A hole in the glass ceiling

Wearing a sleek brown suit, black patent leather shoes and with her curly red hair elegantly pulled back, Esther Wachs Book is not afraid to express her feminine side. And Book, the author of the newly released, Why The Best Man For This Job Is A Woman: The Unique Qualities of Female Leadership, encouraged other women to do the same at a talk last night at the Penn Bookstore. Book's work profiles 14 female chief executives who exhibit powerful leadership skills, and her talk repeatedly emphasized these leadership qualities throughout her talk. "Women have the ability to be aggressive, decisive, and strong," she told the crowd of 12 people in attendance -- only three of whom were male. In her talk, Book, a writer whose work has appeared in Fortune, Forbes and Marie Claire magazines, highlighted several of the women profiled in her book. "I [tried] to attract people who are not just interested in business, but who are attracted to good stories," she explained. "And these women have great stories to tell." Book first depicted Patricia Fili-Krushel, the former president of the ABC Television Network, as a model female executive. She explained that Fili-Krushel used her talent in listening -- a characteristically female trait, Book said -- to revitalize the failing network. Fili-Krushel began listening to focus groups, and as a result made the decision to bring the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire to the network. Book next cited Shelly Lazarus, the CEO of advertising powerhouse Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, as another example. Lazarus, Book said, "viewed power differently from many of her male peers." For instance, she stayed in her old office and chose to dress in plain clothes despite her high position. According to Book, her close relationships with her clients and her firm allowed her to take greater risks. Case in point: She revamped the ad campaigns of Discover Card, which now features comedian Jerry Seinfeld. To illustrate the importance of accessibility, Book next discussed the career of Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay. Whitman, who is worth over one billion dollars, personally takes calls from 10 to 15 enraged customers a week and still works in a cubicle. One of the few males present last night, Phil Eidelson, a member of the Senior Associate program at Penn and a longtime friend of Book's father, saw Book's topic as a call to action for men. "The title certainly appeals to woman," he explained, "and sets a challenge for man." Book began promoting her book in Westport, Conn., before heading to Penn. She'll also visit Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Columbia universities. Before Book leaves Penn, she plans on talking with Wharton Women about her book, according to the organization's president, Wharton senior Eliza Hay. "Being encouraged to have confidence and being encouraged to be yourself is just good advice that you can't hear enough, especially when it's coming from women who have made it to the top," Hay said. Book concluded her talk by emphasizing three major lessons she learned from the women she has met: Be confident and take risks, be flexible and customer driven and remember to be yourself. "And if you're a woman," she said, "don't be afraid to be feminine."

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