​​​​​​​​​​Lean In Together

Female leadership ambition gap: If “leaning in” is about sitting at the table where decisions are being made, a prerequisite is the desire to sit at the leaders’ table. Solution: Answer the question “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” and go public with your response, build your confidence muscles, and claim your accomplishments.

Social conventions, peer pressure and familial expectations: Women are held back by social norms that discourage them from taking risks, “sitting at the table,” and going after their own goals with gusto. Solution: Change those limiting expectations through sharing powerful “lean in” stories.

Success and likeability: The more men succeed, the more they are liked. Women, by contrast, are liked less by both men and women the more they succeed. Solution: Understand this bias and challenge it.

Don’t leave before you leave: Women often scale back their career ambitions in anticipation of future family and caregiving constraints and of retirement. Solution: Know what your ambitions are and “lean in” to them so that you are in a better position and have more decision-making power when you leave the workforce or make other transitions.

Make your partner a real partner: When both partners work full-time, heterosexual women do a disproportionate amount of housework and caregiving compared to their partners. Solution: Recognize this imbalance and change the script so the burden and benefits are shared more equally in the home.

“Lean in” together: Women often act like crabs in a pail pulling one another down in various ways when women go after their ambitions. Solution: Recognize the dynamic, form alliances and bridge divides.