A Good Time to Be a Girl

Don't Lean In, Change the System

By: Helena Morrissey

Narrated by: Helena Morrissey

Five years have passed since women were exhorted to 'Lean In'. Over that time, the world has transformed beyond all expectations. But why should anyone 'lean in' to a patriarchal system that is out of date? Why not change it entirely for the good of us all?

In A Good Time to be a Girl, Helena Morrissey sets out how we might achieve the next big breakthrough towards a truly inclusive modern society. Drawing on her experience as a City CEO, mother of nine, and founder of the influential 30% Club, which campaigns for gender-balanced UK company boards, her manifesto for new ways of working, living, loving and raising families is for everyone, not just women. Making a powerful case for diversity and difference in any workplace, she shows how, together, we can develop smarter thinking and broader definitions of success. Gender balance, in her view, is an essential driver of economic prosperity and part of the solution to the many problems we face today.

Her approach is not aimed merely at training a few more women in working practices that have outlived their usefulness. Instead, this book sets out a way to reinvent the game - not at the expense of men but in ways that are right and relevant for a digital age. It is a powerful guide to success for us all.

©2018 HarperCollins Publishers (P)2018 Helena Morrissey

Critic reviews

‘Morrissey is unusual and her book is essentially about why that is a good thing; why people who don’t fit the mould should be valued for that, rather than forced to conform … a refreshing change from the niggling cult of female self-improvement, which starts from the premise that women are probably doing it all wrong’ Gaby Hinsliff, Observer

‘A manifesto for career-minded women’ Sarah Baxter, Sunday Times

‘What supplies extra authority is where Morrissey is coming from – someone who has reached the summit and who did so while being mother to nine children. All credit to her. Onwards and upwards’ Evening Standard

‘Ms Morrissey’s tone is helpful in the increasingly irascible debate on gender equality … worth listening to’ Financial Times

‘A heartfelt manifesto for a more humane and inclusive form of capitalism’ Ruth Sunderland, Mail On Sunday

‘Morrissey is a suffragist like Millicent Fawcett, convinced that patient social reform can be brought by good women, and men’ Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph

‘She makes a great case for ditching the dither, fixing your eyes on the prize, and asking for help where needed and promotion where desired too… I loved her positivity and push for collective female focus’ Helen Brown, Daily Mail

A quick read that gives a jolt of inspiration

Part of the benefit of this book is to hear the story of a highly successful woman in finance who has nine children. She’s such an outlier on so many levels but that’s the point. She also didn’t just rest on her own laurels but decided to have a wider systematic impact to bring boards of directors to having a minimum of 30% women represented.