LEAN IN : SHERYL SANDERBERG

Hello everybody. Hope your all well.

Today I am going to talk about a book I read and felt that every lady despite their line of work should read.

This book was wrote by SANDBERG SHERYL who is the Chief Operations Officer of Facebook. She is such an inspirational lady who has worked in male dominated fields and basically talks about her experience and some of the challenges women face in general.

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Above is how the book looks like and can be downloaded for free on the site pdfdrive.com

I really resonated with most of the things she talked about as they are things I have noticed to. I am going to try and talk about them below;

WOMEN BEING HELD BACK BY BACKGROUND AND FELLOW WOMEN OR EVEN THEMSELVES.

1) Sometimes women come from backgrounds where they have learned to be seen but not heard maybe expressly or just by noticing how other women either at home or other places are treated.

This affects women in the sense that they do not feel valued so they do not speak up especially in work places where individuals are required to put forth their ideas in order to progress.

Sheryl gave an example that both during the time she was in school and also at some of her work places males mostly contributed either in class when questions were asked and also in meetings compared to women. This causes males to progress more as promotions will definitely be given to those whose who are seen to be contributing more.

She mentions that ladies seem to be lacking confidence compared to the boys who laugh easily and loudly in public while some ladies talk and laugh on low tones.

This confidence factor may cause women who are qualified not to apply for jobs that they could gotten therefore male counterparts that are less qualified may actually apply for the jobs and get them.

Definitely a lot has changed with this era but she mentions that the problem is people think that women have gained their rightful place yet there is still much more to be done on the issue of disparity of men and women.

Such an issue can be solved by parents or other elders becoming aware of the different ways they treat their children of different gender so that they can empower all of them despite their gender to skills like self expression, confidence etc so that they feel free to express themselves freely and openly aware from home. As they say Charity begins from home.

Women who have progressed along the ladder at work can encourage other women to apply for higher positions available.

Though the norm is trying to change women are generally made to aspire from a young age to aim for marriage though this is not bad, the downside is this norm may make some ladies who genuinely want to follow their dreams in different fields to give up on them as they fill it will be hard to juggle both chasing their dreams and having families.

There is also an age by which women are sorta required to be married in that by the time women reach their 30s women can start to feel like failures if they do not have families of their own thus women may be pressured to marry off younger than that even when they are not ready and when they get families they may fall off the work train given that most work places may not have a favorable time frame for maternity leave.

1)a WOMEN BEING HELD BACK BY FELLOW WOMEN OR EVEN THEMSELVES.

Truthfully sometimes women to women friendships can get a bit messy but there is this notion that it is difficult for such relationships to thrive yet this is not to a large extent true if one chooses the right people to associate with.

This can be in form of looking for women mentors who can help out with things like career guidance or even seeking out help for things like when you are a first time mother.

There are many women out there rooting for each other like even here in SteemWomen Club. Spaces have been created like on social media platforms where women share knowledge freely and are willing to support those that seek to follow in their footsteps.

Sheryl herself gave examples how she looks out for women at her work place by offering help where asked and offering guidance to those who seem to need it. However she mentions that one should not be so stuck up on the title of mentor as even though not expressly mentioned someone who offers help from time to time can be mentor.

Fellow women especially in work places who hold higher positions can be more helpful by advocating for things that benefit women.

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Above is an image of a lady Kamala Harris that has defied odds and is creating space for other women to thrive.

Sheryl gives an example how her parking lot was far from the office and yet she was pregnant so she used to find it hard to walk all the way as she would reach really exhausted. She went ahead to talked to Zuckerberg to create a parking lot that was near the offices for ladies that were pregnant and it was granted. However workplaces and various places like malls should put this into consideration.

2) WOMEN BEING HELD BACK BY MEN BOTH INTENTIONALLY AND UNINTENTIONALLY.

There are so many examples of this so I am going to talk about some of the examples mentioned in the book.

Some men put women down intentionally and other times they may not be aware. This can expressed by men trying to shut women up who are trying to speak up for themselves.

Sheryl gives an example as to how in some meetings whenever she would try to speak there was a certain gentleman who used to interrupt her but eventually one of the other gentlemen in the meeting called him out on it and he stopped.

Such things may look really subtle but can hold back women like if one fails to speak out for themselves or no one helps that means one can never contribute in a meeting which can cost one a promotion and sometimes even their confidence.

Other examples include catcalling and making sexual advances yet clearly the lady is not interested.

Generally all these factors can cause women to have a hard time anywhere in workplaces, public places thus some women may even have to quit in case they are unable to report or if they report and nothing is done. However workplaces have put in place HR offices to work on such issues. Some males may face this to but women face this more than they do.

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Above is an image of some of the forms of sexual harassment that can take place however subtle they may be.

2)1) Work done at home by stay at home mothers and sometimes by house helps is not considered really important therefore some husbands may not offer help when they return home or even during the weekends saying that they work a lot yet even the ladies have been working at home all day.

Men can be helpful by being more considerate by helping out when they reach home like he can help with the kids as the lady prepares dinner.

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Above is an image of an exhausted stay at home mother. Sometimes they face stigma from working mothers who may look down on them. However in this era it is possible to work from home to thus making it easier.

Sometimes the ladies do not mind and others can not afford to hire help thus continue to suffer. If one has an understanding partner one speak up and ask for help where needed.

The younger girls can also be taught to look out for certain qualities in there partners during courtship; to look out for partners that are helpful around home and even though they do not know at least they should be willing to learn. In instances where help can be afforded then a partner can be willing to spend so that the family can be happier.

3) Other factors affect women though put men forward can be compromising situations.

Sheryl gave an example how she had a male boss and when they worked late in instances where they travelled and slept in hotels it would reflect on her badly if someone saw her leaving her boss’ room late even though they were just working yet it would be absolutely okay for fellow male work mates.

It really becomes easier for male bosses to pass on opportunities to male work mates because there isn’t likely to be any stigma from speculations that there may a relationship going on other than a work related one.

This makes women have to calculate all their moves which male counterparts don’t have to do.

All in all, it is still an on going battle for women to have equality in relation to the opportunities men have as one can say that it has been achieved but we are not yet there because ladies face so many challenges that it will take everybody even the men inclusive to make a change.

Truthfully I could go on and on because I really loved the book but I am going to stop here and if you loved what you read please go download the book to know more.

Thank you so much for reading. ❤️❤️