The Glass Cliff cover art

The Glass Cliff

Why Women in Power Are Undermined - and How to Fight Back

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Glass Cliff

By: Sophie Williams
Narrated by: Sophie Williams
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $19.99

Buy Now for $19.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

The audiobook is read by the author, Sophie Williams, and features an exclusive interview with Charlotte Cowan, Head of People and Culture and Shakespeare's Globe.

'
Every current and aspiring leader needs to read this book' - Helen Tupper & Sarah Ellis, Sunday Times bestselling authors of The Squiggly Career and You Coach You

'Clever, brilliantly researched and vitally important' - Dawn O'Porter, bestselling author of
The Cows and Cat Lady

The Glass Cliff is a conversation about what happens when women break the rules, and break through The Glass Ceiling.

Have you ever wondered why there are so few success stories of women in business leadership? Or maybe you’ve wondered what life is really like on the other side of The Glass Ceiling? The world of work is supposedly changing, embracing diversity – yet are the opportunities we’re giving to women really equal to those of men?

Drawing on almost 20 years of research from around the world, The Glass Cliff phenomenon - whereby women are often only hired in leadership roles when a business is already underperforming, meaning their chances of success are limited before they ever even start in the role - is well established, but little known. Until now.

This is the story of The Glass Cliff: a story of a structural inequality disguising itself as the personal failures of women. When Sophie Williams gave her viral TED talk on the subject, she was subsequently flooded with accounts of confident, accomplished women who had taken what seemed like a dream leadership role only to quickly find themselves in a waking nightmare. Without the language to describe their experiences they had been left blaming themselves. But learning about The Glass Cliff enabled them to reframe and reexamine what they’d gone through.

Once we understand The Glass Cliff – once we can stand together and face it head-first – we can start to unravel so many other false narratives about women’s leadership experiences that just don’t make sense without it. By understanding the phenomenon, and by telling one another about it, we can affect the conversation, empower one another to overcome societal bias and, ultimately, change the world of work for women forever.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Sophie Williams (P)2024 Macmillan Publishers International Limited
Gender Studies Leadership Organisational Behaviour Women in Business

Critic Reviews

Funny, infuriating and game-changing . . . an essential manual for every woman (Annabel Rivkin & Emilie McMeekan, founders of The Midult)
Timely, useful and profoundly hopeful – a warm and accessible book (Stella Duffy, bestselling author of Calendar Girl and Money In The Morgue)
Reading The Glass Cliff is like having a light switched on – so many of the experiences I've had and seen around me started to make sense (Maryam Pasha, Curator of TEDxLondon)
Compulsory reading . . . any organisation that wants to remain successful & profitable should read this book (Donna Patterson, workplace activist and founder of Let's Talk Work)
A compelling and enlightening read . . . offers validation, empowerment, and a path forward for challenging systemic disparities in the workplace (Blair Imani, author of Modern HERstory)
Extensively researched, nuanced and inclusive, this defiant and definitive book is essential reading (Hayley Nolan, bestselling author of Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies)
A must read (Naomi & Natalie Evans, founders of Everyday Racism and authors of The Mixed Race Experience)
Thought-provoking and timely . . . enlightening and empowering (Pippa Vosper, author of Beyond Grief)

What listeners say about The Glass Cliff

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.