blog

Leaning In

08.26.2013 | HMMH |

Just back from vacation – and since today is Women’s Equality Day, I thought it was time to write about Lean In.  I must admit that I’d been reluctant to read it because of all the negative press, but since so many people ask my opinion of the book (just assuming that I’ve read it – you know, it’s one of those “feminist screeds”) – and because I’d gone through all the other trashy novels in my shelf (which I will share only with Royce) – I figured I might as well.

Lean In Book Cover

In short, while some of the criticism is valid, I think I have to agree with Sandberg on many points:

  • Women (men, too) are responsible for their own career development. Too many of us (that’d be me, too) wait to be asked.  We need to make ourselves noticed, not wait for it.
  • Having a supportive partner/husband is equally (more?) important than a supportive employer.  In this, I have been blessed (or as Sandberg would have me say, I’ve made a good choice).  Also, I don’t care if my daughter is a fashion astronaut when she goes to school, nor that dinner some weeks is macaroni and cheese every night.  I try very hard not to be a maternal gatekeeper.
  • Also, done is better than perfect (something I just can’t get my husband to understand, but I attribute that to a religion thing more than a gender thing – a subject for another post, probably).
  • There is no such thing as work/life balance.  I prefer to think of my life as whack-a-mole.  It’s not always satisfying, but it gets the job done (see above).
  • We need to start talking about it.  Drop me a line if you’d like to do so.

What are you reading?