Lean In

In Cosmo's April 2013 Issue they had an entire mini-magazine dedicated to women and careers. The mini-mag also had an exclusive look at Sheryl Sandberg's new book Lean In, which helps and encourages women to reach their full potential at work.

The excerpt talks about statistics of women in careers, and discusses 3 tips for success in the work place. I loved this mini-mag. It was incredibly interesting to see what she had to say about women getting big positions, such as CEO, which men typical go after and get. She also discusses not "Leaving before you leave" which is about women not going after a promotion because she plans on trying to have a family. She says the time to leave work is when your home on maternity leave. She encourages women to continue striving in their careers until the last possible second, this will make the transition back into work, once you decide to go back, much easier. Women who "leave early" tend to find it hard to go back to work, feel inadequate and under appreciated.

Another interesting idea that came form the book was a "Lean In" group. Essentially it is a group of people, both men and women can be a part of it, who all encourage each other to go after a promotion, take on an extra project etc. This will help the group members achieve their greatest potential at work. I really liked the idea of people encouraging each other, especially women to go after big careers. Women are becoming a much bigger part of the work force then in the past, but they are still not becoming CEO's as much as men are and are still, typically, earning less. Women should go after a big career is that's what they want.

She also talked about "Making your partner, your partner" which means that your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend etc. should be just that, a partner, someone who helps you and pushes you to succeed. Marriages where the couple spilt child rearing and house work 50/50 are 50% less likely to get a divorce. Many men now stay home with the children more often then in the past and sometimes are home more with them. They are helping around the house more as well. This makes for happier couples, there isn't just one person working 9 hours at the office and then 5 hours of house work and child caring at home, which leads to more women continuing to prosper in their career paths.

Reading the excerpt made me want to buy the book so once I'm near a Barnes and Noble I'll be buying a copy. She has a lot of really interesting things to say and how to get where you want in your career.