Sunday 14 October 2012

Is Sheryl Sandberg still "leaning in" at Facebook?


I became fascinated with Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, after watching her TEDWomen video. She was criticizing women taking a back seat and not aspiring to their full potentials in the workforce. Her advice: lean in, come to the (meeting) table and lean into the dialogue.

I have been fortunate to have been surrounded by strong women in my professional life and haven't experienced what Sheryl described in her talk. I do respect her experiences in Washington and Silicon Valley. She was very convincing, her delivery authentic. 

Apparently Sheryl spent one year preparing for that TEDtalk and hired her own researchers to get the facts right.

Sheryl later appeared on Makers talking about authenticity, a topic near and dear to my heart. After seeing her interviews and commencement speeches,  I liked her even more.

Sheryl pitched for Facebook's new business strategy in early October

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000119449 

Having followed this convincing woman promoting her thoughts, Sheryl's televised Facebook pitch appeared to lack her usual authenticity. The delivery left me questioning if  Sheryl still believes in the Facebook she is selling.

If you no longer believe in something, and you deliver speeches on authenticity, you best let someone else do the promoting - or even better go find something you believe in and lean into that.

Do you think Sheryl is still leaning in as her authentic self?

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