Chapter Twenty-FiveShe's Smart . . . but She Doesn't Look It

Ionce coached a female vice president, Marcia, who had risen high in a male-dominated industry. I happened to be talking to a senior executive in her company early in our relationship and asked him what he thought of my client. He replied, “She's smart, but she doesn't look it.” My jaw dropped!

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She's…girly,” he said.

Once I thought about it, I could see what he meant. Marcia was an attractive woman in her late thirties. She had long hair draped over her face and slight cleavage showing from low-cut silk blouses. One could say she was calling attention to her sexuality. And that can be dangerous.

We can learn two lessons from that comment: (1) Women are ...

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