Brave, Not Perfect. Reshma Saujani

      

      RESHMA SAUJANI is the Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology while teaching girls confidence and bravery through coding. A lifelong activist, Reshma was the first Indian American woman to run for U.S. Congress. She’s been named a Fortune 40 under 40, a WSJ Magazine Innovator of the Year, and one of the Most Powerful Women Changing the World by Forbes. She is the author of three books, including Women Who Don’t Wait In Line and the New York Times bestseller Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World. Reshma lives in New York City with her husband, Nihal, their son, Shaan, and their bulldog, Stanley.

Copyright

      An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

      First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2019

      Copyright © Reshma Saujani 2019

      Reshma Saujani asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Ebook Edition © January 2019 ISBN: 9780008249540

Praise for Reshma Saujani

      ‘Reshma Saujani is . . . empowering “an army of young women” to take on tech’s gender gap’

       CNN

      ‘I love this book! A timely message for girls and women of all ages: perfection isn’t just impossible but, worse, insidious. The prose is so clear, so honest – you feel like you’re sitting across from Reshma sharing stories.’

       Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit

      ‘The perfect is not just the enemy of the good; the pressure to be perfect is the enemy of girls around the world. In this courageous, convincing book, Reshma Saujani shares a bold vision to free girls – and women – from the shackles of social expectations.’

       Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals, Give and Take and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg

      ‘For any woman who has ever thought to herself “I just can’t . . .” or “I’m just not . . .,” this eye-opening book will help you showing up every day as brave, not perfect changes how the world sees you, but more importantly, how you see yourself - and what you are capable of. This book is great reminder that having the courage to stare your mistakes and your imperfections in the face is one of the most overlooked sources of power.’

       Amy Cuddy, Harvard lecturer and Bestselling author of Presence

       To every “perfect” girl and woman:

       You are braver than you know.

       Contents

       Cover

       About the Author

       Title Page

Copyright

       Praise

       Dedication

       Introduction

       Part One: How Girls Are Trained for Perfection

       1: Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

       2: The Cult of Perfection

       3: Perfection 3.0: When the Perfect Girl Grows Up

       Part Two: Brave Is the New Black

       4: Redefining Bravery

       5: Why Be Brave?

       Part Three: Kiss the Perfect Girl Goodbye: The Path to Being Brave

       6: Build a Bravery Mindset

       7: Get Caught Trying

       8: Nix the Need to Please

       9: Play for Team Brave

       10: Surviving a Big, Fat Failure

       Acknowledgments

       Notes

       Discussion Questions

       About the Publisher

Introduction

       Daring the Unthinkable

      In 2010, I did the unthinkable. At the age of thirty-three, never having held an elected position, I ran for US Congress.

      Up until then, even though it had been my dream from the time I was thirteen years old to run for public office and effect real change, I had stayed safely tucked behind the scenes of politics. By day, I worked long, grueling hours in a big-name investment firm—a high-paying, glamorous job that I hated but stayed in because it was what I thought I was supposed to be doing. At night and in every spare moment on weekends, I worked as a fund-raiser and organizer; these were all valuable contributions that had impact, but in my heart, I wanted to play big and do big things.

      With every passing day, I became more and more miserable in my job, until I reached a moment of deep despair when I knew something needed to change. That was when I heard a whisper in the New York