The Peru Gazette

By John T. Ryan

Rebecca (Dalton) Cassidy, a Peru native, and a 1993 Peru High School graduate, just became a published author. After over twenty years in the workplace, she decided to impart what she’s learned, especially to women working in an all-female company or organization. Cassidy’s recently published book is titled Working with Women: Successful Tips for Working Together.

After graduating from high school, Cassidy earned a B.A. in psychology at SUNY Binghamton. Following graduation, she worked as an I.T. consultant, got married, earned her MBA at George Washington University, and worked in marketing. When her husband took a job overseas, she worked for a Tokyo non-profit specializing in helping new college graduates enter the world of international business. These workplace situations were typical of the ones many women face – working in a majority-male organization.

In Japan, Cassidy loved working with students, so when she returned to the States, she looked for a job in higher education. Taking a job as a student advisor at a major university, she looked forward to working in an almost all-female environment. But, Cassidy recalls, “It was different. I took a leadership role and found it didn’t make me any friends. I had mistakenly assumed that the strategies I had learned working in male-dominated environments would apply to female-dominated environments. I was very, very wrong. Those tones and postures aren’t well-received by women.” Seeking help, she looked to self-help books only to discover that most books centered on offering advice to women working in a majority male organization. After about fifteen years of on-the-job experience, Cassidy offers women advice on succeeding in an all-woman or almost all-woman organization.

In Women At Work, Cassidy describes bosses she refers to as “The Control Freak,” “The Ambitious Woman,” “The People Pleaser,” and the “Queen Bee” and suggests how women can learn to work with these people as human beings rather than stereotypes. Cassidy summarizes her philosophy by stating, “The only behavior you can truly control is yours. While we can’t change the people around us, we can become aware of our behavior and make the active choice to lift ourselves and the women around us up, rather than tear each other down.”

Cassidy asks that readers use her book as a tool to work both with challenging women and with the women who set positive leadership examples. She backs her advice with scientific research on why negative behaviors might exist, and she offers suggestions for making informed decisions. Sometimes, the decision might be difficult, such as leaving a situation.

A reader reviewing the book stated, “This was a no-nonsense, easy read where the author studied the research and presented it to back up her point. Enlightening and helpful in dealing with uncomfortable situations in the workplace and all aspects of life where people gather and need to work together.”

Rebecca Dalton Cassidy’s Working with Women: Successful Tips for Working Together is available at the Peru Free Library, the Plattsburgh Public Library, and Amazon. Click here to view the Amazon site.