Lean In: A Great Leadership Guide

I finally read Lean In.  I said months ago that I would read it and post a review and I finally got around to doing both..  I tried to go into reading the book with an open mind.  There had been a lot of press- mostly critical- about the book and I tried to put that information aside and form my own opinion on the book.  

Overall, I really liked Lean In.  I thought that she provided a lot of really great advice about leadership in the workplace and particularly about how women can do a better job as leaders.  I admire her greatly and wish that she would have published this book 10 or 15 years ago as I was in school and/or the early stages of my career.  I loved that she is a life long learner and challenged herself to continually reassess herself and her comfort zones.  She is the type of leader that I've dreamed of working for and honestly as a really young professional, I would have considered moving to Silicon Valley to try to get a job working for her.  

I found something in every chapter that I could learn from her in some way and I hope that I'll be able to use some of the things that she suggested as I continue to grow my business and move my career forward.  I was particularly intrigued by her advice that we have a career jungle gym and not a ladder.  Sadly, this was not advice that I had heard previously and her analogy makes a lot more sense to me.  I remember realizing that it was not going to be realistic for me to follow the vertical path that was normalized in my field (and followed by many men in particular).  I didn't have the ability to uproot a partner with a much better paying job to move to some obscure college town so I could take a job that had a better title and paid very little.  I have literally been trudging through a muddy, linear career path since then and really felt lost.  Her jungle gym analogy helped me feel better about my path, although, I still am caught in the mud to an extent.  I will share this analogy with my friends when they ask for career advice as I think it better fits the realities of a woman's (and many men's) career path.

Now for the criticism.  Throughout her book, I kept thinking, too bad I don't have an Ivy League education that is accompanied by connections to many important places and people.  As much as I am proud of my academic pedigree, I am not part of as expansive of a network.  I feel that the job market is increasingly driven by who you know and it is a much harder path when you don't have a preformed network like she had/has access to use.  I have had to do more proving along the way and also have had to build my network as I go- both are realities of the career jungle gym for many women and I think this is a fair criticism of her and her book.  She graduated with the networking silver spoon in her mouth and has benefited greatly from it.  I wonder how her path would have been different and if she would have been as successful had she graduated from a school that was not accompanied by the name recognition and network that accompanies every graduate from Harvard- smart or not.

My other criticism is in line with many others- she still doesn't quite get the experience of the average working mom.  As much as I wanted to continue working outside of the home, I knew that it was not sustainable or healthy for me or my family.  I may have felt differently had I been in a job and with an employer where some kind of career progression was possible and perhaps I would have hung on longer if I thought that there was any opportunity for both.  Either way, I still didn't feel that she get's it and she admits that she had many resources to help with her family.  Again, I wonder how her perception of being a working mother would be different had she had her children earlier in her career- say before she got her MBA.  There are luxuries that come with the level of position that she held both at Google and currently has at Facebook.  Does she work a lot and shoulder a lot of pressure, yes, but her positions provided her with the financial resources to be able to pay for the help that she needs.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for most working mothers and they then become caught up on the very delicate tight rope of balancing career and family.  I feel lucky that I had some options within my field and although it is a long road to build a client base and have a steady stream of work, I am optimistic that I can move myself on my jungle gym.  I don't think that she adequately addresses that fact that working moms have to choose and can't participate in the way that many employers do business- travel, coming in early or working late, evening and weekend social commitments, I could go on and on.  A working mom has to be smart with her time and maximize her time in the office because once she leaves for the day, she can't always find time to do more work, nor should she be expected to.  Unfortunately, being smart with her time often means that she isn't able to take her lunch break to have lunch with someone more senior.  I also felt in my case that I was so exhausted- physically and mentally- that thinking about and taking steps towards my next job was difficult.  On a good day, I was able to accomplish everything that needed to be done to be ready to do it all again the next day.  I guess my advice for her is to step out of Facebook and their very unique culture and talk to some working moms in other organizations.  I think that she'll be surprised to hear what it is like for us 'average' moms and how we literally are on the brink most days.

Finally, I also think that her book doesn't address the challenges faced by women of color.  I think that although many of the things she was saying are good pieces of advice for all women, she doesn't have the lived experience of being a woman of color and how many of the negative stereotypes for women are even more negative and damaging for women of color.  Yes, her advice should be transferable to women of all races, but it isn't and she missed that important distinction.  

Overall, I loved the book and recommend it to young career women.  It is a very well written book about women as leaders and how to navigate the male driven business environment.  I plan to read a book by one of her critics soon (Maxed Out: American Moms On the Brink) and plan to write a review of that book once I have a chance to read it.  I am not sure that there will be room for a comparison as I truly think that Lean In is a leadership guide for women and not a book about working moms, but I definitely will make note of anything that can be compared and contrasted.  

Leap of Faith

Two months ago, I took a leap of faith and quit my stable, but boring job to work for a start up.  It has been a true leap of faith- so far things are going well and the pros outweigh the cons.  I'm doing work that is different every day and actually requires me to not only have a degree, but use my knowledge and skill to make things happen.  There still are some unknowns with it being a start up- we literally are working contract to contract and if our stream of contracts dries up, we will be done, which is unsettling at times.  The flip side is that I get to work from home and have a lot of control over my schedule especially compared to my old job.  This move has been perfect for our family, which really is what matters at this point.

My post from a few days before I started my new job outlined some projects that I anticipated doing in my new job.  At this point, I've been focused on several things- related, but not exactly the stuff that I thought I would be doing.  I've also learned that in the start up world, things change constantly and often several times during the work day.  I know that is part of what excites me about this work- even when I'm working on a project that is mundane. I'm excited to see where this takes me as it's been an adventure in every sense of the word.  Onward and upward!

When Opportunity Knocks

I realized a while ago, actually before I had kids, that my current job would be a stopping point for me career-wise.  I also realized while I was pregnant that switching jobs then probably wasn't the best idea.  When I returned to work, I was too frazzled to even think about searching for a new job, although I applied for a few jobs here and there.  Fast forward to now (2+ years later!) and I finally am switching to a new job.  I did some real thinking and soul searching in the late fall and figured out a direction right after Christmas.  It felt great to finally know what type of position I was looking for because I had been sort of without a direction career-wise for a while.  I started searching figuring that it would take a while, which it did, although I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't take nearly as long as it could have.  I guess I sort of lucked out because I contacted a friend of mine to catch up and see if he knew of anyone who was hiring and he pitched me a job for his start up company.  In short, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I knew that not taking  a leap of faith would mean that I'd look back and wonder what if.  I'm excited to see where this opportunity leads me and I'm even more excited that I will once again have a lot of control over my schedule.  I will be working hard and a lot, but I will be able to more easily meld work and family.

Ironically, I will be working on many HR initiatives for my new organization.  I've been reflecting on needs of the organization vs. my individual needs/wants.  I posted a week or two ago about the CEO of Yahoo and how she is under fire for making some tough choices for Yahoo.  I said then that I can see both sides and now I can really say that I see both sides!  I am sure that Meyer would have made different choices if she was making the decision solely to serve what she wanted or needed.  It is clear that her decisions are rooted in what will be best for the long term viability of the organization and while some people "lose", the organization wins.  I'm hoping for a win-win!

Lean In

I have been quite glued to the recent mommy wars- both the critique of Yahoo's CEO and of Facebook's COO's new book.  Both have been wildly successful in their careers and have made it to very high up leadership positions.  I would be lying if I didn't envy their success, but I also feel a twinge of angst when I hear both try to speak for career women- especially working moms.  I have yet to read Sandberg's book, but have it on my reading list for this year so I unfortunately can't speak to the contents of her book.  I promise to revisit her book after I've read it to provide a critique of the actual book.

I have been reading the "recommendations" being made by both women and find myself torn by their ideas.  I see both sides and don't know that they are wrong or right.  Perhaps the challenge is that I'm frequently reminded that not only are they women with very high up positions for their organizations, they are women with very large pay checks and the ability to access resources that I simply find out of reach.  Let's face it- neither Sandberg nor Meyer is trying to find time to clean her house at night or over the weekend.  I'm guessing that both had a nanny or multiple nannies and were not bound to the work day of their daycare provider.  And probably most interestingly, it is rumored that Marissa Meyer created a space in her office suite for her baby so he could be with her more.  This is coming from the same woman who is pulling the plug on work from home arrangements for her employees.  When work from home arrangements have mostly benefited working mothers.  I get the business case for why they are not the best arrangement, however, I feel like a huge backwards step was taken when she announced that change at Yahoo.  Maybe at the end of the day it won't be a huge deal, but I know of at least one huge employer that has followed suit in the weeks following Yahoo's announcement.  Although that particular employer took a much softer stance- we're pulling our work anywhere program, but are leaving specific situations up to the manager and employee.  I get the productivity issues and benefits of having workers be able to interact face to face.  There are many benefits to an organization that wants their people in the office most of the time.  I cringed when I heard this because these changes often aren't met with policy changes that lead to additional flexibility, which is something that working parents (usually the mother) need.   

I think it is wonderful that we are once again having the discussion about working moms and their career advancement.  I think there are many women- regardless of her status as a mother- who short change themselves professionally because they don't play the game enough like a man and unfortunately the norms and culture at most employers are driven by male communication and social patterns.  I like that Sandberg is bringing some of this up because it is important for women to be better at being more like a man.  I also loved that she brought up that men need to take on more responsibility at home.  Again- I couldn't agree more as I would love more help with the day to day at home.  I do feel a bit of why do women have to be the ones to keep changing and are being expected to be "more like men".  What happened to the organizational culture and norms being challenged to allow women to be women?  I mean- I don't communicate like a man because I'm not one!  I like having a good relationship with the men and women that I work with and will bend over backwards to make that part go smoothly.  I don't see that as something that should continue to hold me back, yet it does. 

I will end out reading Sandberg's book and continuing to follow the media hype around both women- mostly because I'm curious and very interested in HR issues.  I'll also be watching because of the many implications of their 'ideas' on working mothers.  I love a good mommy wars story and this is shaping up to be the story of 2013!