20 Years Later, ‘Nice Girls STILL Don’t Get the Corner Office’

Pasadena-based best-selling author and executive coach Dr. Lois Frankel is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her influential guide for professional women, “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office,” which continues to hold its position among the top 15 most recommended business books for women.

Dr. Frankel had hoped the book would be eventually obscure, but it remains a cornerstone for women navigating corporate and political landscapes.

“Believe me, it’s not that I’m not grateful that the book has made a difference in the lives of women who have read it,” Frankel said from her home office. “When I wrote it, I had imagined that two decades out there would no longer be a call for or interest in how women can establish themselves as corporate and political leaders. I would have thought it would be a given.”

Released at a time when discussions about gender equality and workplace empowerment were gaining momentum, “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office” became an instant classic, providing invaluable insights and actionable strategies for women striving to shatter the glass ceiling.

In the book, Dr. Frankel reveals why some women roar ahead in their careers while others stagnate. She also writes about a unique set of behaviors – 101 in all – that women learn in girlhood that sabotage them as adults, according to a Good Reads description. She helps you eliminate these unconscious mistakes that could be holding you back – and offers invaluable coaching tips you can easily incorporate into your social and business skills.

While celebrating the achievements of the past two decades, Dr. Frankel said it’s essential to acknowledge that despite increased awareness and advocacy, gender disparities persist in every aspect of a woman’s life, making the book as relevant today as it was when first published.

“Unfortunately, those who have power and control continue to minimize the need for sharing it with people who don’t look like them,” Frankel said. “Just take a look around the world. It’s quite a mess – and for the most part, women aren’t running it.”

Dr. Frankel founded Corporate Coaching International, which offers executive coaching and team and organizational consulting services out of her Pasadena office. She has also founded two nonprofit organizations: MOSTE (Motivating Our Students through Experience), and Bloom Again Foundation: Sowing Seeds of Health and Hope.

Her work with women and girls was recognized through Maybelline New York’s “Empowerment through Education” award. She also received the Los Angeles County’s Woman of the Year Award in business and industry, and a Presidential Medal from the State University of New York at Oswego.