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I have to say I was very excited to hear about this book. Many of you may have heard of For Women Only and For Men Only, two books by Shaunti Feldhahn to help understand the inner worlds of the opposite sex based on survey results and interviews. Well, she has done it again.

The Male Factor is Feldhahn's look into the inner world of men in the workplace. The workplace is still dominated by rules, expectations, and assumptions that make it still highly a "man's world." After hundreds of surveys and personal interviews, Feldhahn explores just what the means and how women can understand this secret world in order to better navigate and succeed. She explains that many of the men she interviewed sincerely want women to be successful and wanted to pass on information about what women do to basically shoot their careers in the foot.

As she did in For Women Only, Feldhahn takes different assumptions, like "it's business, it's not personal" and looks at what the means to a man and why that is different than what it means to a woman hearing that statement. Feldhahn discusses why even at work women need to pay attention to the fact that men are highly visual creatures. And of course, one of my favorites, was the discussion about being emotional at work and how men and women interpret that differently.

This book was an enjoyable read. Feldhahn uses direct quotes and examples to really explain each point. She is careful to explain that she is not saying one way is right and another wrong, but merely helping to explain how it is so that women can then do what they like with the information. I think that I learned a lot from this book. I've asked my husband a few things (like: really, you don't take that personally? or really, that distracts you?) and it will probably help me relate to his work world a bit better. There also were times when I was reading that I thought "Oh, that explains that time when..."

I highly recommend this book. If you are in the workplace, I think you could learn many things to help you relate better to the men you work with. Ladies, you don't have to be in the workplace right now to appreciate and learn from this book. There are principles that could help you in ministry, volunteering, or understanding your husband's work world. It's also just interesting to read about how different men and women can be!

In addition, I was given the expanded edition to review, which contains a special section of discussion from experienced Christian women in the workplace who, in Titus fashion, pass on their wisdom to "train the younger women."

In conclusion: add this to your reading list! (Click on the book icon for ordering info)

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.