In two decades at CNN, Gail Evans has risen from producer to executive vice president in charge of the network's talk shows. As she became one of the highest-ranking women ever in network news, she saw many women stymied by their inability to cope in a business world more suited to men. On a visit to Dallas for a seminar with Chase Bank employees, she talked about the book and the response. You have to understand simple things like men and women hear the word 'no' totally differently.
Women hear no as an absolute.
Men hear no as this temporal word that means this minute, this hour, this day and the first step on the road to yes. If you assume that, somebody saying no to you in the workplace assumes a totally different meaning to the ambitious young man and the ambitious young woman. I wrote this book because I just watched so many women feel uncomfortable and feel they really didn't get their fair share. Girls weren't brought up that way. Girls were brought up to play games where one or two people played.