Narrator: Imagine a talented software engineer named Sarah. She's brilliant, dedicated, and pours countless hours into developing a groundbreaking algorithm that could significantly boost her company's flagship product. Believing in collaboration, she shares her work with a colleague, David, to get his feedback. But in the next team meeting, Sarah watches in stunned silence as David presents her algorithm as his own, receiving praise and recognition from their manager. Sarah feels frustrated and undervalued, but she hesitates. She doesn't want to be seen as aggressive or not a team player, so she says nothing, hoping her hard work will eventually be noticed on its own.

This scenario, a frustratingly common experience for many, sits at the heart of the problem explored in How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job. Authors Sally Helgesen, a leading expert on women's leadership, and Marshall Goldsmith, a world-renowned executive coach, argue that for many women, the path to the next level isn't blocked by a lack of skill or ambition. Instead, it's obstructed by a set of 12 specific, self-limiting habits—behaviors that were often beneficial early in their careers but become significant roadblocks to advancement.

Narrator: The central premise of How Women Rise is built on a powerful paradox first identified in Marshall Goldsmith’s earlier work: the very strengths that lead to success at one level can become the primary obstacles to reaching the next. For women, this paradox is particularly acute. Behaviors often encouraged and rewarded in women—being diligent, collaborative, detail-oriented, and supportive—are essential for becoming a valuable team member. An organization thrives on employees who execute flawlessly and ensure the team functions smoothly.

However, the skills required for leadership are different. Leadership demands a shift from doing the work to directing the work; from perfecting the details to setting the vision; from supporting the team to promoting the team and oneself. Helgesen and Goldsmith argue that women often get stuck because they continue to rely on the "good student" or "perfect employee" habits that earned them praise in the past. They double down on what they know works, failing to recognize that the rules of the game have changed. The book makes it clear that rising in a career isn't just about getting better at your current job; it's about demonstrating your readiness for the next job, which requires a fundamentally different set of behaviors.

Narrator: Two of the most critical habits the authors identify are a "reluctance to claim your achievements" and "expecting others to spontaneously notice and reward your contributions." These two habits create a dangerous visibility gap, where a woman’s hard work and value become invisible to those in power.

The story of Sarah, the software engineer, perfectly illustrates this. Her first mistake was her reluctance to claim her achievement. When David presented her work, she minimized her own role out of a desire to avoid conflict. The authors note this is a common pattern, where women deflect praise by saying "we did it" instead of "I did it," or they downplay their contributions entirely. This stems from a social conditioning that penalizes women for self-promotion.

Her second mistake was expecting her manager to somehow know about her contributions without her explicitly stating them. She believed her good work would speak for itself. But in a busy, competitive workplace, it rarely does. Managers are focused on team outcomes, and they often recognize those who are most vocal about their accomplishments. Sarah’s story resolved only after a mentor advised her to start documenting her work and proactively communicating her successes to her manager. By learning to claim her achievements, she closed the visibility gap and was finally recognized with a promotion and a raise. The book stresses that visibility isn't about arrogance; it's a strategic necessity for career advancement.

Narrator: Another cluster of habits revolves around a "confidence gap," which manifests as "overvaluing expertise" and falling into "the perfection trap." The authors point to a famous internal report from Hewlett Packard that provides stark data on this phenomenon. The report found that men apply for a promotion when they meet only 60% of the listed qualifications, whereas women tend to apply only if they believe they meet 100% of them.

This statistic reveals a profound difference in mindset. Women often believe they must master every aspect of their current role before they can even consider moving up. They overvalue expertise, staying in a position long after they've learned all they can, because they feel they need to be the undisputed expert to be credible. This is linked to the "perfection trap," an intense fear of making mistakes or being seen as not having all the answers. This drive for perfection means women may be less likely to take on risky, high-visibility projects where the outcome is uncertain—the very projects that often lead to promotions.

The consequence is that while a woman is busy perfecting her current job, her male colleague, who is comfortable with being 60% ready, has already applied for, and possibly gotten, the next role. He learns on the job, while she remains stuck, over-qualified for her current position but under-positioned for the future. The book argues that women must shift their focus from achieving perfection to embracing potential, recognizing that growth happens outside the comfort zone, not within it.

Narrator: The final key area the book explores is the "connection gap." Helgesen and Goldsmith draw a crucial distinction between building relationships and leveraging them. Women, they observe, are often exceptional at building deep, authentic connections with colleagues. They are the social glue of the office, offering support and fostering a sense of community.

The problem is that they often fail to leverage these relationships for their own career advancement. They see networking as transactional and inauthentic, so they focus on the friendship aspect rather than the strategic one. The authors also point to the habit of "failing to enlist allies from day one." Many women wait until they are in a crisis to seek support, rather than proactively building a network of allies, mentors, and sponsors who can advocate for them when opportunities arise.

Leveraging relationships isn't about using people. It's about understanding that career advancement is a team sport. It requires having people in your corner who can provide information, offer advice, and speak up on your behalf in rooms you're not in. The book encourages women to be more intentional about their networks, to think about who can help them achieve their long-term goals, and to not be afraid to ask for that help. It’s a shift from simply having friends at work to building a coalition that supports mutual success.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from How Women Rise is that career advancement is an active, not a passive, process. It requires a conscious and deliberate letting go of the habits that, while once helpful, now limit potential. The book is not a call for women to become more like men or to abandon their authentic selves. Instead, it's a practical guide to self-awareness, empowering women to identify the specific behaviors holding them back and to make small, targeted changes that can have an outsized impact on their professional trajectory.

The ultimate challenge the book presents is one of focused action. It asks readers not to be overwhelmed by the twelve habits, but to identify the one—just one—that is their biggest roadblock and to start there. It’s a powerful reminder that significant change doesn't require a personality transplant; it begins with the courage to recognize what no longer serves you and the discipline to choose a different path forward.