cover image Women and the Leadership Q: Revealing the Four Paths to Influence and Power

Women and the Leadership Q: Revealing the Four Paths to Influence and Power

Shoya Zichy, Zichy Shoya. McGraw-Hill, $24.95 (310pp) ISBN 978-0-07-135216-1

The Leadership Questionnaire designed by Zichy assesses a woman's management style, based in part on the results of psychological tests, including Myers-Briggs. Typical questions include whether one meets deadlines easily, likes scheduling and likes to meet people. Using her questionnaire, Zichy examined a number of accomplished women to see whether they share any similar attributes. Among the qualities they have in common are focused intellectual energy, optimism in the face of setbacks and the belief that learning is an ongoing process. Yet even with these shared traits, several types of leadership styles emerged. To help readers understand them, Zichy profiles more than 30 of the women she interviewed, presenting biographical information, a description of their style and some of their own commentary about their accomplishments. (Among the women who appear here are Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive v-p of the AFL-CIO; journalist Diane Sawyer; playwright Wendy Wasserstein; and Alexandra Lebenthal, president of Lebenthal & Company.) Although Zichy's intent is to educate women so they can better use their leadership personality and advance on the job, the book's strength is in its engaging profiles; the psychological assessments are often cumbersome and offer fewer insights than the women's own analyses of their behavior. (Sept.)