3.5
The No Club
ByPublisher Description
In this “long overdue manifesto on gender equality in the workplace,” (Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of Grit), The No Club offers a timely call and an action plan to unburden women from work that goes unrewarded.
The No Club started when four women, crushed by endless to-do lists, banded together to get their work lives under control. Working harder than ever, they still trailed behind their male colleagues. And so, they vowed to say no to requests that pulled them away from the work that mattered most to their careers. Their over-a-decade-long journey and subsequent, groundbreaking research reveals that women everywhere are unfairly burdened with “non-promotable work,” a tremendous problem we can—and must—solve.
All organizations have work that no one wants to do: planning the office party, screening interns, attending to that time-consuming client, or simply helping others with their work. A woman, most often, takes on these tasks. In study after study, the original “No Club”—professors Linda Babcock (bestselling author of Women Don’t Ask), Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart—document that women are disproportionately asked and expected to do this work. The imbalance leaves women overcommitted and underutilized as companies forfeit revenue, productivity, and top talent.
The No Club walks through how any woman can rebalance her workload, empowering individuals to make savvy decisions about the work they take on. The authors also illuminate how organizations can reassess how they assign and reward work to level the playing field. With hard data, personal anecdotes from women of all stripes, self- and workplace-assessments for immediate use, and innovative advice from the authors’ consulting with Fortune 500 companies, this book will forever change the conversation about how we advance women’s careers and achieve equity in the 21st century.
The No Club started when four women, crushed by endless to-do lists, banded together to get their work lives under control. Working harder than ever, they still trailed behind their male colleagues. And so, they vowed to say no to requests that pulled them away from the work that mattered most to their careers. Their over-a-decade-long journey and subsequent, groundbreaking research reveals that women everywhere are unfairly burdened with “non-promotable work,” a tremendous problem we can—and must—solve.
All organizations have work that no one wants to do: planning the office party, screening interns, attending to that time-consuming client, or simply helping others with their work. A woman, most often, takes on these tasks. In study after study, the original “No Club”—professors Linda Babcock (bestselling author of Women Don’t Ask), Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart—document that women are disproportionately asked and expected to do this work. The imbalance leaves women overcommitted and underutilized as companies forfeit revenue, productivity, and top talent.
The No Club walks through how any woman can rebalance her workload, empowering individuals to make savvy decisions about the work they take on. The authors also illuminate how organizations can reassess how they assign and reward work to level the playing field. With hard data, personal anecdotes from women of all stripes, self- and workplace-assessments for immediate use, and innovative advice from the authors’ consulting with Fortune 500 companies, this book will forever change the conversation about how we advance women’s careers and achieve equity in the 21st century.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe No Club Reviews
3.5
“Inspirational and eye opening. We need to say NO!”
“Instead of starting a ‘No Club’ every exploited employee should quit, find a modern and respectful workplace, and sue — work without pay?!
While The No Club claims to address the burden of Non-Promotable Tasks (NPTs), its approach feels oddly archaic. The book normalizes workplace rivalries and "alliances" in a way that feels reminiscent of 90s corporate culture. Most frustrating is the thesis: rather than demanding systemic change, it suggests that marginalized groups should learn to "navigate" and manage their way through exploitation. The authors spend chapters detailing how lower-level employees can help their bosses identify and eradicate unproductive tasks. It’s a bizarre role reversal; management—the highest-paid tier—should be responsible for task allocation, not the entry-level workers already struggling under the weight of NPTs. This book is an excellent guide on what not to tolerate if looking for a job or starting an equitable business. It’s a must-read for anyone looking to identify the red flags of a management team that lacks a basic understanding of accountability. None of the scenarios detail behavior that could lead to termination by speaking up or helping management with task allocation and higher pay for extra work, but still insists persistent fear and anxiety can be the norm. How is that possible if you’re model employees and help your manager with his job?iu”
About Linda Babcock
Linda Babcock is a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University. She is the author of Women Don’t Ask and Ask for It. A behavioral economist, she is the founder and director of PROGRESS, which pursues positive social change for women and girls through education, partnerships, and research. Babcock’s media appearances include Good Morning America, ABC’s World News Tonight, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, USA TODAY, and more.
Brenda Peyser
Brenda Peyser has held leadership positions in the corporate world and academia for over thirty years. Most recently, she was a professor of communications at Carnegie Mellon, where she also served as associate dean of the School of Public Policy and Management. She has worked with organizations as a consultant and speaker on women’s workplace issues.
Lise Vesterlund
Lise Vesterlund is a professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh and founding director of the Behavioral Economic Design Initiative. Her work with Fortune 100 companies addresses issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. Published in leading economic journals, her research has been covered by NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, and Forbes.
Laurie Weingart
Laurie R. Weingart is a professor of organizational behavior at Carnegie Mellon University. She served as CMU’s Interim Provost/Chief Academic Officer, Director of the Accelerate Leadership Center, and a senior associate dean at CMU’s Tepper School of Business. Her award-winning research on team collaboration and conflict has been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Insider and published in top management and psychology journals.
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