A Mom at the Top

Alex just sent me this article yesterday about how this incredible woman balances her career and her family without either of us knowing that today I would have the pleasure of hearing Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg herself speak candidly about what it's like to be a woman at the top.

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As a career-focused working mother myself, she left me with a lot to think about as I prepare for the next step on my path:

• She recommends looking for growth potential as a number one priority in the opportunities you pursue. You can't go wrong with an upward trajectory.
• Clear communication, she proclaims, has been one of the most important skills to her success in a leadership role. Being approachable (which Sandberg very much is) and simplifying your language will ensure your message is clearly received and carried out. The truth is often buried beneath complex and convoluted language, she says.
• Sandberg suggests humbly accepting your shortcomings and claiming them in a way that's receptive to feedback before others point them out for you (because they always will).
• Another leadership tip? Hire people who complement you and your strengths and balance you out rather than people who have the same skills as you. The same holds true in marriage.
• I thought it was so appropriate that she attributes her success to marrying someone who pulls half the weight at home. (I will undoubtedly reiterate this to Alex often.) When managing the household is evenly balanced, both partners are equally able to focus on their careers rather than just one or the other.
• She spent a good portion of time talking about the challenges women face in the workforce today. I thought it was interesting that they're generally not the externally-imposed ones of the last generation, but are internally-imposed, meaning that most women don't succeed to the degree men do not because the opportunities don't exist but because women aren't as ambitious as men (mostly because of the double-standard that ambition is seen as a negative trait in women while a positive one in men).

I'm proud that Ava and her generation will have strong, devoted career moms like Sandberg to inspire her and help drive her to achieve success both at work and at home.

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