Harvard graduate, Facebook COO and corporate-feminist manifesto author: Sheryl Sandberg really is the ‘it’ woman when it comes to innovation.
Sheryl Sandberg is one of the best-known business-women in the world, but this is a position she actively strives to change.
A CV second to none quite literally, this is a name which has taken the business and tech worlds by storm.
When delving beyond the headlines, however, we must acknowledge the formidable lack of female power in such positions within tech giants. Although this makes Sandberg’s achievements all the more astonishing (if possible), does this not call in to question the very foundations on which the industry is built?
One might wonder where the downsides lie for a woman who has defied the odds to reach impressive new heights, but the cracks in Facebook’s reputation over the past few years have presented a more sinister side to being a woman in the tech industry, albeit, the most successful one.
With a third of the world’s population well within easy reach, we may question the morality of Sandberg’s position of power. However, it only takes a small amount of research to gain a broader context of how this power has been used for good. A prominent figure in business, but how does she do it?
One of the greatest testaments to Sandberg’s legacy of innovation is her revolutionary leadership style in Silicon Valley. Encouraging feedback for colleagues at all levels of the business, and acknowledging the power of peers as mentors are two of the things that she accredits her success to.
Contradictory to the commonly acknowledged ‘cut-throat’ culture, she creates an environment of constructive feedback.
And let’s face it, it works. A book with sales well within the multimillions paved the way for the Lean In community.
With over thirty-five thousand members in 160 countries, you wouldn’t be wrong for thinking Sandberg can add peer mentoring innovator to her list of titles.
“In the future there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”
Sheryl Sandberg
Lean In is an example of innovation in its purest form – rethinking the way individuals interact with one another, to create mutual benefit from the synergy of encouragement.
At its core, the community rests upon the provision that we don’t have to look ‘up’ in business to gain valuable, steady guidance. The proof? 85% of members state positive change to their lives, stemming from involvement in the initiative. She does it again.
However, Sandberg goes a step beyond innovation for the ‘now’. She has not only inspired the current generation with her pioneering approach to leadership, but she has also created a vehicle which allows this type of innovation to continue into the future. Life-long, sustainable innovation, stemming from an invaluable arsenal of tools for the leaders and creators of tomorrow.
Sheryl Sandberg has paved the way as not just a woman, but as an individual, in her respective fields.
An innovator, inspirational leader and trailblazer. Even in the face of controversy, Sandberg teaches us all a lesson or two, through a legacy of leadership and corporate-feminism which is sure to span generations.
