If she were Eve in the Garden of Eden, trust me, we’d still be there.

By the time I was two thirds of the way through Everything Will Be OK by Dana Perino a series of questions cropped up in my head. I wondered why such a book would limit its audience by focusing specifically on women. Can a woman write such a book as this for all career oriented people, or would men just dismiss it without a second glance because it was written by a woman?  Don’t men need the same kind of advice, or are women the ones that need remedial help in foundations of leadership and career management? Why wouldn’t a businessman need or want a book on career advice written by a woman? Is theirs a skill set previously acquired naturally on athletic fields, during military service, or networking in locker rooms and strip clubs, that women just don’t get?

A less than charitable thought meandered through my brain cells: men don’t need a book like Dana’s because traditionally they ride to the top on the backs of woman they manage, who make them look good while these male bosses take credit for women’s ideas and productivity. Then I got mad at myself for even thinking such a thing and said, “1960s, get out of my head! That’s sexist thinking!” One caveat, many male bosses are mentors, not jerks.

I wondered if there was a male equivalent word for misogyny, and if there was, why didn’t I know it? I had to Google to find “misandry,” the hatred, contempt, and prejudice for men, which can be found in literature as early as 1803. Misogyny (per Wiki), on the other hand, was noted as a disease in Classical Greece mentioned by Cicero around 45 BC. Clearly men have a head start over women in this type of prejudice by about 2,066 years (unless an ancient cave drawing of Amazons celebrating a successful man hunt emerges). 

My next next thought was maybe women need a book about surviving and excelling in a predominately male business culture if you didn’t pick up such skills as “be on time” and “don’t criticize your boss in the workplace” while growing up. If such is the case, this book is for you. 

I have followed Dana Perino with awe since her days of inheriting the White House Press Secretary’s position from her boss Tony Snow. Why is it so easy to admire Dana, and so impossible to relate to her? She’s the person many women wish to be, and truly the skillful architect of all you see. Could anyone honestly be more self actualized than Perino? I say that out of sheer respect, and not criticism. I do believe one should take instruction from those who know what they’re talking about, and Dana is spectacularly successful in her personal and professional life. 

Perino’s many assets include winning the DNA jackpot, an impeccable uncanny fashion sense, combined with enormous gifts of intelligence, discipline, communication, deportment, sense of humor, a perfect dog (Jasper), a marvelously supportive spouse, a stable childhood with loving supportive parents who constructed a framework that facilitated success; it all boggles the mind. If she were Eve in the Garden of Eden, trust me, we’d still be there. 

The book does address numerous issues that she and her network of savvy successful women have faced. One driving force for her is financial independence, and she shares ideas and resources about that.  She also provides many recommendations of podcasts, books, and people she follows for leadership insights. I once heard her say she often listens to audiobooks at 1.5 speed while she is power walking or running. I tried that, actually completing 75 books in a 7 month period, but it was a bit of a blur. I’ve now ratcheted back to 1.40, but the lesson learned is while most of us are lumbering along, she’s amping up her life learning experiences to a hyperdrive of 1.5 times reality. Few could compete with that on a daily basis. 

Perino’s no doubt a compassionate advisor and probably boss as well, but she may reach a point where her definition of what personal responsibility is may not line up with your own perception, and at that juncture I expect she’d cut you off, albeit with a list of people you might go to for personal and employment help. She admonishes those who wish to follow in her footsteps, “I need you to commit to these three things to make this work: Make good personal choices, as in don’t stay out until last call on a weeknight, and never leave on a motorcycle you didn’t arrive on. Take responsibility for your actions and outcomes. Your dog has never eaten your homework; no one will ever buy that. Start turning worry that depletes you into energy that fuels you.”