TheNo Club

One of The Times' Best Business Books of 2022

A practical guide for bringing gender equality to the workplace with a new imperative: unburden women's careers from work that goes unrewarded.

THE NO CLUB started when four women who were crushed by endless to-do lists banded together over $10 bottles of wine and vowed to get their work lives under control. Running faster than ever, they nevertheless trailed behind their male colleagues. And so, they vowed to say no to requests that pulled them away from the work that mattered most to their careers. This book reveals how their over-a-decade-long journey and groundbreaking research uncovered that women everywhere are unfairly burdened with "non-promotable work", a tremendous problem we can - and must - solve.

All organizations have work that no one wants to do: planning the office party, screening interns, attending to that time-consuming client, or simply helping others with their work. From office housework to important assignments that inevitably go unrewarded, a woman, most often, takes on these tasks. In study upon study, professors Linda Babcock (bestselling author of WHY WOMEN DON'T ASK), Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart - the original "No Club" - document that women are disproportionately asked and expected to do this kind of work. This imbalance leaves women overcommitted and underutilized as companies forfeit revenue, productivity, and top talent.

But it doesn't have to be this way. THE NO CLUB walks you through how to make small, yet important, changes to your own workload and empowers women to make savvy decisions about what they take on. At the same time, the authors illuminate how lasting change calls for organizations to reassess how they assign and reward work to level the playing field. With hard data, personal anecdotes from women of all stripes, practical self- and workplace-assessments, and innovative advice from consulting in Fortune 500 companies, this book will forever change the conversation about how we advance women's careers and achieve equality in the twenty-first century.

A revealing exploration of the phenomenon of 'non-promotable work', the effect it has on women's careers, and a thoroughly researched strategy for how to fight backA clever workplace manifesto ... it also works as straightforward career advice: there's a lot of power, and joy, in saying noSay 'yes' to your dreams and the long-term potential of your organization. How? By learning how to say 'no.' THE NO CLUB is a long overdue manifesto on gender equality in the workplace, a practical playbook with tips you can put into action immediately, and the story of four women whose collective wisdom on how to sustain personal success is simply pricelessIn many organizations, women are in the minority but end up doing the majority of the thankless jobs. This important book helps women learn when and how to say no, and should be a wake-up call to management: give every man a yellow pad and tell them to learn to take notes. Better yet, change the way that work is allocated and rewardedUnfair treatment of women in the workplace has been well-reported, but there's a lack of available literature on what women are actually supposed to do about it. THE NO CLUB is the answer we've been waiting for-these experts and researchers explain what to look for, how to advocate for yourself, and how to empower others to do the same. This is an achievable and overdue call to action for the system to changeThis is a critical read for women who inevitably find themselves balancing their personal goals with endless dead-end tasks in the workplace. This book not only gives women validation to say 'no' to tedious work, but clearly lays out how caving to these pressures only serves to derail their full potentialI am in a No Club inspired by the authors of this amazing book! Now, all of us can go behind the scenes of their journey, which will leave you feeling seen and guided. THE NO CLUB is packed with examples, advice, and research. I'll be recommending it as essential reading to colleagues, students, and friendsValuable tips for changing the status quo [and] sound guidance for sparking change in organizationsOutstanding ... the advice proffered here will last a work-time