Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg - a mini review

“The phenomenon of capable people being plagued by self-doubt has a name — the imposter syndrome. Both men and women are susceptible to imposter syndrome, but women tend to experience it more intensely and be more limited by it”

And the author has backed these words by at least 6 different articles based on studies or research. She has also mentioned Tina Fey admitting to having had felt like a fraud, quoting from an interview of hers.

I could deeply resonate with these feelings but before reading Lean In I never knew that such a phenomenon even existed!!

Reading this book was like having a colleague friend, a successful one, guide me on how to navigate through a career, or even keep one and be successful. Sheryl Sandberg provides plenty of anecdotes from her own life and from others to qualify what she intends to impart through this book. Be it about corporate life as a jungle gym, or about the required mindset towards mentorship or something as basic as communication, the takeaways are new and valuable. I took away based on desires and current status in life. Plenty of eye-opening data and sound advice on handling maternity and sharing the job of parenting too, with the narrative always engaging and definitely not boring or mundane. So I recommend this book as a must-read for it has something to offer for all readers.

A special mention of the acknowledgment section which shows the amount of effort that went in to make this product. The fact that she reached out to so many people (more than a 100, and a few are acknowledged for just being influencers) for help on this book, and was reciprocated, only indicates her will and desire to help others in the best way possible. It’s astounding and highly admirable.

What prompted me to write about this book is that amidst all that she has written about her lessons and achievements (with high energy and enthusiasm), she comes across as a genuine person and that’s why I mention her as a “friend” at the beginning of this post.