Sarah Cooper

The desire to get from point A to point B in the shortest, most efficient amount of time without ever wandering off path, can mean you miss out on those happy accidents that push you further and faster in a direction you never even considered.

In this fast-paced business world, female leaders need to make sure they're not perceived as pushy, aggressive or competent. One way to do that is to alter your leadership style to account for the (sometimes) fragile male ego.

One of the best things you can do to get on an engineer's good side is make him feel as much like a regular person as possible, without insulting his intelligence. Say things like, 'You're too cool to be an engineer,' or 'Nice kicks!' or 'You don't seem lonely at all.' Note: This only works on male engineers.

When I finally accepted a full time job, I saw that as giving up on my artistic dreams. But three years later, I wrote a blog post based on life in the corporate world, which went viral and became the basis for my first book, which allowed me to quit my job to be creatively independent once again.

In the corporate world, there is no ground more fertile for appearing smart than the rich earth that is electronic communication. Your email writing, sending and ignoring skills are just as important as your nodding skills, and even more important than your copying and pasting skills.