Though women often talk about power and money, the author says to manage status first. The others will follow. The likeable badass will be the person who can walk the tightrope between warmth and power. Fragale recommends finding autheic, effective strategies to shape how your customers and coworkers see you.
One strategy is to manage your status, to mold wahat others think of you. She talks about four quadrants that are made up of warm/cold on one side and assertive/submissive on another. Women have ofthen been slotted as EITHER assertive or warm, which has lead many of us to believe those are our only options. However, Fragale defines "likeable badass" as being in the warm/assertive quadrant. The more you show up as warm and assertive, the more value you are percieved to have.
Interestingly, "powerless" speech (uncertainty) can be seen as "warmer", even though we are often told that we shouldn't self-deprecate or admit weakness. Other tools include humor, choosing the chair at the head of the table, helping others, being aware of verbal/nonverbal behaviors, and smiling. However, she notes several times that no one needs to do all of these things, find what works for you.
A little repetitive but I didn't actually notice until I started to pull together my notes which means that she was able to frame her examples in different enough ways to add the repetition needed to teach people without making it overbearing.
Four stars
This book came out September 3, 2024
Borrowed as audiobook from Libby
Opinions are my own
