This is the book I wish I had when I was early in my working life, when I didn’t understand that a bigger career was possible or the roadblocks I’d have to hurdle because of my gender. Leanne’s advice and stories are insightful, fresh and frank, and grounded in practice, not theory. I’ll gift this book to every aspiring young woman in my life—and to every father who wants to support her.
Beth Marcello
Director of Women’s Business Development, PNC Bank
Through research and storytelling, Leanne Meyer addresses the hopes, fears, and crucial dilemmas faced by women throughout their careers. This book offers coaching and professional development advice for women and corporate leaders.
Maria Taylor
Chief Learning Officer, United Airlines
I have known Leanne Meyer for many years and have admired her work in the field of leadership development, especially for women. In Climbing the Spiral Staircase, she shares a lifetime of expertise in helping leaders to succeed in their lives and in their careers. With actionable exercises, points to reflect upon, and numerous examples from her life and career, Leanne’s book gives readers tools for navigating the modern workplace. Women can experience the workplace in a unique way, and this book gives us all a better understanding of the history and inherent biases of the workplace and how we can make organizations more equitable for all employees. While this book is especially relevant for women, there is also much for everyone to learn in order to be a better ally, coworker, partner, and parent to women in the workplace and outside of it.
Brian T. Olsavsky
Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Amazon
Leanne Meyer brings her incredible experiences, global perspective, and sharp skill set to not only articulate inequities that women face, but she shares practical leadership strategies that apply both within and outside of the workplace. Climbing the Spiral Staircase is a book that can benefit everyone who reads it!
Evan Frazier
President and CEO, The Advanced Leadership Institute
Leanne Meyer’s Climbing the Spiral Staircase is a relatable and empowering book that looks to the history of gender roles over generations to provide perspective on some of the unique challenges that women face today as they develop their careers. Women with aspirations to be leaders can sometimes feel like pioneers with few role models—an exciting but intimidating position to be in. Meyer encourages a longer-term perspective on careers, observing that most careers follow a nonlinear path with ups and downs and various challenges and successes. Readers will find practical solutions to help them through these phases and ultimately be closer to achieving their goals.
Lauren Hobart
President and CEO, DICK’S Sporting Goods
How You Can Navigate Your Career and Accelerate Success
Keep Climbing!
For too many professional women, it’s not just the glass ceiling that is holding them back, it’s the sticky floor. This may be your experience. You’ve advanced to a specific level in your career, but now you’ve found yourself in a professional environment that seems to offer little room for advancement.
In Climbing the Spiral Staircase, author Leanne Meyer shares specific, actionable strategies that will help you build the career you aspire to achieve. Her book will help you gain control of your career by giving you strategies for getting unstuck from corporate career-pathing quagmires. Once you have the tools to start moving again, you’ll find the passion and ambition that got you this far in the first place.
“My evidence-based strategies will eliminate pressure and offer practical tips to help you succeed. You will be able to better understand your surroundings and what you need to advance through challenging professional environments,” Leanne encourages. “We can work together to identify sticking points and address any obstacles that are preventing forward progress.”
As you move through the pages, harsh facts about the different workplace experiences of men and women come to light. A frank discussion about workplace biases and the kind of environments those biases create for women helps readers realize that the real picture is much more complex and nuanced than conventional ideas about the glass ceiling.
Illuminated even more by other innate intersections of career advocacy for women, the conversations in Climbing the Spiral Staircase aren’t abstract or academic. Leanne’s work reflects real stories and real lives. In the end, she takes the long view of success, positioning careers as marathons rather than sprints, while preparing women for the rigors and demands of each different career stage.
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Discover what’s possible when we gain a mastery of our professional environments, have the knowledge and equipment to overcome complex professional obstacles, can confidently let go of limiting self-belief, enthusiastically embrace our power, and ultimately dare to go after what we want. Download your free chapter of Climbing the Spiral Staircase, by leadership expert and women’s advocate, Leanne Meyer.