What Men Don't Tell Women about Business: Opening Up the Heavily Guarded Alpha Male Playbook

by Christopher V. Flett

Book Overview

Discover the deep, dark secrets of the Alpha businessman

As a woman, you know you're every bit as effective and capable as a man is in the arena of business-but that doesn't mean there aren't things you need to know about men and business. In this invaluable guide for the modern businesswoman, former Alpha Male Christopher Flett reveals everything you need to know to understand, communicate, and compete with men in business.

To some...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470145080
• ISBN13: 9780470145081
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

I am going to read this over and over again!

Love this book; it was an eye opener for me. As I read this book I keep on saying to my self "oh my god! I do this - I say this etc". Every woman should read this even if she is not in business. This book will empower women who want to succeed in life or business. It will give you some good insight into what men think and how women unknowingly sabotage themselves. I am going to read it a few more times.

A good book to read for one perspective of business.

I actually liked this book. And, as the author states, it's good to start the conversation he refers to. The conversation on women working in business. Maybe after a generation or sooner, women won't even need to adhere to guidelines and advice like those in this book. But it seems they may still have to now to stay in business. I think the book is best read on a level of understanding and observing higher than someone just entering adult life. That way you can actually get through the whole book without getting angry at the author. The author may disagree since he speaks to 17 and 18 year old females at Junior Achievement events and in addition to wanting to empower, educate, and inspire you(as stated with these words on page 180), at times he wants the book to "piss you off." I'm not sure of the exact reason or process he's hoping by that. But still, if you read the book, try not to get angry is what I would advise. But at least the book is 182 pages which isn't too long or short. I found it to be just right. I'm a male but still found his point of view and experiences as an "Alpha Male" quite fascinating. The old fashioned Alpha lifestyle is not something I'm into but I'm sure the author would not look down on that since he tries to help females in business now. Anyways, I gave the book 5 stars. Star ratings on this book shouldn't be based on the reader's opinion or stance on the issue itself and whether or not it's in conflict with the book. I just found the book for what it is as a book to be a 5 star work. For anyone wanting to read further on this topic, I would also suggest looking into the way males and females are brought up from birth to adulthood in the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the world. See the comparison between how the genders are raised, from various points of view, and how it affects areas such as business, politics, general society, family, etc. This book also provides a bare-bones view of building a network and pulls nothing back on things like credibility and how people keep or drop names from their lists. The idea that the business goal is what keeps people on the list can apply to other areas of life. For example, a mountain climber may keep a network list of people he knows can be relied on in mountain climbs. There isn't so much a business goal, or maybe there is, but the goal there is getting to the top(of the mountain and metaphorically speaking) and surviving. Depending on the seriousness of the project(as in trip, expedition, etc), it may be more about that than just friendship or being nice. I'm sure professionals in this, just like in business, understand this reasoning. So if you aren't too sensitive about this sort of thing, it's just an understanding of how these things run. Nothing personal.

A book far exceeds my expectations

It is a great great book. I wish it had come out earlier. Every career woman should read it.

Packed full of useful strategies

The bottom line for all women and "beta" males: This book is packed full of useful strategies we can all use in business and is worth every cent. I will be keeping it (hidden!) in my office from now on so I can easily refer back to it in difficult situations. This includes knowing how to deal with females as much as with alpha males. The best: Getting inside the alpha male's mind was (for me at least) unbelievably shocking. My greatest strength is reading body language, so I always "knew" what they were really thinking but I refused to believe it until now. Chris has put into words what I've thought for a very long time. Having a much more typically male personality, I've always preferred to work with men and I have never had any issues. I bought this book because it was a suggested add-on to another book I was buying and thought it might be interesting; I'm glad I did. Perhaps the single most useful lesson I've learned from this book is to never make an alpha wrong. The strategies Chris lays out for dealing with obnoxious or simply misguided statements from alpha males diffuse the situations really well; they equip you for the common issues that many women face regardless of personality. The worst: I almost stopped reading this book half way through because of the generalisations about women and beta males. Ultimately the useful strategies kept me going and I'm really pleased that they did because the second half of the book is even better. What's missing: One thing that would make this book a lot better would be to integrate some theories of personality. Just like John Gray's "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus", Chris unfortunately lumps all women into the detail-oriented (as opposed to big-picture-oriented) and feeling-oriented (as opposed to thinking-oriented) categories. In the MBTI this would be the SF or Sensing Feeling types. He goes on to describe the Alpha male as what seems to be the NT group in MBTI (the iNtuitive Thinkers). As an INTJ myself I find the SF characterisation of all women blindingly annoying. We don't all focus on details, and we don't all cry when provoked... I too have sat in meetings (and worse, mother's groups) and felt like I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than listen to the endless details I don't care for. About three quarters of the way through this book I met with our HR manager about something and she was going on & on about some insignificant issue so I thought "How would Chris handle this?" and said "Okay, what's the end result - what do we need to do to solve this problem?" to which she replied & I was gone within a minute! Woo hoo! But it's not only women who do this. My father is an SJ (the prototypical detail-oriented organiser who Chris' alpha males would call a great "pile-on") and my mother is an ENTJ (most likely the pinnacle of the Alpha type). I am left wondering if Chris believes that alpha females learned the role rather than that they were NTs to begin with? Jus

Dynamite speaker with practical tips

I recently heard Chris speak at a professional women's business conference to a packed audience of women from a range of industries. His book details the jargon and strategies that Alpha males use to successfully earn their stripes. Women need to understand the nitty gritty of how they should communicate with powerful men if they expect to succeed in business today. In addition to offering vital tips and techniques, he also goes further and invites us to participate with him to create a new paradigm in which the best of what both men and women have to offer will be honored and used to create new millenium business practices.