When Eileen Naughton was president of the Time Inc. magazine group, she got the news one afternoon that her young son had a genetic disorder that would prevent him from leading a normal life. Ms. Naughton, who was pregnant, also received a warning that her unborn daughter might be at risk. Before the news came through, Ms. Naughton’s biggest concern had been a speech she was scheduled to give the next day at an annual management meeting with the chairman sitting in the front row. The prospect had terrified her. Then the medical news she received put everything in perspective.

Ms. Naughton, now an executive at Google, is one of the women profiled in “How Remarkable Women Lead” (Crown Business, 355 pages, $27.50) an exploration of the traits that have helped a handful of women rise to the top in business, government and other fields, often while coping with personal and professional challenges. Written by two McKinsey & Co. consultants, Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston, it is one of a trio of new books intended to help women navigate the still rocky road to success and achieve some kind of work-life balance.

Of the three, “How Remarkable Women Lead” is the most ambitious. It uses research from a five-year project to create a model for women to use in planning their careers. “Women, Work and the Art of Savoir Faire” (Atria Books, 261 pages, $24.99) is a more light-hearted affair. Written by Mireille Guiliano, the author of “French Women Don’t Get Fat” (2004), the book explores “business sense and sensibility,” offering wardrobe advice, entertaining and style tips, and even recipes for entertaining clients at home. (Chicken Provencal With Muscat Beaumes-de-Venise may be easier to cook than it sounds.)

The third book, Karine Moe and Dianna Shandy’s “Glass Ceilings and 100-Hour Couples” (University of Georgia, 215 pages, $19.95) looks at the flip-side of ambition and the repercussions of the “opt-out” phenomenon—women who jump off the workplace treadmill to become stay-at-home mothers after the reality of trying to “have it all” sets in.

These books were clearly conceived in better times, when choosing a fulfilling job or opting out to pursue full-time motherhood was the luxury of a booming economy. Now, of course, for millions of people—men and women alike—just holding onto a job or finding a new one is paramount. Some of the women profiled in “How Remarkable Women Lead” are now out of work themselves, and others are presiding over layoffs, downsizings and the effects of shrinking industries.

As for progressive companies that once embraced female-friendly flexible work hours and liberal leaves for family responsibilities, many are rethinking their policies. Such perks “are among the first to be cut under economic constraints,” according to Ms. Moe and Ms. Shandy in “Glass Ceilings.”

“How Remarkable Women Lead” has the whiff of a self-actualization treatise, but the McKinsey team, to its credit, does try to dissect what it is about women that sometimes holds them back in business. Women tend to take criticism personally, we’re told, rather than use feedback about poor performance as a source of insight and an aid to getting ahead. Women’s fear of speaking up in meetings allows men to dominate conversations, and (as studies show) women aren’t as adept at negotiating their compensation.

Another brake on career advancement, according to the McKinsey authors, is the tendency to build relationships based on friendship with like-minded individuals. Women may not be as skilled as men in building a broader, if shallower, network of colleagues and contacts. Ms. Barsh and Ms. Cranston note that men are also better at reciprocity—”you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”—which helps them make casual connections that are overtly transactional yet powerful, because both parties benefit. Women, by contrast, don’t like to impose on friends and so must be coached to think about strategic alliances.

To be effective leaders, though, women can tap into “feminine” strengths and exploit some of the “softer” aspects of office interaction. The ability to develop deep, authentic connections can also help women find mentors and sponsors to advance their careers and provide counsel.

“How Remarkable Women Lead” offers some interesting ideas, such as learning to frame events in a positive light and to adapt to setbacks with optimism rather than self-doubt and pessimism. But some of the book’s interviews with top executives—like Avon’s Andrea Jung, Xerox’s Anne Mulcahy and former Qantas chairman Margaret Jackson—are long on platitudes and short on the details of how these business leaders handled various challenges.

We learn that Ms. Jackson was hospitalized during a takeover bid for Qantas and gave an ill-advised quote about the bid to a journalist. But the authors don’t offer specifics— even though Ms. Jackson’s illness (deep-vein thrombosis) and what she actually said (a supporter of the take-over, she suggested that certain opponents had “mental problems with how the market works”) were widely reported at the time.

Ms. Naughton’s story at Time Inc.—her job was eliminated in a cost-cutting purge after Time Warner’s ill-fated merger with AOL, but she landed on her feet at Google— gives more insight into how to handle adversity. Her conclusion is that balance in life may not be achievable; the best that women can hope for is “organized disequilibrium.”

Mireille Guiliano, the former chief executive of French Champagne maker Veuve Clicquot, echoes many of the points made by Ms. Barsh and Ms. Cranston. But Ms. Guiliano’s “Women, Work and the Art of Savoir Faire” also offers a soupcon of practical guidance about getting ahead in business. Pick well-known companies to work for, she advises, and gain experience in a position with bottom-line responsibilities and a direct tie to revenue. These are no doubt good ideas—for those who find themselves in a position to snare such jobs.

Ms. Guiliano is at her most comfortable dispensing tips on style, wardrobe and business entertaining. Liberally sprinkling French phrases along the way (bien dans se peau—be comfortable in your own skin), she notes that women, much more than men, are judged by their appearance. For Ms. Guiliano the cardinal sin for any woman trying to get ahead is a lack of personal style—bad hair, for instance, or wearing flip-flops, jeans or see-through tops to work. (Twentysomethings, take note.)

A common thread in the three books is practical advice about taking care of yourself, advice that is as applicable to men as to women: getting enough sleep, rest and exercise; making sure that you take all your allotted vacation time. The authors also ask women to keep in mind a variety of self-protective measures, like taking safety precautions when traveling alone or, for married couples when the wife quits her job to pursue full-time parenting, signing a post-nuptial agreement to divide assets evenly.

The books agree that working women who are mothers usually have a second shift—they are the primary caregivers even when both spouses work. “Glass Ceilings and 100-Hour Couples” is especially sobering in its depiction of the challenges that women face in two-career families. Drawing on interviews, survey data and labor statistics, Ms. Moe and Ms. Shandy conclude that gender discrimination subtly pushes women with children out of the labor force.

Even when women stay on the job, they may find that having children limits their advancement. Women adapt by taking “bias avoidance” actions, like not requesting a reduced workload when they need it or hiding the fact that they are leaving work early to take a child to the doctor. At higher corporate levels, Ms. Moe and Ms. Shandy show, only 24% of women believe that they can turn down a work opportunity for family reasons without hurting their career. Most executive jobs, the authors conclude, remain structured for a stereotypical working man with a wife taking care of domestic matters.

When a woman does opt out of her career after deciding that the family can live on her husband’s income, the move doesn’t have to be the end of her engagement with the wider world, according to “Glass Ceilings.” Many professional women who become “stay-at-home” moms aren’t really staying home—they’re running with a pack of other smart women who have done the same thing, building social networks, serving in schools, helping their communities.

Not a bad way to for such women to keep their leadership skills honed—in case they decide to go back to work one day or start their own businesses. With the economy starting to warm up again, returning to the corporate world may soon be easier. “Glass Ceilings” makes a prediction: Before long, businesses will see the folly of under-using a powerful resource and will design policies that better accommodate capable, educated women who happen to have children.

Source: Wall Street Journal

EH9A4F8WXNRR