TED : Ideas worth spreading

Review: So we leaned in … now what?

Speaker: Sheryl Sandburg
TEDWomen 2013
Date: December 2013
Location: San Francisco, California

Description from TED website:
Sheryl Sandberg admits she was terrified to step onto the TED stage in 2010 — because she was going to talk, for the first time, about the lonely experience of being a woman in the top tiers of business. Millions of views (and a best-selling book) later, the Facebook COO talks with the woman who pushed her to give that first talk, Pat Mitchell. Sandberg opens up about the reaction to her idea and explores the ways that women still struggle with success.

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My Review / Notes / Thoughts

I had previously reviewed Sheryl’s 2010 TED Talk, and since that talk, she’d written the book “Lean In.”

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
March 12, 2013

So this talk was a sit-down conversation with Pat Mitchell, discussing what had occurred since the 2010 talk and since Sheryl had published her book. One of the first things Sheryl said that caught my attention was:

“What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?”

She was referring to when she was preparing for her first TED Talk. her answer, of course, was to talk about women.

Since the publication of her book, she has traveled all over the world, and one thing she has discovered that is universal is that:

“[S]tereotypes are holding women back from leadership roles all over the world.”

So if you thought you were alone, rest assured, you aren’t!

All around the world, there are terms for little girls who are “bossy.” These terms aren’t used with little boys, just little girls who show initiative. Sheryl says that the next time you hear someone call a little girl “bossy,” that you should walk up to that person with a big smile and say to them:

“That little girl's not bossy. That little girl has executive leadership skills.”

We have to stand up for the little girls, and we have to stand up for women all around us.

Sheryl discussed how there are now “Lean In” circles all over the world. They are using her book to help with support groups for women who are facing different challenges in life and it is helping.

Please watch the video, and if you have a chance, get her book and read it!

Also, since 2013 she’s written several other books that you can check out on my website at: https://dmhardy.design/product-tag/sheryl-sandberg/

Four women working in a business meeting in a cafe coffee shop
Photographer: LinkedIn Sales Navigator | Source: Unsplash

So it is now time for some inner reflection … what would you do if you weren’t afraid?

Until next time … live long life-learner!