Leaning In

You've probably heard of Sheryl Sandberg.  She is the Facebook executive who wrote the book "Lean In" about women and leadership.  Her basic premise is that too many women do not pursue leadership - they lean back instead of leaning in.  A quick Google search will confirm that there are many, many, many more males than females in CEO and other upper level management positions of major companies.  You probably don't need a Google search to tell you that, but it will.  

I am an educator, and I tend to look at things through an educator's lens.  I'm also a progressive, and try to be socially conscious as well, and tend to seek ways to understand the social implications of politics and policy.  I'm also a woman, a mother of daughters, a soon-to-be-grandmother, and a wife.  All of these roles inform and impact everything I do.

I recently watched Sheryl Sandberg's TED talk: "Why we have too few women leaders".  I found it compelling.

She suggests that the the answer to this issue is to "keep women in the workforce".  I have been in the workforce for nearly all of my adult life, full time in a retail career, part time doing church youth work, and full time in education for the past twelve years.  I've also been an adult learner, charting a new course for my professional life halfway through; I earned a degree in education, a masters in education, and right now I'm working toward a specialist degree and admin license.  I'm not really sure that simply keeping women in the workforce is the solution.

Ms. Sandberg states that women need to do three things if they want to stay in the workforce:

1.  Sit at the table.  Not behind the guy sitting at the table, but chin up to the table as equals.

2.  Make your partner a real partner.  She's talking about your partner at home, and if you are a working mom with a partner, you understand how in a lot of cases, you get the larger share of housework and child duties.

3.  Don't leave before you leave.  As in, stay fully engaged until you walk out the door, especially if you are anticipating a maternity or other kind of leave.

I was struck by the tone of her message, and here is where my socially conscious radar went up.  When acknowledging how hard it is to go back to work after having a baby, Ms. Sandberg said, "that job you return to better be rewarding, challenging, and make you feel like you make a difference" because it is hard to leave your little one.  I thought, she must be talking to women of privilege who can make a choice to go back to work or not.  

What about the majority of women in the workforce for whom staying home is not an option?  What about the women in the workforce trying to support a family on minimum wage, or the women who have to work more than one job?

There was a time in my life when I didn't have to work and I had the luxury - yes, I thought it was a luxury - of staying home with my three daughters, caring for them and for our home.  It was a wonderful time and I treasured it because I knew I was doing important work.  I also remained fully aware that I was able to do that because my husband earned a lot of money.

I reject the notion that there is something wrong or that it is in some way,  less than total fulfillment when a woman chooses the "mommy track", for lack of a better term.  I reject the notion that women are letting down their career-minded sisters  when they make a choice to stay home, to work part-time, or to put family first.

Why are there too few women in leadership?  I still don't have an answer to that question.  But I don't think it's wrong to find fulfillment in a balanced life. 

So lean in.  Commit to your important relationships with renewed depth.   Use all your senses with heightened awareness when you experience the world around you.  Make it a goal to stretch yourself and learn something new every day.  Leaning in is about so much more than staying in the workforce.  It's about contributing, sharing, loving, leading.  I'm leaning in right now.