Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women's voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women's progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential. Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TEDTalk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which became a phenomenon and has been viewed more than two million times, encouraged women …
Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women's voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women's progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential. Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TEDTalk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which became a phenomenon and has been viewed more than two million times, encouraged women to "sit at the table," seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. In Lean In, Sandberg digs deeper into these issues, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to cut through the layers of ambiguity and bias surrounding the lives and choices of working women. She recounts her own decisions, mistakes, and daily struggles to make the right choices for herself, her career, and her family. She provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career, urging women to set boundaries and to abandon the myth of "having it all." She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women in the workplace and at home. Written with both humor and wisdom, Sandberg's book is an inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth. Lean In is destined to change the conversation from what women can't do to what they can. - Publisher.
The more I think about this book, the more annoyed I get about its advice. This is particularly true in the current social and political climate. It's frustrating to be told that people who aren't white men need to 'lean in' more when it's not really the problem, and it has never been the problem (even when this book was published).
It really lacks some perspective regarding people of colour, which isn't exactly shocking.
I also find this book a lot more insulting regarding tech after having watched women, non-binary, and trans people (among many others) get chased out of tech-related fields because of the abuse endured (I'm currently thinking about video game companies).
It isn't to say there aren't useful elements, but this book hasn't aged well due to things happening today.
Great conversational tone. Challenges me to be more conscious about my part in ensuring an equitable workplace. Also, her idea working with people's biases to get results in addition to acknowledging them explicitly seems practical and let exhausting with the caveat that you have to do this from a place of existing security.
This was a much better book than I expected it to be. Sandberg is a very engaging writer with lots of personal anecdotes to ground and humanize otherwise abstract advice. The research is solid and there's lot of it, although it is nothing new or startling if you've been paying attention. However, the one big criticism of the book -- that Sandberg is speaking from a place of high privilege on how to succeed within the narrow boundaries of corporate leadership -- is absolutely true. It's a narrow definition of work and of success, and there's little in here of value if your career and goals are not at least on the same path as Sandberg's.
I wanted to like this book. Actually, I wanted to love this book. But I didn't. I am all for more women in leadership. I love my job and feel businesses need to continue to cultivate diversity in all areas, including diversity of thought. I am a wife, and mother, and have been in leadership my entire career, so I thought this book would be amazing and inspirational. I hoped it would be one I could recommend to my peers. Unfortunately...
This book showed me that I think, and often act, like the men Sheryl Sandberg has worked with throughout her career. Rarely did any of her stories or perspectives resonate with me. I would read her anecdote, pause, and think, "Huh. Do most women in business feel that way? I have never had that thought." Or, "I can't believe that was her reaction. I would have lost respect for …
I wanted to like this book. Actually, I wanted to love this book. But I didn't. I am all for more women in leadership. I love my job and feel businesses need to continue to cultivate diversity in all areas, including diversity of thought. I am a wife, and mother, and have been in leadership my entire career, so I thought this book would be amazing and inspirational. I hoped it would be one I could recommend to my peers. Unfortunately...
This book showed me that I think, and often act, like the men Sheryl Sandberg has worked with throughout her career. Rarely did any of her stories or perspectives resonate with me. I would read her anecdote, pause, and think, "Huh. Do most women in business feel that way? I have never had that thought." Or, "I can't believe that was her reaction. I would have lost respect for her in that moment." If most women have similar thoughts, feelings, and reactions, it's no surprise that they struggle to achieve high levels of leadership success.
On the flip side, it did help me gain perspective on how some of my female peers might feel in the workplace. I can possibly use this to encourage differently, or help other women leaders work through some of their career stallers and provide an alternate point of view.
Overall, too much hype and a let-down for me. Men, if you read this book, do not assume every woman feels, thinks, or acts this way. Please and thank you.
TL:DR--I might be a man. Or Sheryl Sandberg is a big baby.
From its first sentences, this book spoke to me. I found myself walking and nodding, fist-pumping as Sandberg nailed it. FINALLY, I thought, someone is speaking my language. She did a great job presenting a balanced case for feminism - one that should appeal not only to successful professional women like myself, but also full-time mothers, women balancing work and children, and even men - not only the supportive husbands and fathers of women, but also the men leading companies. She made a great case for how fostering equality for women helps everyone.
This is a book I'd recommend to any man who manages or works with women, or who would like men to have an equal chance to stay home and care for the children. It's also a book I'd recommend to any woman, whether she's a working professional or a stay at home mother, or trying to mix the two. It's not a book that attempts to lay the blame on anyone, but it tries to objectively discuss why we are in a society where women are not achieving equal numbers in management AND why men are not achieving equal numbers caring for children. There's a lot of careful reference to research on unconscious bias, and how it affects (often negatively) both men and women. Watch Sandberg's 2010 TED talk and you'll get an idea of the general tone of the book, and this book was prompted by all the responses …
This is a book I'd recommend to any man who manages or works with women, or who would like men to have an equal chance to stay home and care for the children. It's also a book I'd recommend to any woman, whether she's a working professional or a stay at home mother, or trying to mix the two. It's not a book that attempts to lay the blame on anyone, but it tries to objectively discuss why we are in a society where women are not achieving equal numbers in management AND why men are not achieving equal numbers caring for children. There's a lot of careful reference to research on unconscious bias, and how it affects (often negatively) both men and women. Watch Sandberg's 2010 TED talk and you'll get an idea of the general tone of the book, and this book was prompted by all the responses she got from that and similar talks. The book goes into a lot more depth and examines a much wider range of research in related areas. I listened to this as an audio book and found it a fascinating examination of a very difficult subject area: gender inequality and how both men and women suffer from it in different ways, how both men and women perpetrate it often without even realizing, and some ideas on how we can try to change that so both benefit. Does it have all the answers? No, of course not. But it's a good overview of a lot of the studies on the topic and I would really like to see it widely read by anyone (male or female) in a management position, or conflicted about whether to pursue a career or childrearing role.
