Sheryl Sandberg > Quotes

“And anyway, who wears a tiara on a jungle gym?”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“Professional ambition is expected of men but is optional—or worse, sometimes even a negative—for women. “She is very ambitious” is not a compliment in our culture.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“The cost of stability is often diminished opportunities for growth”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“You then will lean way in to your career. You will find something you love doing and you will do it with gusto. Find the right career for you and go all the way to the top. Start out by Aiming high. Try- and try hard. I hope you find true meaning, contentment, and passion in your life. I hope you navigate the difficult times and come out with greater strength and resolve. I hope you find whatever balance you seek with your eyes wide open.”
― Sheryl Sandberg

“Men can comfortably claim credit for what they do as long as they don't veer into arrogance. For women, taking credit comes at a real social and professional cost.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“Writing this book is not just me encouraging others to lean in. This is me leaning in. Writing this book is what I would do if I weren't afraid.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“Another one of my favorite posters at Facebook declares in big red letters, “Done is better than perfect.” I have tried to embrace this motto and let go of unattainable standards. Aiming for perfection causes frustration at best and paralysis at worst.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“when you want to change things, you can’t please everyone. If you do please everyone, you aren’t making enough progress.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.”13”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“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.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“Feeling confident - or pretending that you feel confident - is necessary to reach for opportunities. It's a cliché, but opportunities are rarely offered; they're seized".”
― Sheryl Sandberg

“Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said that life can only be understood backward but it must be lived forward.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

“Today, despite all of the gains we have made, neither men nor women have real choice. Until women have supportive employers and colleagues as well as partners who share family responsibilities, they don't have real choice. And until men are fully respected for contributing inside the home, they don't have real choice either.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“I truly believe that the single most important career decision that a woman makes is whether she will have a life partner and who that partner is.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“We hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“As an associate at McKinsey & Company, my first assignment was on a team that consisted of a male senior engagement manager (SEM) and two other male associates, Abe Wu and Derek Holley. When the SEM wanted to talk to Abe or Derek, he would walk over to their desks. When he wanted to talk to me, he would sit at his desk and shout, "Sandberg, get over here!" with the tone one might use to call a child or, even worse, a dog. It made me cringe every time. I never said anything, but one day Abe and Derek started calling each other "Sandberg" in that same loud voice. The self-absorbed SEM never seemed to notice. They kept it up. When having too many Sandbergs got confusing, they decided we needed to differentiate. Abe started calling himself "Asian Sandberg," Derek dubbed himself "good-looking Sandberg," and I became "Sandberg Sandberg." 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: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“long-term success at work often depends on not trying to meet every demand placed on us. The best way to make room for both life and career is to make choices deliberately—to set limits and stick to them.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“But instead of blaming women for not negotiating more, we need to recognize that women often have good cause to be reluctant to advocate for their own interests because doing so can easily backfire.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“I couldn’t understand when friends didn’t ask me how I was. I felt invisible, as if I were standing in front of them but they couldn’t see me. When someone shows up with a cast, we immediately inquire, “What happened?” If your ankle gets shattered, people ask to hear the story. If your life gets shattered, they don’t. People”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

“I thought resilience was the capacity to endure pain, so I asked Adam how I could figure out how much I had. He explained that our amount of resilience isn’t fixed, so I should be asking instead how I could become resilient. Resilience is the strength and speed of our response to adversity—and we can build it. It isn’t about having a backbone. It’s about strengthening the muscles around our backbone. Since”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

“Building resilience depends on the opportunities children have and the relationships they form with parents, caregivers, teachers, and friends. We can start by helping children develop four core beliefs: (1) they have some control over their lives; (2) they can learn from failure; (3) they matter as human beings; and (4) they have real strengths to rely on and share. These”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

“You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, rather than the other way around.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“So please ask yourself: What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it.”
― 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. As discussed earlier, this must be done with great care. But it must be done.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

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

“When companies fail, it’s usually for reasons that almost everyone knows but almost no one has voiced. When someone isn’t making good decisions, few have the guts to tell that person, especially if that person is the boss. One”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

“A traumatic experience is a seismic event that shakes our belief in a just world, robbing us of the sense that life is controllable, predictable, and meaningful.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

“We cannot change what we are unaware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.”
― Sheryl Sandberg

“What is your biggest problem, and how can I solve it?”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

“Fear is at the root of so many of the barriers that women face. Fear of not being liked. Fear of making the wrong choice. Fear of drawing negative attention. Fear of overreaching. Fear of being judged. Fear of failure. And the holy trinity of fear: the fear of being a bad mother/wife/daughter.”
― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead