It’s a book for ladies, but it’s written to women and men. In Lean In Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, describes her years of experience in reputable professional environments (Google included) in which she witnessed a trend: women tended to sell themselves short compared to men. They tended to take fewer risks and be less fearless, which serves women poorly in the competitive business world. Women need to understand this divide, why it exists, and “lean in” – sit at the table in meetings, and not in the extra chairs lined up along the walls, and voice their ideas. And there’s a lot more to it; she explains her experience with maternity, and how she thinks both women and men can better facilitate women’s careers during this phase of life. (She tells women that the best time, perhaps, to have kids is while they are at the peak of their careers.)
I read this book in advance of its publication and it made my day to see that it made the cover of the New York Times Book Review. This book is extremely important, and I think that its being a conception of a woman who is the COO of Facebook only validates its contemporaneity. It’s seriously great.
I always respect a book that is written with a mindfulness of the form: it lives up to its expectations, as a piece of work that people pick out of all the possible choices in the bookstore, and sit with quietly for hours. Is it worthy? Five times out of 5, this book absolutely is. I hope that all of my friends and coworkers internalize an understanding of the still-problematic place of women that Sandberg brings to light here: be fearless, make impact, take risks to get there.
I hope that the ideas here reach every “stuck” 20-something. And every graduating senior woman – high school or college – will benefit from reading Sandberg’s book; please skip the towels and give them this instead.
Watch Sheryl Sandberg’s TEDtalk – the precursor to this book and a fine introduction – here. Also follow her on Twitter and (haha) Facebook.
by Whitney
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