Book Review: Naked in the Boardroom, Robin Woolaner

A CEO bares her secrets so you can transform your career.

An easy to read book by Robin Woolaner, perhaps best known for founding Parenting Magazine. She recounts her experiences in business, and calls them out as “"Naked Truths."”

For example, “"Naked Truth #60: Follow up is easy and instills trust”" and “"Naked Truth #21: When something happens that doesn'’t sit well in the pit of your stomach, don'’t forget that feeling even if the circumstances have changed. The feeling is real; the change in circumstances may not be."”
She spends at least as much time on her failures as her successes and draws lessons from all her experiences.

I got the feeling that at first this book was aimed at businesswomen, and then was recast as a general business book. Probably a book positioning move, and the book doesn'’t suffer from it. That said, there are some lessons that apply specifically to women, for example “"Naked Truth #45: Women are damned as aggressive if we negotiate for more pay, and damnably underpaid if we don’t. Force yourself to negotiate and learn how.”"

I read this is about three hours and enjoyed it. It would make a great airplane book. Some of the “Naked Truths” resonated strongly and will no doubt stay with me.