I don’t usually recommend business books unless I am specifically asked to because a person’s reaction to such books is strongly influenced by our individual preferences and experiences. But in this case I will ignore my general rule and highly recommend the book “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg. This is a book about women and leadership with many insights on gender differences in the workplace. As such, it is important for all of us who strive to understand how to work more effectively with our colleagues; male and female. And I would argue this book is also about gaining a better understanding of the business environment irrespective of gender issues; including how to navigate that environment to enhance your career. This is because there are many exceptional lessons in this book about career development and advancing in business. Sheryl provides excellent advice about climbing the corporate ladder (or corporate jungle gym as she aptly describes it) without any judgment about those who choose not to or have other priorities.
Lean In provides excellent advice on general differences between the way men and women approach business situations. For men managing or working with women, this advice is invaluable. Some of the stories recounted in the book are hard to imagine in today’s society and yet they occur all too frequently. Of course, with respect to gender differences, we cannot say that every woman or every man has the same perspective on a given business situation. Nonetheless, throughout the book, men will learn to reconsider their perspective on the decisions and actions of women they work with as well as the unintentional biases they themselves have.
I found myself relating very directly to some of the ways Sheryl indicates that women approach many of these situations. Many of these situations will resonate with both genders and provide advice to be followed by male and female alike. Such areas include: i) crying in a business meeting (it is not as bad as we think to show genuine emotions – Howard Schultz’ speech when he returned to Starbucks is a good example), ii) take a seat at the table (many of us literally do not sit at the conference room table during meetings and miss opportunities to maximize our impact on the meeting and the organization), iii) first impressions with new colleagues are critical (asking for something, even if it is reasonable, may not get the relationship off to the best start), iv) frequently ask for feedback (few people like to give you negative feedback but if you ask, they usually will and you will be better off), v) no one below you in the hierarchy of the organization wants to tell you when you are wrong (you need to constantly and diligently work on developing a culture that encourages your employees to tell you when you are wrong!), vi) you sometimes need to negotiate even if you are worried it will damage a relationship (this was specific advice for woman but I also approach negotiations the way the book recommends and feel it has worked well in most cases).
In summary, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to expand their understanding of what women face in business, how women tend to react to many business situations and, for men and women, how do you develop your own career. Men in leadership positions have numerous opportunities to help resolve the gender gap in business. This book will help these leaders find and address such opportunities. Of course, I do not agree with every perspective in the book and in many cases a balance between one approach and another must be achieved which is sometimes missing from the anecdote, perhaps for the sake of clarity. In addition, addressing common traits for an entire gender, male or female, has its limitations. Nonetheless, this book is a must read. Men and women, leaders and followers; will enhance their careers by considering the career advice in Lead In. Do yourself a favor and take the time to read (or as I did, listen to) this book.
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