Sitting at the Table

While reviewing TED talks this week I thought about who inspires me. Someone I could look up to and absorb motivation from.  I immediately thought of Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. TED Talks Not just because of her amazing experiences with working at Google and Facebook, but because she’s a successful businesswoman, wife, and mother. Sheryl encourages other woman not just to strive for excellence, but also to be comfortable in wanting to, and wanting more. Sheryl teaches woman to sit at the table, raise your hand, ask questions, and don't walk away before going away. It’s okay to want it all, and to have it all, if that’s what you want.

Sheryl is the minority because she’s a woman. She’s a successful COO of a major company. This is a position that is usually male dominant.  Sheryl talks about a company she went to for a board meeting of sorts, and she noticed the CEO of the company, she was visiting, was finicky during the break. This was due to the fact he had no idea where the woman’s restroom was. Sheryl had thought this was maybe due to the fact that they have recently moved to the building.  When finding out the company had been in the building for over a year, it had dawned on her that she was the first woman to have ever been there for a board meeting.

This is a scenario that is far too common. Women need to step to the plate, and take a swing rather than sitting on the bench watching the game.  Sheryl talks in depth about overcoming, leaning in, and sitting at the table in her book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.  Check out book here. This speaks to me not just because I am a woman, but I am also in a male dominant industry. With the motivation from Sheryl Sandberg I know I can and will step up, negotiate, lean in, and ask questions. I want to contribute to a world that is 50/50  not only in the home, but also in the workforce!