how to be more assertive without being considered "bitchy" or "bossy."
The writing was often hokey and dated, so much so that it was kind of entertaining.
The writing was often hokey and dated, so much so that it was kind of entertaining.
August 1, 2008
A must-have for women navigating today's aggressive career fields in a capitalist society. It puts a lot of "time-honored" teachings in perspective.
March 7, 2009
Blah blah blah, go kick butt in corporate world. Who cares? This book made me tired. Back to the library it goes.
August 21, 2012
This book was my pathfinder moment to gender and feminism back in the days! I still take it off the bookshelf, dust it and read it once in a while!
April 9, 2024
I believe every woman should read this book!
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October 2, 2012A bit dated but the lessons/info was right on
May 17, 2013
A little narcissistic at times but generally encouraging. Teaches you not to be a goody two shoes pushover and ask for what you want! Things are not going to drop from the sky into your lap.
August 22, 2013
nice! I love this book esp cuz it doesn't subject to scrutiny of men, the advices are even more outrageous, and mote useful
November 4, 2014
I liked the no nonsense language in the book. I work in a career dominated by men and realized some of my behaviors were not helping me in my career.
October 7, 2012
Lots of promise, but the author didn't seem very relateable.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews