TORONTO -- While being called rude is typically considered an insult, one author suggests that being the "right kind of rude" at work can actually help women get ahead in their careers.

Journalist Rebecca Reid told CTV's Your Morning on Monday that the internet had previously dubbed her "Rude Rebecca" after she put her finger to her mouth and shushed a comedian who wouldn't let her speak during a TV interview on Piers Morgan's show "Good Morning Britain."

She says the moment inspired her to write her new book "Rude: Stop Being Nice and Start Being Bold."

Reid said her experience was similar to that of Sen. Kamala Harris who had to remind U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence that she was speaking after he interrupted her multiple times during the October debate.

"Admittedly I did not handle it as calmly or as elegantly as Sen. Harris did, but it was a really great moment for me seeing that… and I think a lot of women have been in that exact position," Reid said in an interview from London, U.K.

Reid explained that being labelled "Rude Rebecca" helped her learn that there are different ways of being rude, including "positive rudeness."

She said "positive rudeness" is otherwise known as "being assertive," but says it is described as rude when women exhibit it.

"[The book] is mostly about trying to free yourself of being perceived as rude, and instead doing the things that you need to do to make your life better," Reid said.

Reid said showing "positive rudeness" in certain situations can help women achieve their goals in judging that their own wants and needs are at least as important as everyone else’s and then acting on them.

She says every chapter of her book is dedicated to a different place where women should be rude including relationships, family, personal health and work.

Under the celebrity example, Reid uses Taylor Swift as a champion of using "positive rudeness" at work.

"She is a fundamentally really nice person -- she loves her cats, she bakes cookies -- but in the same token… She’s not afraid to be outspoken and pursue either legal or public channels in order to make sure that she's getting the correct treatment as an artist, and as a person," Reid said.

She pointed to Swift’s payment dispute with Apple Music as an example. Swift refused to allow the company to stream her album "1989" following the company's decision not to pay musicians during customers' free trials.

Following Swift's protests, Apple later decided to change its royalties policy.

WHEN YOUR BOSS MISPRONOUNCES YOUR NAME

However, Reid noted that "positive rudeness" is different from being a jerk. One example, she says, is correcting someone who gets your name wrong or shortens it into a nickname.

Reid explained it is not rude to correct someone on this, but in a work setting, she said it may feel like the situation could cause unnecessary conflict.

Despite this, Reid said co-workers likely won’t think twice about being corrected.

"You might spend the whole day building up to it but to them, it's not going to be a big deal. And it's preventing a situation where you spend the next however many years in your workplace resenting the fact that you didn't say something in that first moment," she said.

APOLOGIZE LESS

Reid added that women should also say "sorry" less in the workplace, admitting that she too is guilty of doing so.

"Sometimes somebody will bump into me on the street and I will apologize for being bumped into, but I think a lot of the time when we say 'sorry,' what we mean is 'thank you'," Reid said.

She explained that when someone apologizes for being late, what they mean is that they are grateful the person waited for them and suggests women trying replacing "sorry" with "thank you."

"It's a much more positive way to frame what you're really trying to say, which is 'I appreciate the thing that you have done for me'," Reid said.

Reid said this is especially important in a work context for women as saying "sorry" may advertise "this idea that they’re getting things wrong all the time" when that isn’t the case.

"When you say 'sorry' you've undermined yourself. You said, 'I'm wrong' or 'I've made a mistake', whereas a lot of the time you haven't made a mistake or if you have, it's a very small one," Reid said.

BEING RUDE IN EMAILS

With more people working remotely amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Reid said there are still ways to bring "positive rudeness" to one’s job through email exchanges.

She noted that women tend to use words such as "just" and "quick look" attempt to not bother their co-workers when asking a question.

Reid said these qualifying statements aren't necessary and can actually make a women sound like she lacks confidence or conviction in her job.

To help combat this, Reid said there are email plugins available that will underline these words before hitting send on an email.

"It's just a little reminder that you don't have to apologize for asking for reasonable things," she said.

As well, Reid said women unnecessarily use exclamation points when messaging co-workers.

"I never use exclamation points in my normal life, but in work somehow I think I'm going to seem like a horrible monster if I don't use exclamation points in every line," Reid said.

She added that women tend to use this punctuation because they "want to seem nice" and kind. However, Reid said women should be focusing on other tasks in the workplace.

"In reality, particularly at work, there are other more important things than being sweet. Being competent, being efficient, those are the qualities you want to advertise, not just the fact that you're a sweetheart," Reid said.