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In 2020 of the top 200 bestselling business books, only 17 were written by women. That’s equal to the number of business bestsellers written by men named John or Jon. A statistic that is a compelling reminder of the importance of widening the lens and bursting the male-dominated bubble of thought leadership in the marketing industry.
The male bias in marketing thought leadership begins early. Writing in the Harvard Business Review Lesley Symons, Leadership Coach and Mentor, revealed research showing that only 11% of top business school case studies have a female protagonist.
The Women in Marketing Fresh Reads series, in partnership with Dentsu Creative, aims to challenge the male-dominated narrative of marketing thought leadership. Each month winners and supporters of the Women in Marketing Awards are reviewing and highlighting the most innovative creativity, culture, and marketing books, which also just happen to be primarily written by women. Books that will be welcome additions to the reading lists of progressive marketers.
This month Kai Deveraux Lawson, Host of Mixed Company Podcast and Creator of Mylifeofkai.com reviews The Urgent Life by Bozoma Saint John.
When Women in Marketing approached me to review Bozoma Saint John’s autobiography, The Urgent Life, I was not only unsure of what to expect in the book, but also completely blind to how my own life would parallel her insightful and rollercoaster filled journey. By the time I finished the last word of the last chapter, it would be her words that I owed so much gratitude, as they have become my own saving grace in a time of earth shattering personal change.
It is not often that we get a glimpse into the personal lives of successful and influential individuals like her. Instead, we are immersed in a whirlwind of news headlines, tweets and Instagram feeds that perhaps unintentionally posture a narrative of a peacefully powerful and near perfect existence. We come to know women of Bozoma’s stature as corporate deities who, outside of the similarities of our professional ambitions and personal complexities, may never live the exact same day to day struggles, as we do. But as I delved deeper into the pages, I found myself in sisterhood with her, as she spoke about life, love, loss and rebirth in a way I had not yet been able to articulate, in the midst of my own grief.
Bozoma’s writing is raw, honest, direct and vulnerable. She doesn’t shy away from sharing her joys nor her struggles and heartaches. As someone who has also gone through similar losses (pregnancy loss, the passing of my brother, and job loss) all of them while I was reading this book, her words resonated with me on a deep level.
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