Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction

by Marcia Reynolds

After years of coaching high-achieving women, master coach and personal development expert Marcia Reynolds started noticing something many of the clients with whom she worked were plagued by anxiety over their own restless responses to the world.  These women were jumping jobs regularly, defining and redefining their relationship with the marketplace, constantly questioning their roles as wives and mothers and sisters.

Dubbing her subjects "wander women," Reynolds found that the mentoring and personal development resources currently available don't address this audience's needs. They don't want to balance their lives; they want to find peace of mind in the chaos. They don't necessarily want to learn how to gain a seat in the boardroom; they want projects they can run with or businesses they can run on their own. The problem isn't their level of stress; it's about knowing who they are and what they want to accomplish in this one lifetime.

Wander Woman explores how generational shifts and changing expectations of working women have fostered a new kind of restlessness among many. Through real-life stories she reveals the hopes and dreams, disappointments and challenges this group of high-achieving women are facing. And, most importantly, she provides exercises and development strategies for readers as they make their journey to peace and finally come to rest with a strong sense of identity and purpose.

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

235 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Marcia Reynolds, PsyD has a passion for discovering and sharing how the brain works, especially the brains of high-achieving women. She speaks globally on the needs and challenges of today's smart, strong women and provides customized programs on creating workplaces that inspire high-performers. Her books been quoted in many publications including Harvard Communications Newsletter, U.S. Business Review, and The New York Times and has appeared on ABC World News and National Public Radio."

Reviews

[Frances Flynn Thorsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you ask yourself, "Can I be happy? Is that enough? Am I born a certain way? Can I change myself? If I choose to let go or not be focused on achievement, who will I be? How can I find a life partner or keep my relationship healthy even when I am always busy?"

"Wander Woman: How High Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction" (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2010) offers emotional antioxidants and avenues of deep introspection that trade the questions for answers.

Marcia Reynolds is a Master Certified Coach and PsyD, organizational psychologist, an international pioneer in executive coaching, a coach's Coach. She is a revolutionary thought leader who blends ancient wisdom, evidence based neuroscience, and persuasive coaching techniques in a targeted guide for high achieving women. She is a Huffington Post blogger and a serious devotee of social media. Her Facebook and Twitter engagement and her personal blogs are blessings in the social space.

I discovered Reynolds on Huffington Post and followed her social crumbs across new media. Every morsel of content the author shares online is rich and thought provoking. "Wander Woman" is no exception to her rule governing excellence.

In a refreshing departure from coaching content du jour, the author does not channel celebrity spirits. She offers no funky discourse about law of physics applied to law of attraction that Max Planck Society scientists find wildly entertaining. "Wander Woman" is a welcome antidote for women suffering from law of attraction fatigue.

I suffer from acute and chronic professional wanderlust. I am a restless spirit, a fractured soul. My adult journey has found me in newspaper reporting, magazine editing (print and online), real estate sales and training, online community management, risk management consulting, social media and blog coaching, and content creation across numerous venues. The author has the uncanny ability to make this reader think she tailored this book for me alone.

Interestingly, Reynolds appeals to women navigating through, below, and away from the glass ceiling -- seasoned executives, middle managers with a yen to grow professionally without climbing the corporate ladder, and entrepreneurs.

The author shares a poignant personal story of youthful adversity, a short stint in jail following an adventure with illegal drugs. She harnesses the will and power to transform a seminal experience into two masters' degrees and a doctoral degree, focusing on exploration of the human brain and behavior.

"This book is intended to help you answer the questions you ask when you wander ... Will I ever find peace of mind in the moment? Will I ever feel that the work I've done is good enough? How can I know if I am doing what I am meant to do as my purpose on this planet?" - Marcia Reynolds, MCC, PsyD.

I found conclusive answers to each question in a compelling week of emotion packed reading.

I debunked assumptions I shared with other women tied to self-limiting beliefs and uncompromising posture in key areas of my professional life.

I applied Reynolds' scoring card to identify dominant behavior patterns as archetypes. I selected several archetypes to serve as my personal Board of Directors, and I summon their energy in combination, at will, when I commence my day. As my tasks and challenges vary, so do the energies attached to them. They respond energetically and joyfully to each challenge and they appear happy to be acknowledged.

My Rebel archetype scored a solid 10, but I kept her off the Board ... she tends to incite emotional riots within me and with people around me. Revolutionary is more constructive, and working in conjunction with Visionary and Connector and Collaborator we may be able to score more success in some arenas. Coach and Teacher are busy these days, and their work will be enhanced with more input from Steward. Artist needs more oxygen. She is going to be Visionary's right arm.

Reynolds explores emotional intelligence, choices and consequences in decision making, behaviors, and the capacity to learn.

"Wander Woman" is more than a book. It is a transformation program for high achieving women.

I look forward to sharing proven Appreciative Dialogue techniques with a partner to problem solve issues. Appreciative Inquiry builds on what is working rather than trying to fix what is not working. Reynolds lays out the premise, step-by-step exercises, and constructs a strict "Appreciative Dialogue: Rules for the Road" the author has tested in companies and organizations across the country and around the world.

The book includes step-by-step personal exercises and detailed instructions for creating communities of support where Wander Women can help each other by testing out new behaviors and celebrate their wins together

It is one of the best books I have ever read. I am inspired, grounded, and feeling clear and happy about my path. I am a Wander Woman wearing a quieted soul. The pain of fracture yields to contentment. This book is a treasure.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started reading it, I fell in love with this book. I immediately identified with some of the characteristics outlined as the "Wander Woman". Then, I realized I don't have enough career experience to relate to most of the rest of the book yet. This is going in the "to read after you've tried a career position instead of just a job for awhile" pile. :)

[SerahRose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright, I'm finally giving up on this one. I picked it up because I thought it might pertain to me. I am, after all high-achieving and don't hold down a job for more than a couple of years without getting bored.

But, this book is NOT about me. It's for women who have no self-esteem and would be perfectly okay letting someone--the author--patronize them with self-help tips. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's useful for some women out there. But the subtitle and book description are not accurate.

I thought I could wade through it with the hopes of getting something useful. But i can't. I made it a third of the way through even though it's been sitting next to my bed for months.

[Patricia Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books was a valuable tool for me to review a lot of things in my life in 2010 and now in 2011 I am doing a great deal more of the exercises - it is a book for many of us - even if we are in our third career and have our own business - it is a good read.

[Sharla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the guidance in this book to be too general to be very useful.

[Stephanie Thoma · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Wander Woman" is written in a unique way, assuming the perspective of the reader, with many passages beginning with "you feel," which wasn't always accurate, leaving me feeling disconnected from the text. I think the subtitle could include mention of corporate America since I imagined the book would have been more relevant to freelancers and self-employed women as well.

Takeaways:
- International Coaching Federation: something to look into if you're seeking to become/get a professional coach
- The Industrial Revolution as a gateway for strong women, whose men felt belittled by the domineering ways of their bosses and took that passivity home
- Archetypes: victim (refuse responsibility and stay in a 'bad' position), saboteur (if success isn't probable or guaranteed, either stop trying or actively end the situation), prostitute (don't ask for enough comp and readily give your skills and talents away)
- Appreciative dialogue and inquiry (David L. Cooperrider) define your values, hopes and passion to build upon what's working vs. getting lost in what's not, "what can I continue?" vs. "what's next?"
- 4 steps for detaching: 1. focus on what you can control 2. let go of what you thought would happen 3. laugh at yourself 4. don't give up
- commonly confused: desire to feel fulfilled and desire for recognition
- being a strong woman vs. woman of strength

Plenty of book recs/mentions, including:
-Emotional intelligence- Daniel Goleman
- Self Renewal - John Gardner ("Human beings have always employed enormous amounts of clever devices for running away from themselves.")
- The Little Book on Meaning - Laura Berman Fontang ("If our goal was to feel bliss, reverence, or love... how would our journey change?")
- Life Makeovers: 52 Practical & Inspiring Ways to Improve Your Life 1 Week at a Time - Cheryl Richardson

[Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t realise this book was written in 2008 when I bought it, and I wouldn’t have bought it if I had noticed. Its commentary on cultural shifts and personality types is pretty “of its era”, and also generalises so wildly as to be unhelpful. More than that I found it to be too didactic, certain of itself, uncritical of norms, and too willing to flatten complexity to be useful as an examination of its subject.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good advice for executive women seeking meaning

Surprisingly little research has examined why contemporary women leave their corporate jobs for new ones more often than men do. Organizational psychologist Marcia Reynolds interviewed 100 “high-achieving women” to discover why they often change jobs and don’t wait around to climb the career ladder. Their answers are not shocking, but they are enlightening, particularly when they underscore the differences between present-day females in the business world compared to previous generations of distaff trailblazers. Reynolds offers useful case studies, exercises and advice to help women understand their restlessness and find their heart’s desire, whether at work or at home. While her advice is not radically original – and she acknowledges her reliance upon many other sources – she has identified a new cohort of working people: meaning-driven, high-achieving women. And she writes with warmth, candor and clarity. getAbstract finds her book quite constructive for “wander women” seeking answers. However, its insights might also benefit men who want to understand the wander women in their professional and personal lives and who also seek purpose in their work.

To learn more about this book, read the following online summary: http://www.getabstract.com/summary/14...

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this on kindle for PC - this book is about high achieving women who remain unfulfilled in the corporate world. It explains the shift in expectations of woman in top jobs over the last decades, and how many high-performing women may find the meaning in life they are seeking in whatever career they may put themselves into.

These are the 'wander women' - the women who have a lust to forever move on - to other jobs or even geographically in pursuit of the sense of meaning in themselves, despite achieving much within the companies they work in, or projects they have set themselves at home.

The book contains a series of stories about both men and women and exercises designed to help such wander women in refinding their values through the projects and work they take on. Using interviews and the latest psychological breakthroughs, the book attempts to change a woman's viewpoint and in finding a connectedness with what they are doing and providing.

As I am personally only a few pages into this book in ebook form, I can already see that some of this thought-provoking reading already has triggered several nods from my own past and present.

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s interesting how we get stuck into seeing ourselves in a certain way. We view our personality as unchangeable, often focusing on very specific aspects while completely ignoring other ones. We might even berate ourselves not realizing that other parts of us are waiting for their chance to shine too.

I am a Wander Woman. I’ve worked very hard in life to become successful and I am proud of my accomplishments. Yet, no matter what I achieve, I can’t sit still. I always have to have multiple projects on the go or I get bored and depressed. I take a stack of books on vacation.

The funny thing is that before reading Wander Woman, I would never have described myself as such. I looked at my life and couldn’t always connect the dots to figure out what I was trying to achieve (beyond exhaustion). Now, I see it. More than that, I see that I was often using the wrong tool for the job at hand, using a hammer to change a bicycle tire. I am more than capable (I believe that now), I just have to open up to other parts of my personality to keep on track and use the right tool for the job at hand.

[Starleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio book.

While I was listening to it I could relate to the reasons why ambitious women change jobs and even careers even though it sometimes doesn't make sense in the logical of traditional career trajectories.

This was the first time that I heard someone acknowledge in a career book that sometimes people leave because they get good at something, and the challenge of learning to the point of mastery was the whole point of the job. This was also the first time that I heard the phrase "moving horizontally" in an organization and it made a lot of sense to me.

What I particularly appreciated about the book was the section on things you can do to stay in your job if you're feeling the urge to move on but aren't sure whether you should. Sort of like relationship repairs but for your job instead of your marriage.

[Akanksha · Rating 2 out of 5]

picked up this book just looking at its title. This books is for all those women, who strive hard to get successful. This book will make you re-look at yourself and your life in a different way. We all have a personality that we feel is unchangeable. This book acts as a tool to help us realize our mistakes and deal with various situations in a different way. However, I felt that the book could have been shorter. Overall, I would rate it close to 3.1-3.2.

[Akanksha · Rating 2 out of 5]

picked up this book just looking at its title. This books is for all those women, who strive hard to get successful. This book will make you re-look at yourself and your life in a different way. We all have a personality that we feel is unchangeable. This book acts as a tool to help us realize our mistakes and deal with various situations in a different way. However, I felt that the book could have been shorter. Overall, I would rate it close to 3.1-3.2.

[Maia Losch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is a very good book. Just check before you buy it that you are a high-achieving women. I thought I am but I am not, so I read only a part of it. Is not that I did not find it interesting, is only that -as per description- I am a normal acheiving woman (or a "low-achieving" one :) )

[Jule · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall nothing really life changing. I skimmed the book more than reading it in detail after reaching approx. 20%... I think most of the (journaling) excercises would be helpful for self reflection but they are not good enough to buy the book only to get them.

[Jennifer]

Insightful