E-books/audiobooks review: non-fiction

by Sheryl Sandberg

Knopf

(e-book)

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO, is a force in business, and by her telling, always has been. If you're a go-getter who wants to be a "C-suite" executive, much of what she writes in Lean In will resonate: that women, for example, have to prove themselves to a far greater degree than men if they want to advance. Sandberg describes the continuing tendency of women to hold themselves back and to accept compensation not worthy of what they will contribute. She also discusses women being plagued by the imposter syndrome and their tendency to be promoted based on past accomplishments (as opposed to their potential). Of course the book will appeal mostly to women who, like Sandberg, want to work for behemoths and be recognised as leaders. But there will be readers so turned off by the corporate dance that, male or female, they would rather just forgo the gender battles and have little to do with her kind of world. What would you do if you weren't afraid, Sandberg wants women to ask themselves. Many, if honest, would leave the rat race once and for all.