Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg On The Dearth Of Women Leaders (VIDEO)

Sheryl Sandberg wants more women leaders in the world.

As Facebook's Chief Operating Officer and one of the most powerful women in the world, Sandberg is one of the select group of upper-level female executives. Even in the younger Web 2.0 crowd she's a part of, zero women sit on the boards of Twitter, Facebook, Zynga, Groupon and Foursquare.

In a rousing TED talk called "Why we have too few women leaders," Sandberg explains what she thinks is going on, and how it can be fixed.

"The problem is this: women are not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world," she said. "Women face harder choices between professional success and personal fulfillment."

How to change things? Keep women in the workforce. To accomplish this goal, she had three simple rules.

The first: sit at the table.

"Women systematically underestimate their own abilities," she said, citing research. "No one gets to the corner office by sitting on the side, not at the table and no one gets the promotion if they don't think they deserve their success."

The second: make your partner a real partner.

"I've become convinced that we've made more progess in the workforce than we have in the home," she said. "If a woman and a man work full time and have a child, the woman does twice the amount of housework than the man does and the woman does three times the amount of childcare."

She also emphasized that the reasons behind these numbers were not so simple, noting that stay at home dads are not treated seriously by society. The key, Sandberg asserted, was finding a balanced equality between husband and wife in sharing responsibilities.

The last rule: don't leave before you leave.

Women begin planning for children way before they even have children, according to Sandberg, to their detriment.

"You stop looking for new opportunities," she said of women who made their decisions too far in advance. "Keep your foot on the gas pedal until the very day you have to leave to take a break."

The rousing talk ended on a personal note. "I want my daughter to have the choice to not just succeed but to be liked for her accomplishments," she said.

Watch the video below:

Comments

[Judy Grundstrom]

04:31 PM on 12/27/2010

I agree with Sandberg on all three points she outlined in her TED talk. As a woman who has been in leadership positions for a number of years now I have experienced sitting at the table, not being liked for my success, making my partner a real one, and watching women drop out. I also know what she says is true, we are not going to catch up in our generation to having equal numbers of men and women in leadership positions, but we can hope that things will change in the future.

I wrote a re-cap of Sandberg's talk on my blog, you can read it here: http://justjudyjudyjudy.com/2010/12/27/why-there-arent-enough-female-leaders-sheryl-sandberg-at-ted/

[HMcotton]

08:29 AM on 12/26/2010

The reason that there are too few women in high places has to do with the absence of an old boys club network among women entrepreneurs. For the most, high achieving women can be their worst enemies; successful women are bitchier, meaner, more ruthless and cattier to other women than their to male colleagues. There is something in their genes that don't want other women to succeed, and it might be attributed to the fact that women have to fight harder in the corporate world to reach a leadership position often to the detriment of their personal and family lives. Males often advance to CEO-like positions networking rather than qualifications per se.

[DomainDiva]

10:24 AM on 12/26/2010

I have lived on both sides of your post. I have worked for the worst of the worst and the best of the best. The difference is in how women perceive themselves. Happy, secure women with healthy self esteem have been wonderful mentors and believe in passing the knowledge. The bitchy ones however, always seem to be insecure, vain and actually not very intelligent no matter what degrees they possess. All their actions are driven by ego which negates any knowledge they may have.

[T Pol]

11:22 AM on 12/26/2010

In response to both you and HMCotton...reality is, both men and women network to get to be CEO's -- and also comete like h ell. The difference is, when a man is ruthless or driven by ego, it's accepted. Not so for a woman -- she gets labeled a "b itch." Even if a man gets labeled a ruthless "b ast ard," it will be accompanied with some expression of admiration or appropriate "ooh" and "ahh."

When an executive woman has to make hard decisions, such as laying people off, she is a "b itch." When an executive man has to do the same, he is "just doing his job."

Men and women both have good qualities they can share that will improve workplace leadership, and this is happening somewhat, but we have to be fair in our judgments when those attributes are put to use.

I believe Ms. Sandberg hits a huge nail on the head when she talks about the homefront. Many women do not advance further because of logistics in the home. I know couples who work, but if it weren't for the woman, those kids would have no shoes and never have a dental appointment in their lives. Sandberg is also right that stay-at-home dads are not given the respect and support they deserve (nor do stay-at-home moms). These guys live the meaning of "partner" and "equality."

We need to say "okay" to choices for both genders.

[EricBishop]

03:17 AM on 12/28/2010

Ability to effectively/successfully network is a predominant per se qualification for a CEO position.

[RizePosta]

05:44 AM on 12/26/2010

But the girls themselves become more socially aware and more likely to care more about friends and appearance s then excelling at academics.
http://programbilgi.blogcu.com/

[Surreal2me]

01:12 AM on 12/26/2010

I believe that to help women reach the corporate heights in male dominated fields we need to start in elementary school. In study after study girls do well up until 5th or 6th grade and then they begin to fall behind the male student counterparts especially in science and math. Studies has also shown that teachers have an unconscious bias towards the boys around this time. But the girls themselves become more socially aware and more likely to care more about friends and appearances then excelling at academics. One thing that seems to help is educate boys and girls separately. Unfortunately this option isn't politically correct nor is it financially feasible for the masses.

[Pandoras Folly]

12:44 PM on 12/28/2010

Very true, my dad is a middle school teacher and has a lot of opinions about teaching kids. children become human after christmas break in 7th grade for example. i think the difference between boys and girls in learning is two fold. girls mature faster and are more prone to self control and self editing their behavior than boys do at a younger age so have more "focus" for school activities, while boys are barely paying attention because they are barely contained springs. recent study found simply handing boys some clay or other amorpeous thingy to handle increase their learning rate, it gives their jitters somehwere to go. as they get older the results boys and girls are expected to achieve become different:boys win and girls interact. i bet that the hard yes/no right/wrong style of answers and reults that science and math give excites the interest of boys more relative to the softer studies, while it runs counter to the social/interactive/cooperative models that are being structured in the girls world.

[R Davis]

06:18 PM on 12/25/2010

Her daughter "should be liked for her accomplishments."

I have two daughters and three sons. I want the all to be successful and to be liked.

But, to me this the bigger issue. We have a need to have everyone contribute to society. If women are held back, or hold themselves back, we are missing on the opportunities and accomplishments that are desperately needed.

We have the potential to cure diseases, stop wars, feed the starving, stop the abuse of the weak by the stronger. This isn't going to happen by focusing on personal fulfillment. It is going to happen because we all work together to ensure people reach their potential. This is done through education, open discussion and recognizing that right now we don't have all the answers. But, working together we can find them.

[WrongApeture]

10:21 AM on 12/25/2010

No matter how far up the corporate ladder women go, guys with personal issues and ego problems will still think they slept or slutted their way to the top.

[UmassThrower]

01:52 PM on 12/25/2010

I think, as Sheryl suggests, male confidence/aggressiveness is more of a factor when it comes to gender disparities at the top than male bias. Personally I don't look at any of the female executives where I work and say "ohh they must have slutted their way up".

Of course I am here browsing huffpost so it is highly likely that I wouldn't be in that group anyways.

[rougebaisers]

10:12 AM on 12/25/2010

I hope she bails on Facebook. She seems overqualified for that lame site.

[Richard Lauren]

07:33 AM on 12/25/2010

How many women on Facebook's board?

She should talk to Zuckerberg about this instead of how they can better profile the citizens of the world.

[rougebaisers]

10:13 AM on 12/25/2010

None?

[metogamekun]

07:17 AM on 12/25/2010

I wonder how many small businesses are led by women? I have a feeling that a small business environment, where the woman/owner can create the rules, might be a better breeding ground for female leadership than the "old boys club" that is big business.

[rougebaisers]

10:13 AM on 12/25/2010

Quite a few.

[Pandoras Folly]

01:02 PM on 12/28/2010

and they have a higher rate of success too.

[RavenWest]

03:31 AM on 12/25/2010

Pretty poor points overall. She's hinting at psychological factors and recommending what I can only conclude are extremely passive solutions to those factors.

Force it on the men, otherwise they wont care. I'm a young man, and I can honestly say she's wasting her time with this talk. Get mean, or I don't care.

[UmassThrower]

02:04 PM on 12/25/2010

What the hell does this even mean?

I'm a young man and I can say young men like you and I probably have the least relevant opinions on the topic.

What she is doing is saying to women "here is what you can do". She's not making a statement about laws that should be enacted or policies she promotes in her company. She is saying "if you are a women here are 3 traps I've seen women fall into and if you want to get ahead you should look for and try to avoid them".

[FerrisValyn]

02:04 PM on 12/25/2010

I actually think she isn't just talking about psychological factors, at least for point number 2. My (admittedly anecdotal evidence) from my few married friends (I am single) is that there is a much greater disparity in work breakdown within the home, particularly when there are kids - wives & particularly mothers are more likely to do more than husbands and fathers.

[LittleMittens]

12:31 AM on 12/25/2010

We lack women leaders because of the still persistent sexism? Then stop electing conservatwits...

[UmassThrower]

02:05 PM on 12/25/2010

Don't know what a 'conservatw-its..." is but I see where you were going.

fav'd and fanned

[hershobr]

09:55 AM on 12/26/2010

What does electing conservatives have to do with women executives in the private sector?

[KarateKid]

10:56 PM on 12/24/2010

Rule 4: When all else fails, sleep your way to the top. In the publishing world, there are plenty of women at the top.

[RavenWest]

03:25 AM on 12/25/2010

truth, women are far more represented in industries that cater to other women, just as men run industries catering to men

[Lahonda]

09:22 PM on 12/24/2010

Men are stupid not to promote women.

[chris h0929]

09:23 AM on 12/25/2010

I will promote my girlfriend to head-chef of the house and chief of laundry duties.... ;)

[rougebaisers]

10:13 AM on 12/25/2010

Even when they do, they don't.

[timbeaux]

07:20 PM on 12/24/2010

I think women rise higher and faster in business now than at any time in history, and it's continuing to get better. In high-tech, one of the problems is that very few tech entrepreneurs are female. Overwhelmingly, new technologies and new applications of existing technologies are pioneered by men. One way for women to increase the number of them at the top would be to start getting in on the ground floor -- conceiving and starting tech companies.

[UmassThrower]

02:21 PM on 12/25/2010

In tech it's especially difficult because young girls are often feel that they are not supposed to like that stuff. I had a 12 year old tell me once "I'm a girl and I'm blonde so I'm supposed to be bad at math". When I was an undergrad my CS program had 10 girls out of 250 people in the major. I remember the shock when one of my classes had 5 girls out of 30. It was half the female population of the department.

On the flip side I had a friend who was the only guy at the school going for a nursing degree.

Actually that's interesting now that I think about it. I don't ever remember seeing an article talking about how we needed to get more men into a field like nursing.

[Marty Kenyan]

04:00 PM on 12/24/2010

If Ms Sandberg is speaking of her own industry she may have a point. Otherwise she is disallowing the accomplishments of ... Carly Fiorini, Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Meg Whitman, and many many many more less well known woman that have gone equally far in their own industries.

[bluemamie]

04:16 PM on 12/24/2010

She didn't say women never get ahead, only that the numbers are around 15% for women.

[UmassThrower]

02:24 PM on 12/25/2010

As I pointed out in another post for my CS program well under 15% of the declared CS majors were women. I wonder what the leadership numbers are like in industries that are typically more dominated by women, or at least in the ones where it is more even.