What Does it REALLY Mean to “Lean In”?

The woman behind the curtain—or, rather, proudly out in front—is Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. Facebook’s CEO and Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg says of Sandberg, “She built the whole business part of Facebook. I didn’t know anything about running a company. [We] knew where we wanted to get, but we were lacking someone who was a visionary at how you work at large scale.”

Sandberg is undoubtedly a career superstar. She’s worked as a consultant at McKinsey, as Chief of Staff to U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, as Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, and now as the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook.

It was her job at Facebook that perhaps got her the most notoriety as she started to become an outspoken force on women and their careers, beginning with her 2010 TED Talk where she first presented her “Lean In” message. This was followed with her speech at the Barnard 2011 commencement. Both of these talks went viral and sparked national conversations. Her message has always been clear and strong. Lean in. Sit at the table. Don’t sabotage yourself and get out of the game before the ninth inning. And look for the partner that will help you and encourage you to lean in.

Sandberg decided to write the book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead to put all those ideas she has been sharing and promoting for years to provide women with an accessible and cohesive, strategic resource. Sandberg writes, “For decades, we have focused on giving women the choice to work inside or outside the home… But we have to ask ourselves if we have become so focused on supporting personal choices that we’re failing to encourage women to aspire to leadership.”

Sandberg could have simply written the book and been satisfied with that, but because she’s so passionate about helping women she has launched an entire movement, through the nonprofit LeanIn.org, to establish this message as well. She encourages women to join the campaign not just to share this message, but to embody it through Lean In Circles.

Lean In Circles are groups of eight to 12 peers who meet monthly to explore professional topics and personal experiences in a place of confidentiality and trust. LeanIn.org provides specific category_idelines on how to run these meetings. The site also provides online videos and tutorials on topics such as negotiating, body language, and leadership, from Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research. These should not be written off as corny sharing circles like the ones you had at sleepovers in middle school; these are power groups that discuss how women can successfully negotiate the increasingly complex minefield that is their careers. Lean In circles are designed to give you the extra support you need to lean in.

from levo league