Friendship Upgrade - Girlfriends 2.0 by Cindy W. Morrison

This is a guest post by Jessica Henry (Twitter, LinkedIn), my daughter.  She has no shortage of hobbies or books on her reading list.  Many of the books come from me.  But when she read this one, because of her feedback, I asked her to post the review.  You'll find that leadership comes in every type of relationship...

It’s time to upgrade! – “Girlfriends 2.0” By Cindy w. Morrison (Book Review by Jessica Henry)

A couple weeks ago, I received some devastating news. Money is tight at work, as with most places, and my job was way too close to the chopping block. I was given an opportunity and left with a tough decision to make. So, I did what any girl would do and I called in reinforcements.  I called the one person that I knew to give me the right advice on what to do, my dad, one of my biggest fans and (after reading this book) best "guy-girlfriends."

He and I had dinner and discussed my options. He told me about someone we both know that had been through this in the past and she had just written a book about the power of girlfriends and how she survived some of the toughest of life’s little lessons. Cindy Morrison (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) has been through it all, from layoffs to cancer to her book, Girlfriends 2.0.

In this book, Cindy pinpoints the value behind girlfriends and explains the dire need to upgrade your friends to the highest of standards. She draws examples of the types to avoid and types to find.

Girlfriends are the ones that tell you when your dress doesn’t look good (in a gentle way) and when you’re making decisions that will cost you later. These people are the ones that make up your safety net. They catch you when you fall and are there to celebrate when you succeed; they are your biggest fans.

This book has helped me identify some friends in my life that are not really friends at all. These people fit more into the categories of “Needy Nancy,” “Debbie Downers” and “Just Don’t Get It Gidgets,” just to name a few. Since this book, I’m cleaning out the closet, so to say, and “dumping the wanna-bes.”

“Girlfriends 2.0” also helped me to identify my true friends and what we can share to help boost each other up. Girlfriends come in all shapes, sizes, backgrounds and even genders as Cindy makes clear through her descriptions.  I’m working to identify each one in my closest circle and the gifts that they have given me. Even more important, I’m checking myself so that I’m a great girlfriend to those that consider me in their closest circle.

I enjoyed this book. It is written in a communicative style and I found myself feeling as if Cindy was sitting with me on the back porch telling her story, just as my girlfriends and I do now. In fact one night, while sitting with one of my girlfriends listening to her current problem, I then started telling her to dump the “wanna-be” girlfriend that was creating so much grief in her life. She was better than that and maybe she too needed to upgrade her girlfriends.

It was a fun and insightful read. I want to say thanks to Cindy for all the advice and for sharing a piece of herself with me. This whole crazy world is a little less scary with the new and improved Girlfriends 2.0. If I have a daughter someday, this book is one that I will want her to read to learn about the value of true Girlfriends.