Sheryl Sandberg and ‘lean in’ what’s the big fuss all about?

Image curtsey of Nicholas Carlton, 2013

Being chosen as ‘one to watch’ by LinkedIn UK opens up a world of opportunities, this week, Our Founder, Jake Tipper was asked, along with others to go and hear Sheryl (COO, Facebook) talk about her new book, and life at Kings Place, London.

A woman who can sell over 800 paid tickets within minutes, and has been said to be a key component in making both Google and Facebook billion pound companies must have something good to say, right?

Sheryl’s new book – ‘lean in for graduates’ talks about how graduates need to ‘lean in more’ when approaching their first job, something that our founder (as a young entrepreneur himself) thought would be extremely interesting. Sheryl’s book is focused more towards young women, but there is also many points she makes which males can also use when looking for a job.

For those who know Sheryl, you will know she talks passionately about feminism in whatever she does, and this was no exception. As one of the very few male members of the audience it gave me the opportunity to perhaps take a different outlook on her speech and the questions she was being asked. She talked in depth about the lack of women working in the top 500 companies in the world, and mentioned many facts and figures, some of which surprised me. I was aware, prior to the event that there was a lack of women in CEO positions within multi national companies, but did not realise quite how extreme these figures were.

Sheryl is an extremely opinionated woman, but what makes her different is the way in which she presents her thoughts, she has a way with words that makes you believe and feel everything she feels. The great thing about Sheryl is that her thoughts and ideas are backed up with action and results. She now has over 16,000 ‘lean in circles’ running across 72 countries, she also uses real life examples in her book of young people who have actually ‘leaned in’ and achieved results.

Overall, the night was extremely interesting and eye opening for Jake. He was extremely grateful for the opportunity that was given to me by LinkedIn UK, and will take a lot away from the experience.