In this valuable offering, Dr. Kristine Sickels aims to give women leaders the tools to break into male-dominated conversations.

According to a 2025 report, the U.S. population is 50.5% female, but women hold only 29% of the C-suite, or top leadership positions in American companies. Worse, many female leaders are often silent, Sickels contends, because they feel outnumbered, are afraid of losing their jobs, or believe they won’t be listened to anyway.

Sickels, who holds a doctorate in business administration, wants to give women in leadership roles the motivation to speak up and the confidence to do so clearly. Her excellent book gives female leaders guidance —and even provides the perfect zinger when a man takes credit for a female colleague’s idea. “Try saying something like this: ‘Marcus, great point. Jennifer actually mentioned that very same thing a moment ago.’”

The author admits that speaking up for a woman can be risky but weighs that against the cost of silence. “When you stay silent about something that matters to you, it creates a gap: a gap between your values (what you believe inside) and your voice (what you say aloud.) Sickels tells compelling stories about times she and her colleagues closed that gap and urges women to fight gender disparity by doing things at which women excel, like making friends.

In one highly original section, she emphasizes the importance of women telling workers appropriate personal stories. “As they hear more of your stories, they start to understand why you choose to lead with certain values and not others.”

This is an original, well-written and necessary book. The author is straightforward about lessons she’s gained from corporate life and relates her heartbreak when a C-suite position she felt she’d earned went to a less qualified man. Her book won’t prevent such occurrences, but it will equip women readers to be better communicators and braver leaders.