Melanie Ho’s thought-provoking debut book, Beyond Leaning In: Gender Equity and What Organizations are Up Against, has been awarded a silver medal in the 2022 Axiom Business Book Awards.
Previous Axiom medalists include Nobel laureate Robert Shiller, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin, investor Raymond Dalio, NYT best-seller Dan Ariely, and entrepreneur Steve Case. The 2022 winners will be honored at the Axiom Awards celebration on April 21st.
Recognized in Axiom’s “Business Fable” category, Beyond Leaning In is a different kind of business book – based on research but told as a novel, alternating between the perspectives of male and female characters across all levels of the organizational chart at a fictional company. The book focuses on why gender gaps at work are so hard to close despite our best intentions, creatively illustrating:
the challenges that make it harder for women to lean in,
the unequal rewards and penalties when they do, and
the fact that “leaning in and acting more like men” ignores the stereotypically feminine traits needed for modern leadership.
Kirkus Reviews calls Beyond Leaning In “an engaging evolution of Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ mantra,” noting that the novel format “makes Ho’s points in a way that a normal, prescriptive work of nonfiction could not”: “Ho’s prose is subtle and taut” and “the interpersonal dramas are well drawn and compelling” in this “well-crafted instructional tale.”
About the Author: Melanie Ho has been described by Film Daily as “one of the most empowering authors and visual artists right now.” She is founder of Strategic Imagination, a consulting firm focused on unlocking the power of the arts for business and non-profits to achieve transformational change. As former Senior Vice President and a member of the founding team for education technology and consulting firm EAB Global, she helped grow the firm from 30 employees in 2008 to 1300+ by 2017, when it transitioned from an internal startup within a larger firm (The Advisory Board Company) to a standalone entity through acquisition by Vista Equity Partners for $1.55B. Prior to her twelve years at EAB, she taught literature at UCLA and received her PhD in English.
To view the book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bht0PO
Melanie’s webcomics based on scenes in her book: https://www.melanieho.com/beyond-leaning-in-webcomics
About the Axiom Awards: https://www.axiomawards.com/
For more information or to request a review copy:
Melanie Ho, melanie@beyondleaningin.com, 202-743-4203