Please like me -- The Goldilocks conundrum -- Likeability and authenticity as luxuries -- Damned if you do -- The power grab -- Public person; private self -- Angry women everywhere -- Addressing the emotional cost -- Shifting away from likeability -- What we can do, as individuals and as organizations -- Let her lead

"Women are perceived as either strong and cold or weak and warm. An award-winning journalist and cohost of PBS's Amanpour and Company examines likeability and empowers readers to reject an outdated image of leadership instead of reinventing themselves"--

Even competent women must appear likeable to successfully negotiate a salary, ask for a promotion, or take credit for a job well done, and this minefield is doubly loaded when likeability intersects with race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and parental status. Menendez examines the pressure put on women to be amiable at work, home, and in the public sphere, and explores the price women pay for internalizing those demands. She proposes practical solutions for confronting the cultural patterns holding us back, encourages us to value unique talents and styles instead of muting them, and reminds us that while likeability is part of the game, it will not break you. -- adapted from jacket