While I always try to keep my eyes open for ways to improve good work ethic, this book helped to further this quest.  I think it would be most beneficial for men to read this book as a lot focuses on including women in the workplace and supporting their ideas at every level.  However anyone will be able to take something out of this book.

As a background I am an older white male and have managed employees for the last 3 decades.
 
 This was a slow start for me. Reading this caused me to look over decisions I have made during my years in a newer light. With all the litigation out there for various reasons and the new influx of millennials in the workplace I can state this is a good book to read and try to absorb. Dealing with employees today isn't like it was in the 80s when you could just order something done and expect it to happen. This country has a decidedly bad process of educating people for positions due to rapidly changing tech and motivations. 
 I will say that applying the vocabulary and methods should be slow, do not use this as an immediate bible or people will wonder if an old fart like me suddenly was on drugs. Having said that, by a slow and steady approach and true understanding you can build better relationships with your employees and increase employee retention particularly in stress teams. Do not think this is an overnight process, think of this as an educational opportunity to better your management and employee relation skills in a changing world when you aren't sure how long you will be with a company. An ally you make with a coworker or employee might be the difference in your career path tomorrow. For younger people coming out of college I recommend you have a printed copy and look it over once a month for the first few years of working after reading it two or three times. I hope the author writes more in similar veins of project and employee management.
 Read it, it is worth the time and effort.

Rating: 5/5

I’ve really enjoyed this book. As a background, I’m a mixed Asian woman.

The author does a really good job at explaining privilege and how to be an ally to others. She also does a good job at explaining that although we may have hardships, we still may have privilege that affords us more opportunities than others, which is important to think about as we attempt to be allies with friends, families, coworkers, and just others in general. 

As a mixed Asian woman, I do understand I have privilege that is not afforded to some of my friends and coworkers, while I also have hardships that my other friends and coworkers do not experience.

One of the biggest gripes around being an ally is actually discussed by this author: listen to the people you ally with for their input AND support them to talk for themselves. Like the example of a woman being talked over, where instead of naming her idea and summarizing her point, allow her to speak her thought so the idea is truly attributed to her.

I think this book is something that people should read in general. Even as a WOC, I found ideas to take away from this book on how I could be a better ally for other people.

I was provided an e-book copy for review by the publisher.

This book took a long time for me to start and then for me to read. As a white woman in academic science, I have often been and often am the only woman in the room. This makes me both an ally and someone who can benefit from allyship. 

While this book focuses on tech, there are many parallels in fields that also have under-representation of women and minorities. While reading, I thought of several people that I could give copies of this book to encourage thinking about diversity and being better allies in my workplace. 

This book should be read cover-to-cover and used as a reference thereafter. However, it isn't a book you can sit down and read cover-to-cover in a single or even multiple long sittings. I recommend reading and absorbing one chapter in a week and working on the principles in the chapter that week, adding techniques every week as you go along. 

Catlin makes every effort to use relevant and current examples of both good and poor behavior in allies. Her writing is easy to read and understand. She goes the extra mile to engage people who may be skeptical or who do not quite buy into the need for everybody to take action in creating inclusive workplaces. 

Overall, I highly recommend to people who can use their privilege to make the workplace better.

This is a timely, helpful and all-round awesome book! Full of examples and useful advice on how to be an ally to under-represented groups in the workplace, without every being ‘preachy’ and never underestimating the scale of the challenge. 

It’s time to put an end to just publishing an equality and diversity strategy full of potentially empty but impressive aims; this book will help you get into action. A must have for every business that cares about valuing people as human beings.

I was fortunate to receive a complimentary digital copy of this book (through NetGalley) in return for an honest review.

Introducing smart concepts for fair and balanced work environment .. I am truly looking forward to applying these strategies