Lean In

I recently read the book of the Facebook COO, Cheryl Sandberg. The book is called Lean In, with the subheading "Women, Work, and the Will to Lead". It has been widely discussed in the media, with some of the comments encouraging, and others less so.

I personally would like to recommend this book to any woman who is serious about having a career. I wish that men would read it too. This book goes deep in the discussion of why women have not made greater advances to garner more leadership positions in business, politics, academia, etc. It is not a popular topic, and I applaud Cheryl for speaking about this issue.

As a woman working in the financial industry, I have been the only woman in many conference room meetings. Just last week I was in a meeting with ten guys and myself. It has got better through the years, but not good enough. I have not encountered blatant sexism, or sexual harassment, but the hidden gender bias is there, and Cheryl's book really explains that very well.

I am truly an anomaly in my field, being a working mother of three. It is so much harder for a woman than a man to be a working parent, even though I have a partner who really supports me and is just as hands-on parent as I am, if not more at times, when needed. I don't discuss my kids much at work so as not to be labeled as the "mommy type". Of course I do respond if people ask how my girls are doing, but I don't bring them up myself. This is very different for men, who get points for discussing their kids, not second-guessing about their ability to do their jobs.

Cheryl's book also discusses the "ambition gap", or women not seeking out leadership positions as eagerly as men. There are many reasons for this, but the family issue is one of the biggest obstacles, as many women feel that they cannot handle the pressures and long hours of a high profile job, in addition to being there for their families. I definitely recognize this personally as one of the biggest issues holding me back. I have put off looking for better positions because I felt that I was already stretched to the limit with the amount of work and responsibility. I don't see this changing anytime soon, as long as I have small children, but I have accepted that this is where my career now is, and made peace with the fact that it's a bit stagnant. Maybe at some point in the future I can put more of my energy and focus in advancing my career and finding more challenging and rewarding positions.

In any case, the book is very well written, very well researched and the personal anecdotes make it more interesting. This is an important topic as the woman's dollar is still only 78 cents. There are ways to go to equality, and this book takes a step forward and forces recognition and discussion of the issue.