Looking into Leaning In

Sunday, on my way back from Destin, I finished Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. Over the past year or so, I have been following the discussion surrounding this topic of women in the workplace. The most recent iteration of this was launched by Anne Marie Slaughter’s article in The Atlantic  in summer 2012. Melissa Mayer’s nomination of CEO of Yahoo while pregnant followed a few months later, and then, the release of Lean In by Sandberg. Surrounding these items has been a host of blogs, essays, and discussions all over the country. My book club even touched on some of these issues at our last meeting several months ago.

To understand a bit of Lean In, read Sandberg’s Time essay here. I read this book because the topic really interests me. Being a woman in the workplace, and one that could see working on and off throughout my life, I believe this dialogue affects me and the rest of the female working population. Also, as a Christian, I believe we can bring a unique perspective to this conversation, as we aim for excellence in all we do, while still always looking to first to honor the “Audience of One.” (to take a phrase from FCA camp in middle school)

A year or two ago, Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder came and spoke to a group of Patterson Sch0ol women.  I really enjoyed attending Bachelder’s talk. She is a Christian who has been married to the same man for many years. Together, they raised three daughters, who are now adults. The point that stuck out for me from her talk is that you can’t “have it all.” She said said she chose her family (good marriage and time invested in children) and her career, but she doesn’t have many close friends and she doesn’t have hobbies. It’s a trade off. Throughout my time reading Lean In, I often reflected on Bachelder’s words.

Lean In raised several questions and concerns for me:

– Does Sheryl Sandberg have any personal friends, outside of family and work colleagues? Does she have any hobbies or things she does just because they make her heart sing? How does she give back in a meaningful way (faith, service, etc) other than her contributions as COO at Facebook?

-I felt that her analysis and suggestions made a lot of sense for the small percentage of women who work high level-corporate or other jobs. But, in my experience, most women don’t want 100 hour a week jobs. I was impressed with Sandberg, though, because she repeatedly affirmed women who have made other decisions (to stay home, work part-time, etc). Still, her commentary most applies to elite career women.

Overall, I really enjoyed Lean In. My favorite part was hearing about her path to where she is currently working now. I feel that she offered quite a bit of good advice, such as choose a mentor or sponsor, figure out what you need on your own terms, and also, just the encouragement that women’s voices need to be heard when making major decisions.

Likely, I don’t ever see myself where Sandberg is. But, it makes me happy that she has the opportunity to be there, leaning in, and helping others to do the same.