Disrupters: Success Strategies from Women Who Break the Mold

by Patti Fletcher

Disrupters is the anti-Lean In. It's not about what women should do. It's not a preachy TEDTalk. It shows what different women business leaders have done to reach success as they define it, from board members to CEOs to freelancers. The game of business is stacked against women because they follow the unspoken rules of corporate culture, made long before women entered the workforce. This book helps them recognize those rules, then showcases the women who've found success by breaking them.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Feminism, Personal Development, Womens, Self Help

334 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 16, 2018

Reviews

[Karin Künnapas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about some amazing women and how much they are changing the world. This is also a book about how much work still needs to be done so women would have the same kind of opportunities and trust as leaders and innovators. I have to say that it still annoys me that we have a to talk about it. However, I definitely agree that equality should not come from quotas and forced diversity.

There is a lot of research put into this. Data on how company performance improves by adding women to their boards. Data on how hard it is for women entrepreneurs to raise funds although startups with women on the teams perform better. Data on what kind of growth diversity can bring to a company. And I especially enjoyed a number of interviews with true disrupters.

I liked how the book emphasized that the goal is not to act and lead as a man. The goal is to achieve it all as a woman by getting out of our head, building up a supportive tribe, getting up the courage to take the job and and supporting and mentoring other woman to achieve it all.

[Cara Putman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a relatively quick read that compiles research on women who are disrupting by creating the careers they want. It has good tips for young career women as well as profiles of some incredible, high-level c-suite women. I listened to it as an audiobook--it did get a little confusing in the interviews because it was hard to tell when it was the author and when it was the woman she interviewed. A book I can recommend to the young business students I teach.

[Annika Lentso · Rating 5 out of 5]

See on üks väga hea raamat feminismist. Sellest, mis on tegeliku definitsiooni taga (minu jaoks). Feminism ei ole meeste vastu, vaid süsteemi vastu. Tihti on need, kes teevad otsuseid, harjunud tegema vadi ühtmoodi. Mõtlemata, et ka teisiti saab. Ja tihti on naised ise selle vana süsteemi mõtte kandjad. Ja see raamat ei räägi vaid naistest ja meestest, aga ka muul moel teistmoodi inimesest (nahavärv, religioon vmt võõras komponent).
Ehk siis, mulle meeldis, et räägiti asjadest veidi teistsusuguse ja emotsioonidest vähem kantud ning teaduspõhisemalt (autor tegi võrdõiguslikkusest oma doktoritöö). Ja kaasa võtan ma ehk selle, et selleks, et olla hea juht, ei pea olema juht nagu keskmine valge mees. Sest juhtimisstiilid on erinevad ja see on ok. Ning me jõuame võrdõiguslikemasse ühiskonda siis, kui me ei pane enam sõnade ette eesliidet nais-. Naisjuht, naisesimees, naispresident.
Üks näide suhtumisest on ühe ettevõtja liftikõnele (ettevõte tegeles innovatiivse naiste tervisetootega), et miks teha midagi sellist - naised moodustavad ju VAID POOLE elanikkonnas (minu rõhuasetus)? :)

Ühesõnaga-kahesõnaga. Teema, millele mina ei olnud varem väga mõelnud (just enese kontekstis - kui palju minu otsustest on kantud mõttest, et nii on alati olnud ja tehtud). Raputas küll. Ja soovitan lugeda.

[Danielle Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★ (5/5)
This is one of the most inspiring business books I’ve ever read and a particularly good read for women—of any age, race, or profession. No matter where your life has sat on the spectrum of oppression—from free of discrimination to thoroughly oppressed and ridiculed—you will find a story or nugget of truth that somehow resembles your experience of life as a woman. Dr. Patti Fletcher has a soul ignited with the fire of her mission: to pave the way toward gender equity so our daughters and granddaughters can have an easier road. Not only is her story and interviews with others inspiring, but also Fletcher truly equips you with the guiding tools you need to better understand the world of business so you can conquer it. All in all, this book earns five stars from me, and I hope to follow Fletcher’s work in the future and continue to see what barriers she can tear down for the benefit of others.

Disclaimer: this book is for men, too. In my paragraph above, I explicitly told you why this book is so valuable for women and particularly impactful to me as a woman. However, this book is about becoming a strong, well-rounded leader and reaching the finish line that you truly want for yourself. So in every way, the stories, advice, and strategies discussed throughout this book would benefit any man. Fletcher even calls out the fact that most men who heavily consider the weight of business culture on females are the ones with daughters or granddaughters. They, too, should help disrupt the status quo for the benefit of those daughters—in any way they can.

For more details on what this book covers, take a look at the Table of Contents. It is a great mix of research and statistics, personal stories and advice, and real-word strategies for achieving more of what fulfills us most.

[Brenda Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does a great job of leading the reader through examples of success defined by both traditional and non traditional careers. Through real life stories of women who have carved their own paths, the reader is encouraged to not be limited nor defined solely by their gender to achieve their goals. You’ll leave this book realizing you have more options than you thought, and the courage to charge through obstacles.

[Dan Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is equally heart breaking inspiring, definitely a must-read! I love how the author profiles interviews such a diverse collection of successful women, along side her own story. That strategy sets it apart from the typical autobiographical approach often found in books like this. She definitely puts her ideas into practice!

[Kylana · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I got the approval to read this book I was so excited. I mean, who doesn't want to be able to read tips from those who have already paved the way and know how to navigate success.  I know I read a lot of these books, but I really do enjoy them and I typically get a nugget or two that I can then apply to my life.

Each chapter of this book was structured with her writing then at the end there would be a specific person she'd interview and ask questions.  I thought that layout was smart, it gives you a chance to learn about the world and how things typically are at the moment and how to navigate it then get some real life application from a women who has kicked ass.

For me this book didn't really have a lot of new information, and I honestly expected more advice from the women interviews.  I also found the layout of the book made it hard to read at times, like at the begining you get a list of words you need to know, I'm not sure I needed them and I feel like that maybe should have been in the back and then included as they come up in the footer.  I also found the writing at times still needed a bit of editing, she had a lot of extra comments (like this) in her writing that sometimes was distracting.  I get it when you need it occasionally but at one point it felt like every line had comments like that and it made me want to put the book down.

I gripe about the above however I do think there were some great points made in this, and I think it's a book that everyone could read and walk away from knowing more. 

For example, I love that she talks about using tech to help take away bias since a lot of times we are bias but don't see it.  One of her examples was talking about a program on computers that helped prevent cyber bullying by analyzing writing for keywords and phrases that were considered mean and before a teen could submit a post they'd get a popup commenting on it and asking if they were sure.  Apparently in this study 90 percent of the time the student would not end up posting what they'd written. 

She then takes that study and applies it to the workplace "Say you’re sitting down to do the dreaded performance review. Everybody hates doing performance reviews, so you rush through them as quickly as possible. In doing so, you’re often making rushed judgments. For example, in the HR world, you’re not allowed to penalize someone for a leave of absence, right? You’re not supposed to let that influence your performance review of anyone. So if you were to score someone comparatively low, you might have a message pop up that says, “I see you’re about to rate this person lower than you did last year. I also noticed that they took a leave of absence earlier this year. Is it possible that that’s influencing your score?”"

I saw this and my first thought was "why doesn't this already exist?" it sounds so smart. 



Another thing that she says in the book is 

"If I hire a “diversity candidate,” but I’m fine with all the heads of major projects looking just like me, then I haven’t actually changed anything.

I’ve achieved diversity; my team includes someone who isn’t like the rest of us. But if I don’t include you in our discussions, consider your point of view, or value your contributions—if I dismiss your ideas, talents, and experience . . . then while you may be physically present, you don’t really have a seat at the table. If you have to act like me to succeed, then I wasn’t really looking for new ideas; I just wanted a nice picture for the website.

I may have diversity, but I don’t have inclusion."

 So while I do find that a lot of this book was stuff I've read, it doesn't mean I didn't need to read it again.  The more we can read about the changes that need to be done the more likely we are to see it and be able to apply it in real life.  I won't go into much more because I don't want to end up putting a majority of the book in my review but needless to say I'm happy I read it and do think it's worth picking up. 

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was happily impressed with this book. I am always half leary of grabbing up books like this. Business books plus feminism usually leads to a "men suck and we need to be aggressive women and take everything for ourselves" type of message. However, it came highly recommended by a few people and it was written by (who I considered) a credible author.

What I found in the pages was a data-driven conclusion about women in business. Along with that, I found practical advice for myself. Dr. Fletcher goes into how women need to work within business and showed clear, amazing examples of women who did it for themselves.

My favorite part of this is her push for networking. Every business/career advisor I ever had pushed for "networking". But Patti went a little further, she explained that most business networking events/initiatives are meaningless. The more important "networking' relationships end up happening in more informal settings. For years I HATED the "networking" advice because I have attempted this throughout my career, finding most of it to be a complete waste of time. It was refreshing to hear the advice but in a practical way, understanding that most of these efforts can be fruitless. The idea of working with a tribe of people that build a network for each other, a business support group was fascinating to me.

Male or female, anyone in or coming into business could benefit from reading this.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book will be out on January 30th and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to review it. That said, I was not a fan. I loved the cover, title, and the idea of this book- I was excited to read about how to push myself in my career. This book was very "corporate America" and had very little that could be applied to women in human service careers. I guess I was hoping for a book that could apply to more professionals, but I'll just re-read "Strong is the New Pretty" for the millionth time and call it a day!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these stories of women succeeding in the business world without having to behave more like a man. This was a little confusing on audio, especially the first person stories, as sometimes I confused myself thinking it was the author speaking. This was also narrated really well by the author, which probably inadvertently added to my confusion.

[Michelle DeCarlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great read for women looking to break through in a male dominated industry or firm. It is also motivational for changing the industry and board leadership, making it better for those that come after them. I also recommend it for men who believe in the cause and want to be an ally/increase diversity and inclusion.

[Karine Wegrzynowicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring!

I really enjoyed reading Disrupters! It’s a great reminder that as women we owe it to ourselves and our kids to help shape and continue on the path to increased inclusion. If you don’t already have a tribe or understand the value of one, give this book a read!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never read these types of books but am trying to force myself, this one is for a work book club. It was a good one. Going to lead to an interesting discussion with coworkers, I’m a classic disrupter, shocker.

[Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some good points but in all there isn't anything earth shattering or even anything new here. Dr. Fletcher included many studies that I found interesting and several interviews that resonated with me. By the last half, it was feeling a bit redundant.

[singingoutl000ud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing book! Full of real stories, statistics and refreshing advice. Highly recommend for any women looking to grow and disrupt the status quo.

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Ali Preiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was okay

[Carolina Polanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for women in the corporate world.