Mistakes I Made at Work: 25 Influential Women Reflect on What They Got Out of Getting It Wrong

High-achieving women share their worst mistakes at work—and how learning from them paved the way to success.

Named by Fast Company as a "Top 10 Book You Need to Read This Year"
 
In Mistakes I Made at Work, a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Business Book for Spring 2014, Jessica Bacal interviews twenty-five successful women about their toughest on-the-job moments. These innovators across a variety of fields – from the arts to finance to tech – reveal that they’re more thoughtful, purposeful and assertive as leaders because they learned from their mistakes, not because they never made any. Interviewees include:
 

• Cheryl Strayed, bestselling author of Wild
• Anna Holmes, founding editor of Jezebel.com
• Kim Gordon, founding member of the band Sonic Youth
• Joanna Barsch, Director Emeritus of McKinsey & Company
• Carol Dweck, Stanford psychology professor
• Ruth Ozeki, New York Times bestselling author of Tale for the Time Being
• And many more

For readers of Lean In and #Girlboss, Mistakes I Made for Work is ideal for millenials just starting their careers, for women seeking to advance at work, or for anyone grappling with issues of perfectionism, and features fascinating and surprising anecdotes, as well as tips for readers.

Jessica Bacal is the director of the Wurtele Center for Work & Life at Smith College. She lives with her husband and two children in Northampton, MA.