For those looking for a last-minute Mother’s Day gift, MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski has a new book, “Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth,” which has been getting a lot of buzz. Some professional women, especially in politics and journalism, fairly gush over this book. It describes how the co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” featuring former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough, launched a successful fight for fairness after discovering Scarborough made 14 times what she did.
Over at Politico, they offer a few excerpts from the TV journalist’s book:
“About a year ago, on a beautiful spring day, I was in the White House and dropped by presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett’s office to say hello. We started talking about work-life balance. We discussed the excitement and challenge of having so many opportunities as women.
“For Valerie, the challenges were raising an incredible daughter on her own, navigating the worlds of business and politics at the top level, and helping to propel the first African-American president into office.
“For me, they were trying to maintain a marriage, raising two extraordinary girls while traveling the country, and covering the Obama presidency.
“… As I described to her my theories about women and value, I realized immediately I had hit a nerve. She said, ‘You have to write this book. This is important. This is the next part of the conversation.’ … I realized that if my story spoke to Valerie, then certainly it would speak to others.
Then there’s little tidbit about how Brzezinski, daughter of former National Security Adviser Zbgniew Brzezinski, learned how not to be polite and unassuming:
“We found (Hillary Clinton) at 9:30 at night on a high school stage in Nashua. We had been trying to get some time with her all day. My phone did not leave my ear and we did not get out of the car until we nailed down the interview. … The next day, after the interview aired, my phone rang. I saw it was an NBC line, and I assumed I was going to be given kudos for the Hillary ‘get’ — maybe I would be closer to getting that raise.
“… I picked up the phone and heard, ‘Hello, Mika? What was with that clip in your hair last night? Do not wear that clip again. You looked awful … I am trying to help you here. You can’t do it again. I want people to like you.’
“… I had thrown my hair up in a plastic hair clip that I’d gotten at a drugstore, and my makeup had pretty much worn off. … The guys (in her film crew) were great and told me not to bother with makeup … that it would be better to show my real side anyway. That is what our show was about. I could be me.
“… How did I respond to the call? I apologized. … Why didn’t I simply hang up? That’s what Joe would have done. Surely that’s what Hillary Clinton would have done! … But I didn’t take the opportunity to set her straight.”
Here was Brzezinski’s conclusion:
“It’s up to me to control my own behavior, to take responsibility for my own actions. Not wait to be acknowledged, but to step up and ‘own’ my success. I’ve earned it. … [T]he way to shift the balance is not to try to change existing workplace dynamics but to take matters into your own hands.
“If we can’t quantify and communicate our value with confidence, the achievements of the tremendous women before us will have all been for nothing.”