Pretty, smart and out-spoken Cheryl Sandberg has set the internet ablaze with her book “Lean In”.
Was it written as a guidebook for women or merely to spark controversy? I vote for controversy, since her book as a directional guide for a woman’s career is mainly for the one for the 1% of pretty, smart, and privileged females in the workforce.
Last night I fell asleep listening to the rhythm of my husband’s breathing. I dozed off with Sandberg’s words rolling around in my head. She said, to paraphrase: the most important decision a woman makes for her career is who she will marry.
Oh, if it was only that easy.
In the morning the first words I heard in my mind were “WOMEN WAKE UP”.
The role that Sandberg is handing to women is to become a “mini man”; to think in terms of power, control, and a tiny view of success.
WOMEN WAKE UP needs to become a song.
Should women get equal pay for equal work? That is a no-brainer. Should women who are ready, willing, and able go for CEO positions? Of course.
Is it possible, practical and perfect for women to choose their life partners based on shooting for a top level job? Nope!
In our GUTSY WOMEN WEEKEND RETREAT, April 19-21, we drill down to answer that age old question “What do women want”?
Is it a surprise that all the women in business have different wants and needs and that each woman must answer key personal questions to decide which road to travel?
Sandberg did us all a service by starting the buzz. Just as Betty Friedan did in “The Feminine Mystique” fifty years ago; it is time to once again rethink, reevaluate and redesign the world for women. And as each woman decides what is right for her, what real happiness means, each will be in a better position to choose a husband for the deeper and most important reasons, not just based career plans.
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