Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Interview With Author Gail Evans

Aired May 14, 2003 - 15:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for another edition of our new Page Turner segment, where we talk with the authors of interesting new titles arriving in the bookstores. With me here in Washington, former CNN executive vice president turned author Gail Evans. The book is "She Wins You Win: The Most Important Rule Every Businesswoman Needs to Know."
Gail, there are women who are going to be seeing this book in a bookstore or at the airport and they're going to say, another book of advice. What is special? What's different about this one?

GAIL EVANS, AUTHOR: I think what's special and different about this is there's a piece of advice we never said out loud before, which is, we've got to start playing on the women's team. We have to start understanding that your success and my success are connected, and the women need to start being in there helping each other toward collective success, rather than destroying each other as we go for individual success.

WOODRUFF: We've heard so much throughout our lives about how women have great friendships, women stay in touch with each other. Why doesn't it work in the work environment, which is really your (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

EVANS: Well, I think some places in the work environment it does work. I mean we know that there are those of us who have been very supportive of each other. But I hear stories all the time about how women really view the marketplace as scarcity, and the person they have to get rid of first is the other woman. And we haven't thought in the more sophisticated ways, we haven't thought about, do we move the business to each other?

WOODRUFF: Well, one of the things -- I was talking to somebody about this and they said, now wait a minute, when men are working together, are they necessarily looking out for the other guys? Aren't they looking out for number one, for themselves?

EVANS: Well, part of looking out for number one is knowing that you've got to continue to work with all the people around you so that you don't get into -- you know women always talk about how the guys have a fight and then they go out for a beer. And we think, if he said that to me, I'd never speak to him again.

We need to learn this is about business. And you don't go destroy somebody to get ahead. You may wound them a little, but you have to stay friends. You have to support each other. You have to share information. WOODRUFF: Your first book was "Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman." You're not abandoning that thesis. You're still saying play tough, but...

EVANS: Well what happened was I learned after that -- when I went out speaking all over the country, I realized women have been trying to fix themselves, make themselves smarter, learn more. But what we haven't learned is that we are a team, and we've got to start playing on that team. So it really is sort of the evolution of all of that.

WOODRUFF: Talk about some of the very specific pieces of advice you give women in here. The first one has to do with mentoring.

EVANS: Right. I mean we have to -- when you get ahead as a woman, you have to realize half of your responsibility in this particular stage in life and this era is to reach your arm back and make sure you are helping other women. It's not about not helping the boys.

It's about making sure that you are making it easier for the next woman. Not what I hear all the time, which is, you know, it was really tough to get here, so I need to make sure that the other young women coming along understand how tough it's going to be. No. You need to help them along and you need to mentor them in really substantive kind of ways.

WOODRUFF: You also talk about information that it's all right to share and information that you should keep to yourself.

EVANS: Right. One of the things that we do is -- you know we always go, "It's confidential, I can't share that." Women say to me all the time, "I don't know what anybody else makes. And the company says we're not allowed to tell each other."

I'm like, that's ridiculous. You need to know what people make. You need to know what's going on in other departments. You need to share that information with each other, because it makes you smarter for yourself and smarter for the company.

But, the non-share part is we need to stop talking about each other. When the boss leans over and says, I'm really worried about Judy's work, you don't need to help...

WOODRUFF: And say...

EVANS: ... and put the nail in Judy's coffin by saying, yes, I'm really worried about it too.

WOODRUFF: She's doing a lousy job. I agree.

EVANS: You need to help Judy do a better job and you need to learn to find a way to not be the one that destroys somebody else, because ultimately it's going to be that much easier to destroy yourself. WOODRUFF: Gail Evans, how much longer are women going to need to read books like this in order to get advice? We don't see these kinds of books out there for men.

EVANS: Right. I think it's true. I mean it's amazing. It's like, well, we want to be perfect. So we have to fix and re-fix ourselves until we get it perfect.

But what I really believe is, if I could get large numbers of women to think about, you know, am I looking for a woman to do business with, not that you don't get the best person, but do I even consider a woman? I think when we begin to look in these new kind of collective ways, we're going to discover that our power increases exponentially, and a lot of the game will be gone.

WOODRUFF: A lot of good advice. It is "She Wins You Win -- Gail Evans -- The most Important Rule Every Businesswoman -- in fact, every woman...

EVANS: Right, absolutely every woman.

WOODRUFF: ... Needs to Know." Gail Evans, great to see you again. Always good to have you come back and see us.

EVANS: Thank you. It's always fun.

WOODRUFF: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 14, 2003 - 15:21   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for another edition of our new Page Turner segment, where we talk with the authors of interesting new titles arriving in the bookstores. With me here in Washington, former CNN executive vice president turned author Gail Evans. The book is "She Wins You Win: The Most Important Rule Every Businesswoman Needs to Know."
Gail, there are women who are going to be seeing this book in a bookstore or at the airport and they're going to say, another book of advice. What is special? What's different about this one?

GAIL EVANS, AUTHOR: I think what's special and different about this is there's a piece of advice we never said out loud before, which is, we've got to start playing on the women's team. We have to start understanding that your success and my success are connected, and the women need to start being in there helping each other toward collective success, rather than destroying each other as we go for individual success.

WOODRUFF: We've heard so much throughout our lives about how women have great friendships, women stay in touch with each other. Why doesn't it work in the work environment, which is really your (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

EVANS: Well, I think some places in the work environment it does work. I mean we know that there are those of us who have been very supportive of each other. But I hear stories all the time about how women really view the marketplace as scarcity, and the person they have to get rid of first is the other woman. And we haven't thought in the more sophisticated ways, we haven't thought about, do we move the business to each other?

WOODRUFF: Well, one of the things -- I was talking to somebody about this and they said, now wait a minute, when men are working together, are they necessarily looking out for the other guys? Aren't they looking out for number one, for themselves?

EVANS: Well, part of looking out for number one is knowing that you've got to continue to work with all the people around you so that you don't get into -- you know women always talk about how the guys have a fight and then they go out for a beer. And we think, if he said that to me, I'd never speak to him again.

We need to learn this is about business. And you don't go destroy somebody to get ahead. You may wound them a little, but you have to stay friends. You have to support each other. You have to share information. WOODRUFF: Your first book was "Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman." You're not abandoning that thesis. You're still saying play tough, but...

EVANS: Well what happened was I learned after that -- when I went out speaking all over the country, I realized women have been trying to fix themselves, make themselves smarter, learn more. But what we haven't learned is that we are a team, and we've got to start playing on that team. So it really is sort of the evolution of all of that.

WOODRUFF: Talk about some of the very specific pieces of advice you give women in here. The first one has to do with mentoring.

EVANS: Right. I mean we have to -- when you get ahead as a woman, you have to realize half of your responsibility in this particular stage in life and this era is to reach your arm back and make sure you are helping other women. It's not about not helping the boys.

It's about making sure that you are making it easier for the next woman. Not what I hear all the time, which is, you know, it was really tough to get here, so I need to make sure that the other young women coming along understand how tough it's going to be. No. You need to help them along and you need to mentor them in really substantive kind of ways.

WOODRUFF: You also talk about information that it's all right to share and information that you should keep to yourself.

EVANS: Right. One of the things that we do is -- you know we always go, "It's confidential, I can't share that." Women say to me all the time, "I don't know what anybody else makes. And the company says we're not allowed to tell each other."

I'm like, that's ridiculous. You need to know what people make. You need to know what's going on in other departments. You need to share that information with each other, because it makes you smarter for yourself and smarter for the company.

But, the non-share part is we need to stop talking about each other. When the boss leans over and says, I'm really worried about Judy's work, you don't need to help...

WOODRUFF: And say...

EVANS: ... and put the nail in Judy's coffin by saying, yes, I'm really worried about it too.

WOODRUFF: She's doing a lousy job. I agree.

EVANS: You need to help Judy do a better job and you need to learn to find a way to not be the one that destroys somebody else, because ultimately it's going to be that much easier to destroy yourself. WOODRUFF: Gail Evans, how much longer are women going to need to read books like this in order to get advice? We don't see these kinds of books out there for men.

EVANS: Right. I think it's true. I mean it's amazing. It's like, well, we want to be perfect. So we have to fix and re-fix ourselves until we get it perfect.

But what I really believe is, if I could get large numbers of women to think about, you know, am I looking for a woman to do business with, not that you don't get the best person, but do I even consider a woman? I think when we begin to look in these new kind of collective ways, we're going to discover that our power increases exponentially, and a lot of the game will be gone.

WOODRUFF: A lot of good advice. It is "She Wins You Win -- Gail Evans -- The most Important Rule Every Businesswoman -- in fact, every woman...

EVANS: Right, absolutely every woman.

WOODRUFF: ... Needs to Know." Gail Evans, great to see you again. Always good to have you come back and see us.

EVANS: Thank you. It's always fun.

WOODRUFF: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com