Think and Grow Rich for Women: Using Your Power to Create Success and Significance - Hardcover

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So why write Think and Grow Rich for Women?
 
The rules of success are the same for everyone. Why mess with the brilliance of Napoleon Hill’s original book, Think and Grow Rich? Why write something special just for women?
 
These questions, and many more, are sure to be asked. In fact, for most of my career, I have felt the same way. I originally read Think and Grow Rich when I was nineteen and have read it many times during my career, and it has had a huge, positive impact on my life.
 
My parents taught me that I could be anyone or do anything I wanted as long as I worked hard and focused on my goals. They had worked hard all their lives and were fabulous role models. It wasn’t until I started my career, all alone in a different city, that reality started to set in. It was in the late 1970s and I was one of only a few women in my field. I quickly learned that I definitely had to work harder than my male counterparts if I wanted to get ahead. So I did.
 
No one said it would be easy—and it wasn’t. No one said it would be a smooth ride—and it hasn’t been. But the resilience and lessons I learned from facing and surviving the tough times were essential contributors to my success today.
 
Now, more than thirty-five years later, I continue to be amazed by the stories of the incredible businesswomen I meet and how they too, in the face of the glass ceiling or sexual bias, found ways to forge ahead. Many of them had read and followed the teachings of Think and Grow Rich and created great success in their lives, but they have gone even further. They have each taken their success in stride and continued on to open new paths for the women who follow them, evolving their lives of success into lives of significance.
 
Think and Grow Rich for Women is a celebration of these women and every woman who has succeeded in spite of the obstacles she has encountered—women who have changed history, created great business success, and provided great opportunities for others.
 
In addition, there have been some incredible economic developments that have brought greater attention to successful women, and in doing so, have revealed that while the rules may be the same, women approach those rules differently, and they apply them differently than men do. While there is still much progress to be made, there has been a “quiet revolution” as women have gained momentum in every aspect of life. The following statistics showing the increasing power of women are the most recent available at the time of this writing.
 
IN THE ECONOMY
 
These financial statistics prove, without a doubt, that women have tremendous power and influence globally. Can you imagine what would happen if women came together and used their economic power to create positive change?
 
•         60 percent of all personal wealth in the United States is held by women.
•         85 percent of all consumer purchases in the United States are made by women.
•         Women over the age of fifty have a combined net worth of $19 trillion.
•         Two-thirds of consumer wealth in the United States will belong to women in the next decade.
•         $7 trillion is spent by women in the United States in consumer and business spending.
•         Globally, women are responsible for $20 trillion in spending, and that number is expected to rise to $28 trillion by the end of 2014.
•         Globally, women stand to inherit 70 percent of the $41 trillion in intergenerational wealth transfer expected over the next forty years.
 
IN EDUCATION
 
The United States Department of Education estimated that in 2013
women earned:
 
•         61.6 percent of all associate degrees;
•         56.7 percent of all bachelor’s degrees;
•         59.9 percent of all master’s degrees;
•         51.6 percent of all doctorate degrees.
 
In summary, in 2013, 140 women graduated with a college degree at some level for every hundred men.
 
IN THE CORPORATE WORLD
 
While tremendous progress has been made in the lower ranks of management, there is still a great need for women to advance to the higher levels of leadership in corporations, which is evidence that the glass ceiling still needs to be shattered:
 
•         There are twenty-three, or 4.6 percent, women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.8
•         Women hold 16.9 percent of board seats in the United States, as compared to 40.9 percent in Norway, and 6 percent in Asia.
o   It is important to note that Norway passed a law in 2003 requiring companies to appoint women to 40 percent of board posts.11
o   A study of companies in the MSCI AC World index, which is an index designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets in twenty-four countries, found that companies with a gender-diverse board outperformed those with only men by 26 percent over six years.
•         Women hold 14.6 percent of executive officer positions.
o   According to a report by Catalyst titled “The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards,” Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women board directors attained significantly higher financial performance, on average, than those with the lowest representation of women board directors. In addition, the report highlights that boards with three or more women directors show notably stronger-than-average performance. It shared three key measurements:
◊ Return on Equity: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 53 percent.
◊ Return on Sales: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 42 percent.
◊ Return on Invested Capital: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 66 percent.
 
IN EARNINGS
 
While the overall statistics are still disturbing, when you dig into the detail, a positive trend emerges:
 
•         Women are paid an average of 77 cents for every dollar men make. In 1970, it was 59 cents.
•         While the 77 cents statistic has remained constant over the last few years, a total of sixteen states report that their women are earning 80 cents or more for every dollar men make.
•         When you exclude self-employed and workers who work only part of the year, in 2012 women earned 80.9 percent as much as men.
 
And a review by age group shows significant improvement for younger women. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
 
PAY EQUITY BY AGE
 
Age Groups Women’s Percentage of Men’s Earnings
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