Please Be Seated - It's About Time You Joined Us!

I just finished reading Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg. I wished this book had been written years ago. My twenty-something self would have benefited greatly from Sandberg’s wisdom. Although I am a bit past twenty (wink, wink), I found a number of pearls of wisdom in Sandberg's Lean In.

In the chapter, “Sit at the table”, Sandberg observed several executive women choosing to sit on the sidelines instead of at the table with the executive men during a buffet dinner. Sandberg believes that the executive women’s insecurities led them to stay on the sidelines. Sandberg writes, “The phenomenon of capable people being plagued by self-doubt has a name – the imposter syndrome”. She describes women as being plagued by feelings that they are not capable and are fooling everyone with their efforts to perform. A woman’s lack of confidence leads her to believe that she is under-qualified and is not the best person for the job. Sandberg advises women to follow the “fake it till you feel it” strategy. She writes, “But feeling confident – or pretending that you feel confident – is necessary to reach opportunities.” Sandberg notes that women frequently don’t pursue opportunities because they believe they don’t know enough or are not prepared enough. She recommends that women remember that it is their ability to learn quickly and contribute quickly that matters most.

Sandberg ends the chapter with the following statements, “…I have to believe in my own abilities. I still have days when I feel like a fraud. And sometimes I find myself spoken over and discounted while men sitting next to me are not. But now I know how to take a deep breath and keep my hand up. I have learned to sit at the table.”