The "Lean In" movement is not over!

I love the Washington Post but I can think of few articles I disagree with more than this opinion piece about the impact of Facebook’s recent problems on Sheryl Sandberg’s legacy for women.

Don’t get me wrong, I view Facebook’s apparent carelessness with customer data and lackadaisical approach to bots shaping our electoral debates with unabated alarm. And I recognize that Sandberg, as COO, shares significant responsibility for these practices. 

But how exactly does that invalidate the entire message of Lean In or show that urging women to fully engage in trying to reach their highest potential qualifies as some kind of sham? And how do Facebook’s self-wrought travails somehow prove that women, once they achieve power, will make no difference in organizational cultures? It’s this last assumption that really bothers me and that seems to be getting the widest–– and often most gleeful– play: the assertion that Sandberg’s problems demonstrate that having more women at senior levels will change nothing.

For the better part of two decades, McKinsey (especially in their superb Women Matter reports) and Catalyst have been cataloguing the positive effects that accrue when more women hold leadership roles: greater collaboration, a broader pool of information, fresh perspectives, more harmonious teams, win-win negotiating outcomes, an increased focus on long-term good rather than short-term advantage. We’ve watched the growing number of women in Congress shift more attention to the impact of economic decisions on families and the environment. And we’ve seen women transform non-profits and philanthropic enterprise by focusing on grassroots solutions to intractable problems.

Only last week, in a profile of women leaders in the defense industry, retired Air Force colonel Rachel McCaffrey noted that “having more women at the top affects companies and defense agencies in ways large and small — from questioning stale assumptions about the smartest way to develop weapons and provide services for the military; to negotiating better deals for the taxpayers when buying airplanes, tanks, rockets and ships; to recruiting and retaining the best and the brightest engineers and policy wonks.”

The evidence across sectors is broad and indisputable.

Two things seem to be at work in the sudden backlash against Sheryl Sandberg’s highly significant, if now mixed, legacy. The first is our celebrity culture’s tendency to put anyone who achieves fame on a pedestal and treat them like gods until it becomes apparent that they are not perfect. At which point, of course, we turn on them completely and decide that everything they did must have been terrible. 

To me, this is adolescent. Teenagers tend to see things through an either/or lens–– someone is the greatest or they’re terrible. This how they test out having individual opinions. But adults are supposed to have a more nuanced understanding of human strengths and weakness and recognize that all of us are a blend of both. And that even those who may have made egregious misjudgments can still have made important contributions to the world.

Also at work, though it hardly needs saying, is our old friend the double standard. No one has suggested that Mark Zuckerberg’s behavior in the Facebook saga reflects poorly on men in general, or proves that ambitious men should never be trusted with power. He gets to be just Mark Zuckerberg, an ambitious guy who screwed up, whereas Sandberg is excoriated for failing to be a role model for all women.

In my view, Lean In offered a powerful and much-needed message that many women found inspiring and affirming. It created a sense of sisterhood among women by building a strong case that we needed to support one another, even when doing so came with a cost. And, no doubt because of Sandberg’s high position and high-profile mentors, it compelled the respect and attention of men. It was the first book on the topic ever to do so and many organizations are better places as a result.  

So I want to make a plea that, however the continuing Facebook controversy unfolds, we not use it to look for evidence that women just can’t make a difference as leaders. Sandberg’s stumbles do not cast a shadow on all women nor does how she chose to exercise the power of her position undercut the vital message that was her gift to us all.  

Sally Helgesen's latest book, "How Women Rise," co-authored with good friend and world renowned executive coach Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, was published in April 2018. Sally and Marshall have each helped thousands of high achievers to reach greater heights and enjoy more satisfying careers. 

Sally delivers leadership programs, workshops and seminars for corporations, universities and nonprofits around the world. Her focus is on helping women strengthen their contributions and realize their best talents.