So if Sheryl Sandberg isn't a role model for working women in the private sector, then who is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course she's an opportunist! That's how you get to the top...

Is that a good trait in a role model?

op·por·tun·ist
?äp?r?t(y)o?on?st/
noun
1.
a person who exploits circumstances to gain immediate advantage rather than being guided by consistent principles or plans.

[Anonymous]

Mother Jones

Rosie the Riveter

"Red" Emma Goldman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sheryl Sandberg has done squat to improve workplace culture to make it easier for both men and women to balance having lives and having jobs. But, I guess, she did get some people talking who wouldn't otherwise.

I posted this in another thread, but if you'd like to have a rich lady who knows all the right people to look up to, you should also read Anne Marie Slaughter's book for an alternative perspective. Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, is also pretty impressive and an actual engineer. There are several other fairly impressive business leaders on the 50 Forbes Women list.

I mean, I guess I don't dislike her except for the accolades people pour on her make me feel ill. OTOH, part of the problem is that there are so few perspectives from female C-level executives, she probably gets more scrutiny and criticism for the parts she misses than she deserves.

Love Ann Marie Slaughter's writing on work life balance, it really resonated with me. But she was not using it as a platform for her "brand," so not as talked about.

See, I totally disagree. I think Ann Marie Slaughter has decided to make a career out of talking about work life balance. Nothing wrong with that, but she is no saint. She wrote an obnoxious article in the Atlantic that got some attention (mainly for pissing people including me off) and then decided to ride that train. Let's call it what it is. I can much more relate to Sheryl Sandberg, and find her a much better role model, at least for me.

[Anonymous]

i would respect sandberg more if she came up through the tech ranks or was a founder.

[Anonymous]

What she has done is devalue all the very real issues woman face as CEOs of their families and make it ok
to accept the status quo, to not challenge a male domimated work culture; she cosigned on leaving that culture exactly as it is and gave proponents of said status quo the excuse to not have to change a damn thing.

Anonymous wrote:Sheryl Sandberg has done squat to improve workplace culture to make it easier for both men and women to balance having lives and having jobs. But, I guess, she did get some people talking who wouldn't otherwise.

I posted this in another thread, but if you'd like to have a rich lady who knows all the right people to look up to, you should also read Anne Marie Slaughter's book for an alternative perspective. Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, is also pretty impressive and an actual engineer. There are several other fairly impressive business leaders on the 50 Forbes Women list.

I mean, I guess I don't dislike her except for the accolades people pour on her make me feel ill. OTOH, part of the problem is that there are so few perspectives from female C-level executives, she probably gets more scrutiny and criticism for the parts she misses than she deserves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the issue with Sheryl Sandberg is that she has money to outsource things, so it's easy for her to tell women to lean in. But it's not like you lean in and automatically start making the kind of money she makes (the kind of money that enables you to hire help to make home life easier).

I don't think she's a bad person, but I think she's out of touch with what most working women deal with, the challenges to leaning in.

That said, I don't think my issue with her is just about professional women and the issues they face but about the issues men and women face in the modern workplace with regard to being expected to sacrifice all other things in life for work. I think too many CEOs write books about this stuff and then expect all other workers to work like they do but without their high pay. So it's one thing to work a 60-hour (or more) week when you make enough money to hire people to take care of all of the other things in life. It's a different thing if you're a middle manager making peanuts and expected to work those hours.

She actually did an interview on NPR where she said that some of the things she wrote about in Lean In she has a different perspective on now that her circumstances have changed. She's learning. The example she gave was "making your partner a true partner." She basically said yeah, I didn't really think about the fact that so many women don't have partners, and how hard that is for them. Give her a break. She's trying. I'm hoping she will advocate for some of the things you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought the issue with Sheryl Sandberg is that she has money to outsource things, so it's easy for her to tell women to lean in. But it's not like you lean in and automatically start making the kind of money she makes (the kind of money that enables you to hire help to make home life easier).

I don't think she's a bad person, but I think she's out of touch with what most working women deal with, the challenges to leaning in.

That said, I don't think my issue with her is just about professional women and the issues they face but about the issues men and women face in the modern workplace with regard to being expected to sacrifice all other things in life for work. I think too many CEOs write books about this stuff and then expect all other workers to work like they do but without their high pay. So it's one thing to work a 60-hour (or more) week when you make enough money to hire people to take care of all of the other things in life. It's a different thing if you're a middle manager making peanuts and expected to work those hours.

She actually did an interview on NPR where she said that some of the things she wrote about in Lean In she has a different perspective on now that her circumstances have changed. She's learning. The example she gave was "making your partner a true partner." She basically said yeah, I didn't really think about the fact that so many women don't have partners, and how hard that is for them. Give her a break. She's trying. I'm hoping she will advocate for some of the things you are talking about.

oh good for her! perhaps i should publish a book about particle physics, then learn something about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought the issue with Sheryl Sandberg is that she has money to outsource things, so it's easy for her to tell women to lean in. But it's not like you lean in and automatically start making the kind of money she makes (the kind of money that enables you to hire help to make home life easier).

I don't think she's a bad person, but I think she's out of touch with what most working women deal with, the challenges to leaning in.

That said, I don't think my issue with her is just about professional women and the issues they face but about the issues men and women face in the modern workplace with regard to being expected to sacrifice all other things in life for work. I think too many CEOs write books about this stuff and then expect all other workers to work like they do but without their high pay. So it's one thing to work a 60-hour (or more) week when you make enough money to hire people to take care of all of the other things in life. It's a different thing if you're a middle manager making peanuts and expected to work those hours.

She actually did an interview on NPR where she said that some of the things she wrote about in Lean In she has a different perspective on now that her circumstances have changed. She's learning. The example she gave was "making your partner a true partner." She basically said yeah, I didn't really think about the fact that so many women don't have partners, and how hard that is for them. Give her a break. She's trying. I'm hoping she will advocate for some of the things you are talking about.

oh good for her! perhaps i should publish a book about particle physics, then learn something about it.

Honestly, getting this upset about Sheryl Sandberg is just not really worth it, is it? It's true that she had two professional parents but her parents were the children of immigrants who had nothing. At least she's not Ivanka Trump born with a silver spoon in her mouth and embarassing herself left and right trying to influence policy for working women. At least Sheryl Sandberg comes from honest, decent stock with an everyday American story instead of from a bunch of gauche opportunists who've never done anything legitimate for anyone else in their entire lives. I mean really, gain some perspective here ladies. Go for a run or have a glass of wine with your friends and get a grip already.

[Anonymous]

Make your partner a true partner. How does that work unless you have the right raw material for that? My husband isn't and never will be a true partner in the sense of handling half of even 1/4 of family management. Pretty sure he has undiagnosed ADHD. Do I go back in time and not marry or have kids with him?

How do I lean in when everything else that demands my attention is falling apart? I have neither staff nor super-spouse to make that happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mother Jones

Rosie the Riveter

"Red" Emma Goldman

Mother Jones who died in 1930, Rosie the Riveter, who is not a real person and Emma Goldman the anarchist. Yeah, nice try.

[Anonymous]

That's great if you like her OP. Not everyone does. She doesn't impress me. Just because someone has lots of money doesn't mean they are a role model. A teacher or trusted mentor is a role model not someone you have never met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make your partner a true partner. How does that work unless you have the right raw material for that? My husband isn't and never will be a true partner in the sense of handling half of even 1/4 of family management. Pretty sure he has undiagnosed ADHD. Do I go back in time and not marry or have kids with him?

How do I lean in when everything else that demands my attention is falling apart? I have neither staff nor super-spouse to make that happen.

Obviously you can't go back in time and change the past. But her advice that picking your partner correctly is a big determinant in the success of your career is sound. And maybe your kids will read her advice and consider how they choose a spouse differently if they want a high powered career. And that's a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought the issue with Sheryl Sandberg is that she has money to outsource things, so it's easy for her to tell women to lean in. But it's not like you lean in and automatically start making the kind of money she makes (the kind of money that enables you to hire help to make home life easier).

I don't think she's a bad person, but I think she's out of touch with what most working women deal with, the challenges to leaning in.

That said, I don't think my issue with her is just about professional women and the issues they face but about the issues men and women face in the modern workplace with regard to being expected to sacrifice all other things in life for work. I think too many CEOs write books about this stuff and then expect all other workers to work like they do but without their high pay. So it's one thing to work a 60-hour (or more) week when you make enough money to hire people to take care of all of the other things in life. It's a different thing if you're a middle manager making peanuts and expected to work those hours.

She actually did an interview on NPR where she said that some of the things she wrote about in Lean In she has a different perspective on now that her circumstances have changed. She's learning. The example she gave was "making your partner a true partner." She basically said yeah, I didn't really think about the fact that so many women don't have partners, and how hard that is for them. Give her a break. She's trying. I'm hoping she will advocate for some of the things you are talking about.

oh good for her! perhaps i should publish a book about particle physics, then learn something about it.

[Anonymous]

Ivanka

[Anonymous]

Mary Barra. Rose up the ranks AND came from an engineering background.