Lean In

Sheryl Sandberg's argument begins with a question she raised in her widely watched TED talk: why do so many capable women quietly pull back from their own careers? In that talk, viewed more than eleven million times, she urged women to take a seat at the table, look for hard assignments, accept risk, and go after their goals wholeheartedly. This book takes that idea much further. Sandberg mixes stories from her own working life with hard data and research, shifting the focus away from what women supposedly cannot do and toward what they can. She was chief operating officer of Meta, then known as Facebook, from 2008 to 2022, and she draws on that experience to offer concrete guidance on negotiating, finding and using mentors, and shaping a career that feels worthwhile. The book also tackles the tension between ambition and personal life. Sandberg lays out specific steps women can take to pursue professional success while still finding fulfillment outside work. She argues that men have a part to play too, and that they gain a great deal by backing women both on the job and at home.