How 'Wander Women' Find Fulfillment

Marcia Reynolds reveals how successful women can find fulfullment in her new book.

The more success a woman achieves, the less fulfilled she feels? Author, PsyD and executive coach Marcia Reynolds says this is often the case. She explains why in her latest book, Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction.

TCW: What do you mean by ‘burden of greatness’?

Marcia Reynolds: There was a real shift in this generation, girls who were brought up from the 1960s and on. They were, for the first time in history, given the message that they can do anything. They heard it as: we should do everything. So there’s this constant need to go out and be excellent at something, but there’s no clear definition of this excellence. Even when we accomplish a great thing we stop and say, ‘Okay, what’s next?’ This restlessness that we feel on this quest of finding the next great thing ends up being quite a burden.

You say that women care more about doing meaningful work than getting into the boardroom.

I’ve found one of the biggest differences between high-performing men and high-performing women is men are a little bit more motivated by title and money. Women have a higher need for meaning in their jobs. So if it gets to a point where women don’t feel that what they’re doing is significant, they leave the job or company (and take themselves out of the running for top-positions).

How can companies retain high-achieving women?

It’s got to be beyond the promise of a future position and more money. It’s got to be frequent, significant, important challenges and a place these women feel recognized for the work they do, for the significant value they give.

Is the ‘wander woman’ the new identity of successful women?

I teach around the world. Everywhere I go I find women who are asking me the questions I answer or at least address in the book. Where women have the ability to get an education, to choose what they want to do for work, they start to realize – ‘Hey, I can take care of myself.’ These issues are coming more and more up to the front. So I think it’s an emerging issue that many women are facing globally.