Sandberg, Sheryl. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Random House Audio, 2013. Audiobook. Accessed via Libby.

My Review: 4/5

This book is an easy read, presented as a combination of anecdotal stories and observations from Sandberg about how best to encourage and support women in the workforce. There are also cited studies and specific actions suggested to incorporate into your work practices.

On this mark, it hits well; it is more polished and fleshed out than her TED Talk.1 There are some cited works that I was familiar with and others I was not. One especially important point in this book is that the more women (or any group, for that matter) are included, the less that group sticks out and the more it fits in. This is explored more in depth in The Tipping Point by Gladwell.

One study Sandberg cites found that when comparing identical CVs with male and female names, both women and men adjusted their expectations to better fit the male candidate. She also points out that women are less likely to negotiate terms of employment, and no one ever asks a man “how he does it all.”

If there is one nit I have to pick with the book, it is the focus on women’s domestic partners contributing more, as if “getting the other half to do more” is the path to getting more women into leadership positions. I’m not sure how this advice applies to widows, divorcees, or someone whose spouse travels for months of the year. The other two suggestions—sit at the table and don’t leave before you leave—are learnable skills. One focuses on being present; the other on not curbing your ambition too early in anticipation of a future scenario with children.

Reading this book in 2024 feels especially poignant after the losses of presidential candidates Clinton and Harris. Regardless of how you voted, both Clinton and Harris have decades of leadership and political experience and to suggest otherwise is why I think Sandberg closes out her book with a call to continue to embrace and advance feminism as the equality of the sexes.

I do think reading this book is worthwhile to gain the perspectives of an accomplished business leader.2

Date Read

2024/12/29

Significant Revisions

Footnotes

  1. I understand that this book is the continuation of the high-level thoughts presented in TED Talk with Sheryl Sandberg: Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders. ↩

  2. I almost wrote “female leader,” but as Sandberg points out, we should be striving for a future where such modifiers aren’t necessary. Guess I still have work to do. ↩