Published in 2013, Lean In explores and addresses the issues that have historically led to women taking up fewer leadership positions in business than men, including not having the confidence to put yourself forward and take opportunities, balancing motherhood and working life, having a supportive partner, and how a successful career path can fork in different directions.
Summary
The term ‘Lean In’ can be understood as a way of encouraging women to be confident enough to pursue their ambitions and work together in order to address the gender inequality in the world of work and beyond. Before writing the book, Sandberg gave a TED talk about 'leaning in' that has since been watched over 9 million times.
Amongst the principles of ‘leaning in’ Sandberg mentions are:
Sit at the table: have the confidence to overcome any sense of imposter syndrome to take your place next to other leaders
Make your partner a real partner: share the household tasks and childcare equally with your partner
Don’t leave before you leave: if you plan to have children, don’t let this decision impact on your long-term personal and professional plans before you actually have children
Memorable Quotation: Attitudes towards female and male leaders
Sandberg talks about how people perceive women and men in positions of leadership very differently:
“What the data shows, above all else, is one thing, which is that success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women."
In 2003, Columbia Business School and New York University ran an experiment to test perceptions of men and women in the workplace. They showed a case study to some students about a real-life entrepreneur named Heidi Roizen. They then changed 'Heidi' to 'Howard'.
The students rated Heidi and Howard as equally competent, which made sense since “their” accomplishments were completely identical. Yet while students respected both Heidi and Howard, Howard came across as a more appealing colleague. Heidi, on the other hand, was seen as selfish and not “the type of person you would want to hire or work for.” The same data with a single difference—gender—created vastly different impressions.
Verdict: ****
Some criticise this book for being too basic and not challenging businesses to change the way they work, by placing the burden on women to be bold and speak up. And they may have a point.
However, Sandberg does address issues such as the importance of men assuming equal responsibility for tasks traditionally perceived as being in the women's domain, for example childcare and housework. She argues that that this will free women up to return to or pursue higher level jobs after maternity leave rather than missing out on opportunities and falling behind in their careers.
The book and messages are highly accessible, easy to read, engaging and entertaining: this is a good book to read if you would like a quick and easy introduction to addressing the gender equality gap!
If you enjoyed this, you might like to read
A Vindication of the Rights of Women - this was written by the '18th-century British proto-feminist' Mary Wollstonecraft. It is considered as one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy, setting out reasons why women should have the right to an education, in a period when a patriarchal society was opposed to this. Good to contrast with Lean In!
Review by Cathy Walker, Innovation & Learning Team, Trust Office