Standing at the Crossroads

A s women move into leadership and managerial positions in record numbers, there is an increasing need to understand how they will prioritize and integrate the many new roles and possibilities available to them. Standing at the Crossroads looks at the fundamental pressures that influence the career and personal decisions high-achieving women make, and it identifies strategies for adapting to the many demands that both challenge and enhance their lives. Based on extensive research conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL^®) with participants in The Women's Leadership Program, the book provides a basis for understanding the many choices, tradeoffs, and decisions that face women daily. Showcasing many personal stories, it spotlights five key themes that are essential to guiding executive women's development today—the need to act authentically, make connections, control one's destiny, achieve wholeness, and gain self-clarity.

While each theme can stand alone, the authors show how the five blend together to create a pattern that is unique and dynamic for each individual woman. Each chapter in the first part of the book explains why a particular theme matters, what it looks like, how to develop it, and the obstacles to achieving it, and gives a short "thumbnail" that summarizes, in easy-to-use form, the major areas for the reader to develop. The second part of the book illuminates how both the individual reader and the organization can apply an understanding of the themes to enhance their mutual effectiveness. Throughout the book there are also practical exercises to guide development.

The Center for Creative Leadership is an inter-national, nonprofit educational institution whose mission is to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, it conducts research, produces publications and assessment tools, and offers a variety of educational programs. For the second consecutive time, CCL was ranked number one for Leadership in the Executive Education Special Report in BusinessWeek magazine. For more information, visit CCL's Web site at www.ccl.org