Sheryl Sandberg Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders Summary

To encourage innovative thinking with a working environment characterized as positive, cooperative and participative (Borkowski, 2009).

Lean In: Women, Work and The Will To Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg, addresses how women can achieve professional achievement and overcome the lack of leadership progress that has been absent over the past few years. Sandberg uses personal experience, research and humor to examine the choices that working women make everyday. She argues that women can achieve professional goals while still being happy within their personal lives. She argues this by going into detail about what risks to take, how to pursue certain professional goals and how to overcome struggles such as balancing a family and a career. All through Lean In, Sandberg uses the fourth dimension of interpersonal effects through a Narrative to show her indicated stance on gender

What drove me to Madden’s writing was the new perspective she had on females and their leadership styles relating to the way they speak up in group environments. The article claimed “one stereotypic dimension women have is that the individual cannot be both competent and friendly” (Madden). The more competent female would be the more comfortable and confident with her argument, therefore willing to speak up in a discussion environment, whereas the friendlier female would be more likely to keep to herself or amongst her friends and peers that

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, the ability to transform obstacles into opportunities can be a firm’s biggest advantage (Samašonok & Leškienė, 2015). As organizations recognize the need to be adaptable, creativity in the workplace has become one of the most important determinants of performance and success (Anderson, Potočnik & Zhou, 2014). To date, even though creativity has been linked to firm performance and survival (Nystrom, 1990), many managers admit that employees have “room to improve” in terms of creativity (Shalley, 2004).

Leadership - The perception of excellence in business leadership needs to be re-examined. This requires challenging the norms that determine leadership eligibility. Are there drivers that perpetuate a leadership incumbency that excludes females? What is the basis for these drivers?

In the fight for equality, it is obvious to defend against forms of sexism that are used for antagonization. However, chivalrous attitudes that cast women as weak and in need of men are often ignored. Social psychologists have studied the effects of benevolent sexism using experiments testing one’s performance shortly after being labeled as incompetent. Benevolent sexism is not a series of compliments, but rather a threat to one’s ability to think, learn, and perceive information. The workplace is an environment of which benevolent sexism occurs most often and one of which most are familiar with. Benevolent sexism in business does not allow men and women to achieve the same goals within the work place. Forcing an individual into a social role can limit them to only specific simple tasks that do not allow for maximum personal growth.

There should be equal opportunity between both men and women. Feminism is misunderstood by some men because we are still living in a patriarchal society as stated by the authors, Sheryl Sandberg, bell hooks, and Anne- Marie Slaughter. Among these three authors, hooks’ agrees with my viewpoint on feminism because the cause of gender inequality is patriarchy and the effects are women being discriminated and having unequal career opportunities.

Sheryl Sandberg’s argument is that women are capable of reaching the same career heights that men are. We are held back by stereotypes, gender bias, fear, and the assumption that if we choose to have a career, we can’t have a fulfilling home life. Traditionally, women should seek a good husband first, and if we can manage to fit in a bit of a career on the side, good for us. Ms. Sandberg points out that girls are taught from a young age that society doesn’t favor women who are bossy, assertive, and ambitious; attributes that are nurtured in boys right from the start, and which cultivate leadership skills. Since we are taught to be sensitive and be “ladylike,” the fear of “not being liked...making the wrong choice...overreaching...failing” tends

• If you want employees to display initiative and come up with new ideas (Intellectual) you must give them responsibility and provide interesting work and

Gender shapes how we interact with the people around us. Also, it shapes how we think of ourselves. Gender differences change over time and vary between cultures. Today we met Kimberly Penn. She works with clients and employees to mediate and negotiate gender stereotypes in order to be successful in her business. She is the founder and owner of Webtropolis. She tells about how she uses sociology in her job. I found the first speaker to be monotone. The second speaker was slightly less monotone than the first. I found this video to be interesting and informative.

Cecilia Ridgway, in “Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World,” holds that gender exists as an organizing social force. We value certain stereotypes of how people of a certain gender should act and incorporate these expectations into our social relations. Men, Ridgeway explains, are typically viewed as having more “competence, assertiveness, confidence, independence, forcefulness, and dominance” (Ridgeway, 2011) in social relations. Women, on the other hand, are viewed as valuing “emotional expressiveness, nurturance, interpersonal sensitivity, kindness, and responsiveness” (Ridgeway, 2011). According to Ridgeway, these gender stereotypes are

In the TV show “How I Met Your Mother,” Robin Scherbatsky is a 30-year-old woman that does not portray the typical lady on most situational comedies. Being strong headed and loud mouthed, Robin is continuously breaking gender roles by working her way up the business world, not wanting to be a mom, and definitely not being weak or fragile. However, the problem in society is that most women aren’t as bold as Robin. Most women don’t have the job security or ability to be audacious to stand up to their boss or even just saying a powerful statement. Society is faced with a question of can women be as successful as men in the workplace? Women are unable to thrive in the workplace because they’re expected by society to be submissive and servile.

Vinkenburg, van Engen, Eagly, and Johannesen-Schmidt (2011) found that gender differences in communication style norms can also impact advancement in careers. While the differences in group collaboration and leadership styles between men and women may be trivial, and perception of gender-based leadership style is not. Women were shown to use more effective, leadership techniques then men. However, men were perceived as being slightly better leaders and more inspirational in the work setting, despite the fact that woman’s leadership styles tended to be more rounded. The perpetuation of gender bias in promotion decisions perpetuates the stereotype that men hold

For my research question I will be asking: “How is America making progress on gender equity?” Fundamentally, I believe that women are still misrepresented, and are still facing many challenges in the workplace, especially in the business world. The gender stereotypes play a considerable role in the way the society sees women as leaders. However, it will be judicious to consider the small but noticeable changes that have been made over the past years concerning gender equality in the American workplace.

I am an open minded individual with a passion for creativity. In this ever-changing world, I believe creativity will allow me to foster new and innovative ideas, and effectively adjust to societal and organizational opportunities (Daft, 2012). Due to dynamic cultures in todays work environment, I hope to employ critical thinking that encourages ethical actions and accomplishment