Facebook COO (Chief Operating Officer) Sheryl Sandberg would have remained another top paid executive, if she hadn't wrote a book on the struggles, aspirations of career women and advises them to "lean in" to reach their potential.. The book titled Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead , which came out this March, became an instant bestseller. Although it received mixed reviews. The admirers praised the book for articulating a new modern feminist vision; while the critics called the book coming from a person, who speaks from her lofty position, completely out of touch with the gruelling personal cost of combining career and family.
Two months after the book release, Sheryl Sandberg, who got $26.2 million in salary, bonus and shares last year from the US social networking giant Facebook, still holds the ground and says: It's OK for Women to cry at work.
It's OK for Women to cry at work.
Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, 43, said in a recent interview to an Indian media house, that it's ok for women to cry at work, share emotions and be honest about their femininity. She herself has cried at work.
Elaborating more on why it's ok for a a woman to show her emotional side at work, Sandberg, said that women are not one type of person Monday through Friday. They are not the same person during the workdays the weekend nights. That's why showing emotions at work is never a disadvantage for women.
Speaking of Disadvantage:
Sandberg has put an important fact here. Actually from the look of the things, Being emotional at work is never a disadvantage for a woman; unless she becomes an always crying drama queen. Actually timely and strategic emotional burst at work place helps a woman. This can be understood this way: Evolution-wise men are programmed to respond favorably to a baby's cry. Women who have a similar baby like voice pitch, when cries makes a man become protective towards her. Just as he is protective of an infant. This is evolution's way of compelling a man provide food and protection to the baby and female partner. Hence when a woman colleague shows distress emotions at work place; she gets a favorable response from the male colleagues. Over time it develops into bonding, which can be used by the woman in getting professional support, team building and further her career.
Showing emotions is not an advantage for men because males are schooled not to cry in public and a man who shows weak emotions at work hurts his/her career progression. That apart, even where the boss is a woman, man is expected to be in control; as evolution-wise a woman is not programmed to respond favorably to a man's emotions.
For these reasons, women are more prone than men to cry at work. And Sandberg's book rightly points to these subtle reasonings.
For a career woman, following the advice rendered in Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's book is always better than listening to a feminist, who wants a career woman to behave like a man, that's remaining always in control.
And Sandberg, who is married with two young children, advises this:
The messages of believing in yourself and sitting at the table, getting compensated fairly, those can happen at any point in your career. Don't overlook gender-related issues in the workplace. If a woman is a complex person, be that way. If the work place overlooks the rights of a woman, demand those. Demand everything you need in terms of pursuing careers and raising families (if you're too tired too much to make the dinner; ask for the husband's help).
A career woman will need to do this, as men never face such questions because society assumes they can have both professions and children, she added.
A huge percentage of women globally have both children and work full-time, but to do so they must get the "support they need at the workplace and at home," Sandberg said.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, is Facebook's number two, and was named in Time magazine's 2013 list as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
To keep yourself in the right track, read Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's Book .
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