Former Cosmopolitan editor: Just doing your job isn’t enough

>>> kate white rose through the ranks of the magazine world quickly moving from editorial assistant to columnist and eventually to editor in chief of "cosmopolitan" magazine.

>> after 14 years she made the hard decision to leave. now she is sharing her strategies for making it big in her new book called "i shouldn't be telling you this, success secrets every gutsy girl should know." great to have you back.

>> thank you.

>> every week a new book out from kate. what made you decide to leave cosmo?

>> yeah. i loved it. if you can do the math sometimes and see where there is a window of opportunity for you to leave on your own terms in your career and do something else, it's great. so i started to think, hey, i'm in my early 60s. if i'm going to do it, i've got to do it now.

>> so many women would love to change their lives, but there is that fear factor or they don't have the financial freedom . what would you say to a woman who wants to do that or is fearful of the change?

>> particularly if you're going back into the work place, you have to understand though it's scary, once you get the ball rolling, opportunities start to emerge. i think one of the key things is to understand traditional ways of trying to find a job, throwing your resume out there don't work. you've got to network. target your volunteer work so it focuses on certain things you can use to segue back into the work force .

>> your book has fun things and practical things, too. one of the things you touch on is getting in touch with your bitch envy?

>> we all had moments where you look at some other woman in the work place. she annoys the heck out of you. you think she is always brown-nosing the boss and bragging about what she is doing. part of why you think she is a bitch, you want what she has. i think turn the envy back to yourself and say, what's that's saying about me? maybe i should be doing more and taking on stuff and use you the to motivate yourself.

>> not to emulate that behavior.

>> no.

>> you also talk about lots of things, but you said you have to do -- what was the thing i was reading this morning that i loved so much? write the rules.

>> yes. today is not enough to do a job really well. to set yourself apart from the pack, you've got to do more than what you've been told to do. sometimes that means going in with a presentation your boss asked you to do just like we did it last year. often it's so much better to ask forgiveness than permission your boss is going to go, hey, that's fresh. i like that.

>> making a mistake can trip you up. when you tell someone a so-called secret, there is an 85% chance it's going to get around.

>> with some crowds it's 100%.

>> there is no vault. you just have to know loose lips sink ships . if you've got a secret, keep it to yourself . when someone tells me something a secret, i relish it. i think of it as something just for me and it makes it harder to divulge it.

>> you say don't vent. don't vent.

>> i think when we go home and night we have been told get it off your chest. one of the things i learned from men, partly through "cosmo" just putting on music, enjoying dinner, having a glass of wine and not venting. venting can churn it up in a way that makes it worse.

>> direct it into something you enjoy.

>> yes.