How To Keep Your Eyes On The Ball

For years, working women have been told that they have to act more like men to get ahead in the business world. But in her new book, "Pitch Like a Girl," corporate management consultant Ronna Lichtenberg says that's just a myth, and that women can actually use their femininity to get ahead at work.

Lichtenberg visits The Early Show to explain. Click here to read an excerpt from Chapter One.

She writes, "The idea is to use your natural powers of influence and persuasion to gain support for what you want and to use the skills that most women have developed at building and nurturing relationships to get people to share your views and do what you want them to do. Pitching like a girl, I'm convinced, is the key for every woman who has ever felt stuck in her work, and in her life."

Women reading "Pitch Like a Girl" first take a test to assess whether they are what Lichtenberg calls a "pink," "blue" or "stripped," which is a little bit of "pink" and "blue."

"It matters to learn how to use what you are," Lichtenberg tells co-anchor Rene Syler. I'm not going to grow up tomorrow and be somebody else. I am never going to be a guy in this lifetime, and I'm not going to have a blue style. What matters is to take what I am and learn how to turn that to my advantage."

Focusing on brain sex studies, Lichtenberg has discovered that there are two real styles in which people do business: the first puts a greater emphasis on connection and relationships with the people they work with (which would be the "pink" label), the second ("blue") which puts the greater emphasis on the task at hand and the activity of the business. Some examples of "pinks," Lichtenberg says, are Oprah Winfrey, and even men like former President Bill Clinton.

Blues are the polar opposite of pinks. Lichtenberg writes, "They place a high priority on what I call task -- just getting the job done. Someone with a blue personality style either just isn't naturally a people person" or wants to keep his or her emotional connections outside the office. A blue who is well paid will feel she has achieved success, regardless of how she feels about her workplace relationships."

Traditionally, blue women get a bad rap: hard-boiled, cold-blooded, overly ambitious. It is a standard movie cliché and a way the culture expresses ambivalence about women and power."

Lichtenberg offers an alternative; she calls it "Me Inc." She explains how it works by offering as an example what the frame of mind should be when asking for a raise.

She tells Syler, "If you think about your own feelings, Rene, Rene, Rene, you'll get caught up in your emotional underwear. If you think, I'm Rene, Inc. I have value in the marketplace, this is what I'm worth; I'm CEO of this business, it makes it possible to pull back a little bit and say, 'I'm worth premium pricing. That's just the deal.'"

She says that being one color isn't better or worse than being the other; rather, knowing what color you are helps you take control of your actions and behaviors at work to best suit the business situation you're in.

At her workshops, Lichtenberg says it is great to see how the women react: "We'll teach them how to ask for a raise, then they say, 'but I want my husband to help with housework,' or 'I want my 7-year-old to read his books.' So it can be really cool. The other thing that happens, since it's morning television, I can say this in a nice way. You ask for a raise and you get better at asking for what you want in the bedroom."

A few giveaways about pinks and blues:

Pinks

• First sentence after hello is, "I love your shoes!"
  
• Introduces herself by telling you something about herself, her family, or her pets
  
• Has pictures of people in her life at work
  
• Expresses discomfort with heirarchy, even when she's the boss
  
• Seems to feel funny talking about money
  
• Starts meetings by asking for everyone's attention
  
• Dresses to express herself

• No greetings or sign-offs on emails
  
• Introduces herself with credentials
  
• Has awards on display
  
• Talks about wanting to make sure she is positioned properly
  
• Talks about cost control and managing the balance sheet
  
• Believes there are winners and losers
  
• Very comfortable with heirarchy
  
• Wants other people to "get to the point"
  
• Starts meetings by starting the meeting
  
• Dresses conservatively, but with something that makes a statement (like big jewelry)