Sheryl Sandberg Admits Leaning In Is Harder Than She Originally Thought; Slate, 5/9/16

Elissa Strauss, Slate; Sheryl Sandberg Admits Leaning In Is Harder Than She Originally Thought:

"In honor of Mother’s Day, Sheryl Sandberg wrote a long post on Facebook that is part expression of support for single parents and part mea culpa for previously failing to recognize how difficult it is to raise children on one’s own.

“Before, I did not quite get it. I did not really get how hard it is to succeed at work when you are overwhelmed at home,” Sandberg writes.

The Facebook COO goes on to enumerate the emotional obstacles of raising children without her husband, who died last year, and prudently acknowledges how “extremely fortunate I am not to face the financial burdens so many single mothers and widows face.”...

The post also demonstrates Sandberg's fitness as a leader for women, something that was frequently challenged when Lean In, the book and the movement, first emerged. Many questioned whether a wealthy, white Harvard grad, dripping in privilege and pep—or a “Power Point Pied Piper in Prada ankle boots” as Maureen Dowd put it—had any business presenting herself as a voice for women. But Sandberg’s Mother’s Day note shows that she is, in fact, well-qualified, and not nearly as myopic as many presumed. The most striking aspect of her post is the way it reveals a willingness to publicly evolve, and a prioritization of the integrity of her ideas over their consistency. Sandberg gets it. She’s living her life in the shades of gray that make leaning in much more complicated, and she wants to talk about it. Now that she’s renewed our confidence in her as a leader, let’s hope she keeps her vow."