Leaning In and Sheryl Sandberg

Having chanced upon Sheryl Sandberg's book, 'Lean In- Women, Work,  and the Will to Lead 'in New York in June this year, I had found it to be an interesting read. Written in an engaging manner, the book is autobiographical and anecdotal in content. It is a well told saga of a particularly determined young woman who goes after her dreams. It is easy to identify with as it invokes dilemmas  many of us working women have faced in our lives with the perennial conflict between one's roles as a home maker and a professional. Sandberg holds a mirror for all of us who in retrospect realise that we did not 'lean in' enough when the going got tough.  For example my personal example of resigning from the Civil Services to go back to teaching in a university so that I could raise my kids is a case in point. Such choices made at  critical points in our professional trajectories have been subjects of reflection and maybe regret for many of us.

Not that Sandberg did not have to agonise over personal and professional decisions along the way.  She is disarmingly honest when she talks of her doubts and fears, of the many challenges she had to face on her way up. Like finding out that her young daughter travelling with her on a corporate jet is lice-infested or shutting her office door so that she could use a breast pump to send a feed for her infant back home.

But what is striking about her story is that she seems to have had an easy ride in terms of being offered coveted jobs without the required experience. For example her  getting hired by Google and finally Facebook where she has been the COO for the last few years seem strange, considering as she reveals, that Mark Zuckerberg thought she was 'perfect' for the job based on a social meeting and subsequent discussions. Of course a Harvard MBA and a suma cum laud  award would have helped, I am sure but what else went into making her a winner is not terribly clear!

Given this background,  July 2nd saw me with a host of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO)  members  at the The Oberoi Hotel, to hear  Sandberg in person talking about her  book and life in general.  As I walked into the Ballroom, I saw her surrounded by a gaggle of eager attendees milling around, posing with her and getting their copies of her book signed. The publishers had thoughtfully set up a stall to sell the book at the venue and it was literally flying off the shelves!

She seemed quite comfortable with all the fuss, charming and friendly with everyone.  Clad in an expensive looking  magenta dress with a short plum coloured  shrug, she looked pretty as a picture. Lovely high heeled shoes  and a beautiful matching  watch  completed the ensemble. No wonder the cameras loved her!  I was reminded of a line in her book,  'Manly suits were no longer in fashion, and I neither hid nor emphasised femininity'. It appeared that she was to the manner born!

And then it was time for her to talk to the packed hall. The audience comprised of  women largely, like accomplished ambassadors and diplomats, business women,  corporate executives, the media and a few men. Since it was a FLO event, the office bearers were also on stage with her. The FLO President, Neeta Boochra  in her opening speech, mentioned that her niece Priti Choksi of Facebook who is one of the many examples mentioned by Sandberg in her book as having 'leaned in'  at the right time and made good in life! After which the FLO members got off the stage, the furniture on it was removed and Sandberg was given the stage to walk and talk about her book as the audience waited expectantly.

Maybe, she had been on the move with back to back meetings and commitments, maybe this was not such a priority event for her and maybe she was looking to just go through the motions of  having talked for what followed was a bit of a let down. She began talking and I realised that she was using a teleprompter. She had the remote in her hand and was pretty glib with her anecdotes but she did have a bit of a moment when the teleprompter did not keep pace and she looked pointedly towards the technical side of the hall in mid sentence! What is more, most of what she said that day was straight out of her book. So for many of us who had read it earlier, there was nothing much that was new. Maybe the people who had bought their copies of the book at the event may have had a better take away.

S

Many of us left, feeling slightly short changed. We had expected an extempore straight from the heart  speech from one of the world's so called most powerful women! Maybe it was not her day after all and maybe she had just leaned out  that afternoon!