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I happened to stumble on this movie, “The Devil Wears Prada” on Astro last Saturday night. It’s about a fresh graduate, Andrea Sachs who got a job as an Assistant, to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile and successful, but ruthless editor of Runway magazine. It was a job that million of girls would die for – not so much of the job scope but more of the experience and opportunity to meet high profiled people in the fashion industry. Andrea took the job because she hopes to get herself an opportunity to meet editors that would eventually land her a job as a journalist.

To cut the story short, it is about the crazy tasks that Andrea has to do to please the difficult Miranda Priestly. Andrea is not only required to be smart and quick but is expected to act like “God” – doing almost the impossible. For example, she was reprimanded for not able to perform the “miracle” of getting a flight for her boss to fly back under a stormy weather condition. Obviously, the reasons given were not good enough to back her “incompetence.”

Though there were times Andrea had delivered more than is required, she is not to expect any words of affirmation from the Dragon Lady. Finally, Andrea realized that the incentive of being in the job is not worth the price that she has to pay – lost her boyfriend and friends who believed she has sold her soul to the “Devil”. (Please watch the movie to know the whole story)

Miranda Priestly is a perfect picture of “the boss from hell” - ruthless, adamant, ambitious, vicious but successful. Such bosses believe the competitive market place demand such traits. If you don’t become the Devil, you will be played out by other devils. But do we need to be a “Miranda” to be successful?

For women, it is harder. It is largely believed that in order to be heard and successful, you got to be aggressive, brassy and loud. Soon, you will be labeled as the “B” of the office and you get popular for the wrong reasons.

As a woman, I wonder whether it is still possible to be nice and pleasant and yet successful at the same time? Would my “niceness” short changed me and made me a less convincing leader? Do we really need to have a strong voice by being loud, to be accepted by being adamant and to be powerful by being possessive? Can an angel wears a Prada?

What say you?