Power Through Partnership: How Women Lead Better Together

Myth-busting: Too many women never even consider working together "Polk and Chotas explore and destroy the myths, stereotypes, and misplaced fears that get in the way of female partnerships. Advances equity and equality: After impressive gains, women s

• Myth-busting: Too many women never even consider working together-Polk and Chotas explore and destroy the myths, stereotypes, and misplaced fears that get in the way of female partnerships.
• Advances equity and equality: After impressive gains, women's advancement in the workplace has stalled-female partnerships offer a way for women to move forward and create a more equitable workplace.

Drawing from their own twelve-year partnership and from interviews with 125 women business partners across the world, Betsy Polk and Maggie Chotas have learned something powerful: when women work together they discover a level of support, balance, confidence, accountability, and a freedom to be themselves that is rarely found in other work relationships.

Heroic male partnerships are a staple business success story, but female partnerships rarely get the same kind of attention. Power Through Partnership is a call for women to recognize and build on the inherent strengths that make them uniquely able to create successful, trust-based professional relationships. Polk and Chotas demolish the myths that keep women from collaborating and then offer readers advice for handling potential challenges like finding the best partner, dealing with conflict, facing fears, taking risks, and knowing when to let go of a partnership.

Featuring lessons learned from women partners in all kinds of industries, this book shows that when women collaborate " combining complementary skills, pushing ego aside and supporting each other " they can work as full equals to achieve something that's exponentially greater than the two alone.

About the Authors

Betsy Polk is a facilitator, mediator, and board certified coach for the Mulberry Partners who helps people figure out how to build strong partnerships, strengthen collaboration, improve communication, resolve conflict, and achieve goals that stick. In addition to her work with Mulberry, Betsy serves as leadership and organization-development consultant for the North Carolina Partnership for Children. She received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a master of science in organization development from the American University/NTL graduate program in Washington, DC. Betsy is an active volunteer and board member for educationally- focused organizations in Chapel Hill, NC.

Maggie Ellis Chotas is a facilitator and leadership coach for the Mulberry Partners who started her career as a middleschool teacher and has served as director and consultant for public and independent schools in Philadelphia, New York City, Charlotte, and Durham, NC. In addition to her work with Mulberry, Maggie serves as senior program manager for NC Ready for Success, a project working to align K–12 and higher education. She is an active community member in Durham, where she lives with her husband and two children. She attained a bachelor of arts degree from Swarthmore College, a master of arts degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, and a master of arts in school administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.