Cablefax The Magazine - November 2014 - 4

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editorial
LEAN ON ME...
Women sure get a lot of advice these days. Last year, Facebook COO
Sheryl Sandberg told female execs to " lean in " to their jobs rather than
obsess about work-life balance, and she started a major debate that still
hasn't ended. " Not all women have the means to lean in the way Ms. Sandberg
can, " wrote bestselling author Neale Godfrey just a couple weeks ago
on Huffi ngton Post. " She's the COO with a net worth of nearly $1 billion.
Her husband is the CEO of Survey Monkey. She can afford to do anything
she wants. Many women don't have resources at the ready when it's time
to have the baby or go back to work. Rich women can lean in any time; the
rest of the female workforce has to wait until Corporate America steps up
and leans in as well-instead of passively pushing us out. "
Wow. That last part actually segues nicely into a more recent controversy
involving Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who on Oct. 9 inexplicably counseled
women that they should simply trust the system to reward them rather than
ask for raises. Anyone who has ever worked in corporate America knows
that's bad advice. Companies generally try to pay everyone as little as possible
for as long as possible until there's some reason to pay them more. And
that goes for women and men. Men learned long ago to harass their bosses
for more responsibility and bigger paychecks so they're on the radar when
those opportunities come along. To be fair, many women do that as well. But
as Sandberg points out, too many female execs feel they should demurely
wait their turn. They shouldn't. For the record, Nadella seems like a good guy.
He has since disavowed his own comments and apologized. But his off-thecuff
remarks speak to something larger. Something pervasive. Something
entrenched in the corporate mindset.
No one really thinks we should all just " lean out, " rudderless ships drifting
along in the ocean and scavenging anything that fl oats our way. But should
any of us lean in at work so much that we neglect our families, friends, passions
and social lives? Of course not. We all have to strike our own balance.
In our own ways. For women (and for men, by the way), getting ahead often
comes down to knowing your company, knowing your bosses and knowing
yourself enough to match your talents to the opportunities presented-and
when opportunities don't present themselves, knowing how to put yourself
in their path or simply create them out of thin air. For example, many female
cable marketers who convinced their bosses to
start a social media department fi ve or six years
ago are now EVPs overseeing huge staffs-all
because they saw the future and " leaned in " to it,
to steal Sandberg's line.
Perhaps we should all lean whatever direction ultimately
makes us the most happy and fulfi lled. In
the end, that's the only goal shared by everyone.
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