On Your Bookshelf: The Go-Getter Girl’s Guide

BooksBy Andrea Newell (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Don’t let the chick-lit cover fool you. The Go-Getter Girl’s Guide: Get What You Want in Work and Life (and Look Great While You’re at It) may look fluffy, but it is full of hard-nosed advice about how to strategize each step of your career. Author Debra Shigley is a Harvard-educated journalist and lawyer whose work has appeared in numerous publications and has been featured as a career/lifestyle expert on The View, CNN, and in The Wall Street Journal, along with other media outlets.

Although the book is primarily geared toward women just starting out, Shigley’s advice holds true for women at any stage in their career – especially women who want to be more polished, more professional, and move ahead. Go-Getter Girl (GGG) is code for Type A personality, and The Go-Getter Girl’s Guide (GGGG) is filled with stories of highly-educated, highly-motivated, and high-achieving women.

Amidst the peach text and call-out boxes, Shigley sets the tone early with a chapter titled, “The Work World Can Be a Cold Hard Place – You Must Learn to Deal with It.” It’s true. Women do encounter issues at work that men do not. The GGGG discusses what to do if you have the occasion to cry at work and why it’s so important to maintain a sunny disposition no matter what (“fake it until you make it”). Other advice is common sense, but bears repeating, like not venting at work, avoiding gossip, and treating your coworkers with respect.

Navigating the business landscape is tricky, but Shigley offers some great tips for surviving office parties, networking, and developing good relationships with your coworkers, while at the same time excelling at your job, impressing the right people, and keeping an eye out for the next GGG opportunity to keep moving up. On the darker, colder side of the cubicle, Shigley cautions readers to remember that everyone is replaceable, sometimes coworkers are mean, and bosses can disappoint you. The best thing to do is to focus on what is within your control and to always act professionally.

Shigley devotes a large chunk of the GGGG to being fit, well-groomed, and flawlessly dressed. Sound superficial? Perhaps, but presentation is an important part of business. She demonstrates how to dress well on a budget—or really well if budget is no problem—eat healthy and exercise while traveling, and tells readers why everyone has to work hard at personal maintenance (because there is no such thing as natural beauty).

Now that you know the cold, hard truth about the workplace, you have some tools to maintain your professionalism, you know how to exercise, dress and pluck your eyebrows—the next step is to focus on your career.

  • Keep learning
  • Build a portfolio of mentors, allies and advocates
  • Learn to negotiate (a major problem for women)
  • Know when it’s time to move on to the next stage in your career

The best message in the book is about the importance of being nice. “Go-Getter Girls are self-aware and strategic, not selfish, spiteful or sneaky. Be pleasant, generous, cheerful, classy, and collegial. Offer to help people.” That is advice that bears repeating again and again. Shigley’s clear focus is on getting to the top, but her stories, examples, and advice all show hard work, planning, and sharp strategy without malice.

And after all is said and done – believe in yourself. Know your strengths and use them. You are a GGG.

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