Lean In for Graduates Quotes

“So please ask yourself: What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“My coworkers should understand that I need to go to a party tonight--and this is just as legitimate as their kids' soccer game--because going to a party is the only way I might actually meet someone and start a family so I can have a soccer game to go to one day!”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“Your life’s course should not be determined by doing what’s safe and easy but by reaching for what’s challenging and hard: the classes that seem impossible on the first day, but you study enough to pass … the jobs you’re not quite qualified for, but you work like crazy to acquire the skills … the moments when you feel alone and overwhelmed, but you are brave enough to ask for help.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“We can joke, as Marlo Thomas did, that “a man has to be Joe McCarthy in order to be called ruthless. All a woman needs to do is put you on hold.” Real change will come when powerful women are less of an exception. It is easy to dislike senior women because there are so few. If women held 50 percent of the top jobs, it would just not be possible to dislike that many people.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“As you start your career, you should be aware that men are often promoted based on potential, while women are promoted on past performance.1 You should also be aware that when men are successful, they are often better liked by both men and women, but when women are successful, they are liked less.2 I have asked audiences around the world to raise their hands if they’ve been told they were too aggressive at work. Time and again, a small fraction of men raise their hands, while a great majority of women shoot a hand into the air … and sometimes two.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“We hold ourselves back not just out of fear of seeming too aggressive but also by underestimating our abilities. Ask a woman to explain why she’s successful and she’ll credit luck, hard work, and help from others. Ask a man the same question and he’s likely to explain, or at least think, “C’mon, I’m awesome!”4”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“We are each unique … which is why it is so wrong to be lumped together by stereotypes or viewed with narrowed expectations based on skin color or chromosomes. The irony is that dealing with this prejudice becomes our shared experience.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“But knowing that things could be worse should not stop us from trying to make them better.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“Millennial women are less likely than Millennial men to agree that the statement "I aspire to a leadership role in whatever field I ultimately work" descried them very well. Millennial women were also less likely than their male peers to characterize themselves as "leaders," "visionaries," "self-confident," and "willing to take risks." (p.16)”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“It’s not only working parents who are looking for more hours in the day; people without children are also overworked, maybe to an even greater extent. When I was in business school, I attended a Women in Consulting panel with three speakers: two married women with children and one single woman without children. After the married women spoke about how hard it was to balance their lives, the single woman interjected that she was tired of people not taking her need to have a life seriously. She felt that her colleagues were always rushing off to be with their families, leaving her to pick up the slack. She argued, “My coworkers should understand that I need to go to a party tonight—and this is just as legitimate as their kids’ soccer game—because going to a party is the only way I might actually meet someone and start a family so I can have a soccer game to go to one day!” I often quote this story to make sure single employees know that they, too, have every right to a full life.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“Taking risks, choosing growth, challenging ourselves, and asking for promotions (with smiles on our faces, of course) are all important elements of managing a career.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“Women need to shift from thinking “I’m not ready to do that” to thinking “I want to do that—and I’ll learn by doing it.” My”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“Just as I believe everyone should have a long-term dream, I also believe everyone should have an eighteen-month plan. (I say eighteen months because two years seems too long and one year seems too short, but it does not have to be any exact amount of time.) Typically, my eighteen-month plan sets goals on two fronts. First and most important, I set targets for what my team can accomplish.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“There is a saying, “Think globally, act locally.” When negotiating, “Think personally, act communally.” I have advised many women to preface negotiations by explaining that they know that women often get paid less than men so they are going to negotiate rather than accept the original offer. By doing so, women position themselves as connected to a group and not just out for themselves; in effect, they are negotiating for all women. And as silly as it sounds, pronouns matter. Whenever possible, women should substitute “we” for “I.” A woman’s request will be better received if she asserts, “We had a great year,” as opposed to “I had a great year.”20 But”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“Our entrenched cultural ideas associate men with leadership qualities and women with nurturing qualities and put women in a double bind,” she said. “We believe not only that women are nurturing, but that they should be nurturing above all else. When a woman does anything that signals she might not be nice first and foremost, it creates a negative impression and makes us uncomfortable.”7 If a woman is competent, she does not seem nice enough. If a woman seems really nice, she is considered more nice than competent. Since people want to hire and promote those who are both competent and nice, this creates a huge stumbling block for women. Acting in stereotypically feminine ways makes it difficult for women to reach for the same opportunities as men, but defying expectations and reaching for those opportunities leads to being judged as undeserving and selfish.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“You should also be aware of the internal barriers that we often impose on ourselves. Too many women sit on the side of the room when they should be sitting at the table. Too many women lower their voices when they should be speaking up. This is not our fault. We internalize messages that say it’s wrong for us to be outspoken, aggressive, and as powerful as—or even more powerful than—men.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: For Graduates

“As a Facebook summer intern once told me, “In my school’s computer science department, there are more Daves than girls.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“A women must be more empowered at work, men must be more empowered at home.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“Humour can be an amazing tool for delivering an honest message in a good-natured way. A recent study found that "sense of humour" was the phrase most frequently used to describe the most effective leaders.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“It has been an evolution but I am now a true believer in bringing our whole selves to work. I think we benefit from expressing our truth, talking about personal situations and acknowledging that professional decisions are emotionally driven.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in a different direction.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“True leadership stems from individuality that is honestly and sometimes imperfectly expressed. They believe leaders should strive for authenticity over perfection.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“Sharing emotions build better relationships. To really care about others, we have to understand them - what they like and dislike, what they feel as well as think.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“Another way I try to foster authentic communication is to speak openly about my own weaknesses.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“Great leadership is "conscious" leadership”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“My colleagues turned an awful situation into one where I felt protected. They stood up for me and made me laugh. They were the best mentors I could have had.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“Hard work and results should be recognized by others, but when they aren't, advocating for oneself becomes necessary.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates

“My self-esteem had become so intertwined with racking up accomplishments and earning praise that when I stopped succeeding, my sense of self shattered.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In for Graduates