lean in.
As such an avid reader, I'm shocked that I am just now picking up Sheryl Sandberg's powerhouse book, Lean In, focusing on "work, women, and the will to lead." And I love it (obviously).
I've always had big aspirations for my career, dreaming of writing for big names like Vogue and Elle for at least a decade. I'm drawn to leading, to managing ideas and people, and I've just sort of assumed I'll work up to some leadership role. I've also been acutely aware of the barriers that box potential female leaders in.
So what I most connected with in Sandberg's Lean In wasn't so much all the information about how I can still succeed in a man's world, but that I can do so on my terms and with my skills. Sandberg dedicates a whole chapter to the female perspectives and all the strengths that can lend to a work environment. I, unconsciously, resigned myself to thinking that on my journey to senior leadership in my field, I'll have to chip away at my emotionality, empathy and connected nature and replace it with the calculated decisiveness, shrewdness and superiority I've been taught as necessary in senior leadership.
Our culture assigns masculine and feminine labels to certain characteristics, and those feminine characteristics -- some of which I mentioned above -- have been denounced and mocked among powerful people. We don't like emotionality in leaders and we don't like assertiveness in women. This is not new information to you, I hope, and it wasn't new to me, but I think I believed that my feminine characteristics would be tolerated at best in a work place.
Sandberg, rather, promotes these characteristics as assets to senior leaders in business and beyond. And that was exciting to me. My ability to connect with others on a personal level will improve and develop them as whole persons and not just as workers, which will lead to better overall work. My tendency towards inclusion instead of superiority helps to create a thriving and collaborative work environment instead of one fueled by bitter competition. My authenticity in my weakness and my strength promotes appropriate vulnerability and communication among both peers and superiors.
Like all things, characteristics need to be shaped and honed, but I was so encouraged to read that someone with real influence and knowledge in this field thinks that what some may see as weaknesses can be used as strengths.
