Women Who Work : My Review
I recently finished Ivanka Trump's Women Who Work book, and I have to admit it was pretty useful to me. In fact, reading was one of the things that finally helped me find the drive to start this blog again. Since it helped inspire me to restart Sorority Blogger, it only feels fair to dedicate one week to it, so here are some of the points from Women Who Work that I found most interesting.
First, I love that Ivanka starts the book talking a bit about where she is at the point in her life when the book was being published compared to when she was writing it. A lot of things definitely changed for her and her family in a very short period of time. Along with that, I thought it was impressive of Ivanka to own the fact that she had some privileges when she was starting her career that other people may not have (like the Trump family name). However, she also owns the fact that she worked very hard to get where she is today.
A lot of the items I found the most useful at this point in my life (26, still relatively new to my career, unmarried, no children yet) were found in the first half of Women Who Work. The second half still had some things that resonated with me now, but I believe it'll resonate much more as I progress with my career and family aspirations.
Women Who Work actually started with one of my favorite chapters: Dream Big. Right at the very beginning Women Who Work describes an idea that I love, and have done in my own way even before reading the book. It states that you should write down 3 positive things that happen every day. Although I don't always do this exactly, I do at least once or twice a year like to write down some of the things I've had the opportunity to be a part of as well as some things that I take for granted every day to remind myself of all of the good things in my life, no matter how small. These can be anything from having a job and a roof over my head (even if I still live with my mom) to getting to see Incubus in concert earlier this year or all of the time's we've been able to go and visit with my boyfriend's sister, brother in law, and new baby nephew. Writing down all of these things helps put things in perspective for me and helps remind me how much I want to give back to all of the organizations, including my sorority, that have helped me along the way so that together we can continue to inspire young women and men, and help them make happy memories as well.
After this, Women Who Work gives readers some tips on creating goals and mission statements. It then goes on to discuss mentoring and how to find a mentor. Women to women mentoring has been a common theme I've heard in my life recently. My national sorority recently launched a program to help pair mentors with mentees both at the alumnae and collegiate levels. However, I'm still working on deciding exactly what I hope to get out of the sorority's mentor program before I jump in.
Women Who Work also discussed negotiating tips and tips for being the best employee or manager you can be. Negotiating is something that I do not believe I am overly skilled at, and want to improve on so this section felt particularly useful to me.
Time management and self care are some more great points in Women Who Work. Sometimes I need a reminder to sit back and take care of myself (hence why it took me so long to finally start my 21 day yoga class). It's really nice to know that I'm not alone in this, and to get another reminder to actually take that extra time.
From here on is where Women Who Work begins to resonate more with future me than present me. It talks about prioritizing family, work, or both as well as some tips for coming back to work after maternity leave or from a period of years away from the work force to focus on your family. It goes into details about leadership roles and how to be an effective manager.
In truth, there are so many interesting points in Women Who Work (not all of which I included in here), and I'm sure that every woman or man who reads it will find different areas of the book that speak most to them. Overall, I'd say it was a good book and an inspiring read, and I feel like it helped me learn a lot more about who Ivanka Trump is as a person and what she stands for.
First, I love that Ivanka starts the book talking a bit about where she is at the point in her life when the book was being published compared to when she was writing it. A lot of things definitely changed for her and her family in a very short period of time. Along with that, I thought it was impressive of Ivanka to own the fact that she had some privileges when she was starting her career that other people may not have (like the Trump family name). However, she also owns the fact that she worked very hard to get where she is today.
A lot of the items I found the most useful at this point in my life (26, still relatively new to my career, unmarried, no children yet) were found in the first half of Women Who Work. The second half still had some things that resonated with me now, but I believe it'll resonate much more as I progress with my career and family aspirations.
Women Who Work actually started with one of my favorite chapters: Dream Big. Right at the very beginning Women Who Work describes an idea that I love, and have done in my own way even before reading the book. It states that you should write down 3 positive things that happen every day. Although I don't always do this exactly, I do at least once or twice a year like to write down some of the things I've had the opportunity to be a part of as well as some things that I take for granted every day to remind myself of all of the good things in my life, no matter how small. These can be anything from having a job and a roof over my head (even if I still live with my mom) to getting to see Incubus in concert earlier this year or all of the time's we've been able to go and visit with my boyfriend's sister, brother in law, and new baby nephew. Writing down all of these things helps put things in perspective for me and helps remind me how much I want to give back to all of the organizations, including my sorority, that have helped me along the way so that together we can continue to inspire young women and men, and help them make happy memories as well.
After this, Women Who Work gives readers some tips on creating goals and mission statements. It then goes on to discuss mentoring and how to find a mentor. Women to women mentoring has been a common theme I've heard in my life recently. My national sorority recently launched a program to help pair mentors with mentees both at the alumnae and collegiate levels. However, I'm still working on deciding exactly what I hope to get out of the sorority's mentor program before I jump in.
Women Who Work also discussed negotiating tips and tips for being the best employee or manager you can be. Negotiating is something that I do not believe I am overly skilled at, and want to improve on so this section felt particularly useful to me.
Time management and self care are some more great points in Women Who Work. Sometimes I need a reminder to sit back and take care of myself (hence why it took me so long to finally start my 21 day yoga class). It's really nice to know that I'm not alone in this, and to get another reminder to actually take that extra time.
From here on is where Women Who Work begins to resonate more with future me than present me. It talks about prioritizing family, work, or both as well as some tips for coming back to work after maternity leave or from a period of years away from the work force to focus on your family. It goes into details about leadership roles and how to be an effective manager.
In truth, there are so many interesting points in Women Who Work (not all of which I included in here), and I'm sure that every woman or man who reads it will find different areas of the book that speak most to them. Overall, I'd say it was a good book and an inspiring read, and I feel like it helped me learn a lot more about who Ivanka Trump is as a person and what she stands for.
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