Lean in. Sit at the table. Be nice, but also insistent. These are all professional and life lessons Sheryl Sandberg tries to teach us in her popular book, Lean In. Based on her own experiences, she sets out to inspire women and provide us with guidance for success in a corporate world led disproportionately by men. As women, we face many social challenges unique to the circumstances of our gender. We want to be likeable, but also assertive. We want to be successful, but not aggressive. We want to go after what we deserve, but we hate to tout our own accomplishments. One of Sheryl’s most shocking points is that “success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women.” The more I think about it, the more I can definitely see that to be true. From my own experience, I see that people tend to admire a successful man, but are jealous of a successful women and often attribute her success to negative factors such as aggression or luck (meaning she didn’t work hard to put herself there). Navigating the business world is hard for anyone, but sometimes certain personality types (feminine or otherwise) excel over others. She acknowledges the very real obstacles out there that we ignore all too often. Before reading Lean In, I could not have believed that we are still facing gender inequality in the United States in this day in age. After reading the book, I see so many areas of my life where the things Sheryl had to say rang very true for me. I was also fortunate enough to participate in a book discussion at my current job. The session was so valuable to hear what women both my age as well as women much further along in their careers had to say about their own experiences. If interested, you can even set up your own lean in circle or find one in your area here!
Sheryl offers so many great insights to young professionals just starting out in their various chosen paths, but I highly recommend this read for everyone, both men and women, for the general life advice and insight in dealing with day-to-day human interactions. The way to succeed in life is to understand how people think and what makes them tick.
Given International Women’s Day on March 8th, several major campaigns aimed at promoting gender equality have recently gained a lot of attention, most notably the campaign launched by the Clinton Foundation called No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project. The data driven report highlights that although we have made significant progress over the last twenty years in closing the wage gap and setting more women up for leadership roles, we still have a long way to go. It seems surprising. I, for one, am shocked that this is still an issue in the modern United States, but unfortunately it is. Maybe you’ve noticed lots of key women missing from advertisements and the media recently for the “Not There” campaign to illustrate what the world would be like today if these important women were not a part of it. Although a very unusual approach to the issue, the campaign garnered a lot of attention and brought the issue even more into the light. Check out this article to learn even more.
What are you doing in your life to lean in, sit at the table, and be nice but insistent? I’d love to hear it! xo
