Ronna Lichtenberg - Pitch Like a Girl: Get Respect, Get Noticed, Get What You Want

If you have a vision, but dont know how to turn it into reality, this is the book for you. One of the biggest lessons I learned when I started my business was never to take no for an answer. When one door closes, Ronna shows you how to find a back door or side doorto ultimately get what you want.

Bobbi Brown

CEO and Founder, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics

Ronna Lichtenberg makes sense of all the complex reasons why women have so much trouble with asking, and then lays out how to do it so clearly that any woman reading this will be able to put it to use and see immediate results.

Jean M. Otte

Founder and CEO, WOMEN Unlimited, Inc.

Any woman who wants to build her business needs to know how to pitch. This book will help both the woman ready to make her first dollar and the woman ready to make her next million.

Marsha Firestone, Ph.D.

Women Presidents Organization

Ronnas new book is chock full of useful information for women who already enjoy success in the business world as well as those who aspire to do great things. Her candid, no-holds-barred advice and real-life storytelling is a powerful combination that is bound to strike a chord with working women everywhere.

Lisa Weber

President, Individual Insurance, MetLife

In a style that is both entertaining and informative, Lichtenberg has translated scientific findings into a wealth of practical advice that will help women shatter the glass ceiling without losing their femininity.

Laurie A. Rudman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, Rutgers University

Pitch like a girl will become the ultimate compliment! Ronna Lichtenberg outlines all the steps women need to take to truly master negotiating. Its a must read for anyone who thinks pink!

Alexandra Lebenthal

President and CEO, Lebenthal & Co., Inc.

This book is a valuable resource for women who want to take charge of their careers. Ronna shares a framework for understanding style and individual differences in a way that challenges us to own our strengths and maximize our impact. Very empowering!

Mae Douglas

Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer, Cox Communication

New technology shows that men and women tend to think and act differently. Ronna Lichtenberg tells us how to turn that knowledge into helping women succeed.

Judy B. Rosener, Ph.D.

Professor in the Graduate School of Mangement at UC-Irvine and author of Americas Competitive Secret, Women Managers

Pitch Like a Girl is important for all women who may not consider themselves businesswomen.... Ronnas landmark work offers a valuable framework and practical strategies for [women] to create environments and build relationships that will amplify their voices and promote their valuable contributions....

Theresa Rejrat

Deputy Executive Director, Patient Care Services/Nursing Bellevue Hospital Center, NewYork City

The author wishes to note that the names and personal details of some of the women interviewed for this book have been changed to protect their privacy.

Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book. Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press.

2005 by Ronna Lichtenberg

Cover photograph Karen Beard/Getty Images.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

The Empathy Quotient test in Appendix 2 and the Systemizing Quotient test in Appendix 3 are from The Essential Difference: The Truth about the Male and Female Brain by Simon Baron-Cohen. Copyright 2003, Basic Books (Perseus Books Group), New York, NY. Used with permission.

Book design by Tara Long

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lichtenberg, Ronna.

Pitch like a girl : how a woman can be herself and still succeed / Ronna Lichtenberg.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN-13 9781594860096 hardcover

ISBN-10 1594860092 hardcover

eISBN-13: 9781594863820

ISBN-10 1594863822 paperback

1. Businesswomen. 2. Women executives. 3. Women employees. 4. WomenEmployment. 5. BusinesswomenConduct of life. 6. Women executivesConduct of life.

7. Feminist economics. I. Title.

HD6053.L49 2005

650.1'082dc22

2004019988

The shelves of bookstores and libraries are filled with volumes of self-help books that promise you can achieve your loftiest goals in lifeif only youll change some fundamental aspect of your behavior or character. If only you are willing to give up carbohydrates forever and commit to a lifetime of cheese and nuts, youll be able to lose 50 pounds in a nanosecond. If only you start thinking like a rich man and acting like a rich man, you can be rich too, and you can teach your kids to make a bundle while youre at it. If only you adopt these seven habits, nine rules, twelve steps, five strategies touted by successful, powerful, famous, or infamous business leaders, athletes, coaches, motivational speakers, multimillionaires, and all-around swell guys and gals, you too can be successful and powerful, not to mention model thin and enviably wealthy to boot.

Im exhausted just thinking about it.

Like most women I know, Im already too busy with the various responsibilities of my life to feel up for the challenge of putting yet another item on my To Do listand certainly not as gargantuan a task as a character makeover. Even if I had the time, I wouldnt exactly be leaping at the chance. I resent the underlying implication that there is something fundamentally wrong with the person I am now, that I have to change who I am to get what I want. Even if I could change, Im not convinced the strategy would work, that changing the person I am will help me achieve the desired results. Actually, I know it wouldnt work because I spent a lot of years trying to do it and eventually figured out that it wasnt the way to go.

Which leads me to the heretical thought that is at the very heart of this book: What if you dont have to change who you are to get what you want? What if you can achieve your most desired professional and personal goals by simply tapping more fully and consciously into the power of the woman you already are?

Thats what this book is all about: helping women get more of what they want by being more of who they are. Its about showing women how to bring more of themselves to workand get more back from it as a result. Its about figuring out what you really want, feeling comfortable asking for it, and then drawing on a neglected source of power to achieve it.

I call this powerful new tool pitching like a girl. 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.