Lean In, Lead On

Sheryl Sandberg had me at, “I gained 70 lbs!”

I had heard a lot about this book, but I really wasn’t sure that I could relate to this woman. At all. I expected a book by a carefully made up, wealthy, privileged woman with an excellent education in a token leadership position. I expected someone with a lot of help who could “do it all”, with little – if any – credit to the people who helped her do it.

I, on the other hand, joined the Army for the college benefits, and I put myself through law school. I don’t aspire to manage a corporation. In fact, indirectly, I work for one of the people she mentions in her book. I am an attorney, and I want to be the best litigator I can be. I am also the proud mother of two teenagers, and I worry that I shouldn’t have worked outside of the home – but that wasn’t a choice I had.

I was wrong about Sandberg. Like me, and the rest of us, she is real. Sandberg’s a sociologist, a critic, a coach, a realist. Sandberg gives props to important leaders from Warren Buffet to Betty Freidan, and to her administrative assistant and her friends. Bravo! Sandberg, get out your pom-poms - Tip O’Neil is calling from the grave.

Sandberg doesn’t mention “Games Mother Never Taught You” by Betty Lehan Harrigan (1987), but that is analogous to some of the tactics she recommends. Yes, it would be better if we (women) didn’t have to bend to the (male) rules, but we do. Harrigan’s book is a guidebook, and as helpful as Freidan’s “The Feminine Mystique” in some ways.

There is a hysterically funny tale involving an eBay corporate jet and an itchy child’s head, but for real fun, skip to Chapter 6 (7 on audible) and listen to the first minute. Sandberg reminds us even while we should do what we would do if we weren't afraid, motherhood keeps us grounded.

Oh, and did I mention – Sandberg is the COO of Facebook – and she really does know what she’s doing?

This book is fantastic. Lean In!

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624 people found this helpful

Not for the Single Woman With No Family

What would have made Lean In better?

If you're a working mother looking for a book to make you feel good about your choice this is the book for you. Being a single career woman with no family to feel bad about neglecting, it was not the book for me. There are a few pieces of good advice regarding communicating and negotiating in a male-dominated workplace but, for the most part, this book goes on an on about a guilt-free mindset for those women who have chosen to put career ahead of family.

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44 people found this helpful

full of useful info...without the corporate-speak

Full disclosure: I'm a guy.
Wow, if women in corporate America have been walking around with these insecurities for the past too many years, there is a lot of repairing to do. Sandberg lays out a wide range of sensible solutions to pick from; all designed to allow women (or men) to perform at their highest level. If enough folks read this book and are able to bring its solutions to the workplace, we could probably add another percentage point or two to GDP growth! Narration is great.

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43 people found this helpful

Make your life count - no matter what you do

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I write this review as a way to invite EVERYONE to read this book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The only character is my favorite - the woman who cares to make her life engaging and important to herself and those around her.

This is a book written as a manifesto and manual for changing the way women behave and are regarded. How you regard yourself and how our culture regards you.

What aspect of Elisa Donovan’s performance would you have changed?

I became accustomed to the narrator but would have preferred a more mature and mellifluous voice. I think the more mature voice might have also had more credibility.

For me, there is a nasal edge that grates ever so slightly the entire book.

All I could think was "Ms. Sandberg must have been mentoring or sponsoring this person".

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. In fact, this book is to be really listened to - the more attention paid, the better the results.

Also, there is a companion website that is spectacularly effective and interesting for building skills.

I might actually purchase the book as well as having listened to it. There are sections I will want to read again and again.

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41 people found this helpful

A BOMB!

What did you like best about this story?

Sheryl Sandberg isn't afraid to share. Everything is extremely personal and inspiring. I am recommending this book to my male friends. I believe that they will be able to understand and help with gender equalities if they read Sheryl's book.

What does Elisa Donovan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Elisa's voice is similar to that of Sheryl's. I am glad that I listen to it rather than read it.

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29 people found this helpful

Very inspiring!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely reccomend this to a friend.

Even way (and I mean, wayyyyy) before I was a mother to my two children, I had always wondered how I would ever be able to juggle both work and motherhood. As a now stay at home small business owner, I still struggle to find the answers to my self or the family.
The author tackles the issue with her own highly professional career experiences with plenty of scientific data to back up.
Easy to read and very inspiring. Definitely a huge eye opener.

By the time I finished reading, I felt like as if I was given a clear path to the solutions, although it will not come without the help of my husband, now I see where I should put my full effort in achieving a good balance between work and home.

One thing though that I wished to see was how companies could provide a flexible work time without economical penalties... If there's any way!

But overall I'm very happy to have read the book and also given the media attention this book is getting already, I'm thrilled to see the movements that are coming along the way!

Thank you Sheryl for inspiring us women!

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Great Advice for Women, Poor Advice for Husbands

Sandberg does a great job of exploring the issues that have surrounded women in the workplace. Many of my female coworkers found this book very helpful and enlightening. As a man, the first have of the book was enlightening to me as well.

But in the second half of the book Sandberg attempts to make a prescription for a more balanced family through work sharing. Her mistake is that she identifies the professional responsibilities of the man and the woman, but the home/family responsibilities of only the woman. She completely omits all of the responsibilities that most men shoulder at home, acting as if they spent their evenings watching TV and weekends out golfing. No credit is given for work like tending the lawn and landscaping, building and repairing fences, maintaining and repairing automobiles, cleaning the pool, handling insurance, tending to the electronic world that the family relies on, and dozens more. In my household all of this requires hours every day. But in her book there is no mention of any of this.

Warning to women readers - take the time to find out what your husband is doing now before asking him to take 50% of what you are doing. He may have 50% of his own house work to share with you in return.

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Wow--if you're a mother/working women, a must read

If you could sum up Lean In in three words, what would they be?

A must read!

What did you like best about this story?

Maybe some women don't need to hear this; maybe they are already aware and changing or simply not this way, but as an executive with almost two decades of experience, this one captured my attention and then left me gaping in horror--I was hearing her describe me! Only, I thought I was alone. I wanted to hear more--who was this intruder and how did she escape?

Any additional comments?

This is one I will keep in my office and hand out like candy

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19 people found this helpful

Lacks concrete plans of action, depressing

What did you like best about Lean In? What did you like least?

I generally appreciate a book that sets out to empower women in the workplace. Unfortunately the stories are more depressing than inspiring, and Sandberg's advice is paltry and limited-- essentially her best advice is to ask for a raise, be assertive, but don't stop being nice, because as you assert yourself people will dislike you for your power.

I feel that I could have gotten her main points in about 1/7 of the time that it took to get through this book. Overall I found Sandberg's examples repetitive.

I don't need someone to tell me that women are not getting equal treatment over and over-- I heard this already in Feminist Studies in college. I would like to know how do we make inroads given the playing field, and case studies of women both who tried to buck the system and failed-- and those who tried to buck it and succeeded.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I also felt that Sandberg's examples were often cliche's or quotes from others that I was already familiar with. I've already read Tina Fey's book-- I don't need you to quote her in yours. I wish she had more academic or empirical research as opposed to exclusively personal experience and anecdotal. There were only a few points that introduced new ideas in the field to me-- and for the most part they were depressing: women actually shy away from hiring other women, when women are in higher positions, this decreases the chances that more women will rise to high positions in that company, when women ask for raises they often get them. I wish she had cast a broader net with her supporting detail. I also wish that she had drawn conclusions then that were less repetitive -- or for those repetitive sections trimmed the book down to a more concise read.

The truth is Sandberg is leveraging her position to create a property she can sell-- and hasn't put in the dedicated research that would be necessary to make this truly awesome regardless of how business famous the person writing it is.

Which character – as performed by Elisa Donovan – was your favorite?

This book is not about characters. Audible -- get with it.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No thanks.

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Inspiring

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to any woman and man who is looking for ways to make away with gender issues in the workplace. We need people in power, both men and women, who can open the dialog needed to make the workplace a friendlier place for women, those with families and those without.Ms. Sandberg, using her own experiences and those of people close to her, makes a case for the advancement of women in the workplace using scientific and business data. Between those damned "work-life" juggles, to acknowledging your ambition and siting at the table, to how to engage your partner to become an equal partner if you're interested in childrearing and advancing in your professional career. She makes a convincing case for acknowledging social conventions for the sexes and blowing past them.In some ways this book is a feminist manifesto but all the way she acknowledges that no two people are the same and what is right for some women is not for others. The gender gap hasn't been closed, so let's lean in and make it happen.

Which scene was your favorite?

The whole book is filled with anecdotes which will make you laugh, cry and even cringe a bit.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The introduction and first chapters of this book made me cry, because I am the woman described. The one always selling myself short and observing social conventions to be liked. Ms. Sanderberg made me realize even women at the top, have made mistakes on the way there.

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