Sheryl Sandberg as a Leader - Case Study Example

?Sheryl Sandberg as a Leader Sheryl is not a dictator. Accordingly, she does not carry an autocratic leadership style. Her leadership style is more like charismatic leadership and has a touch of democratic leadership as well. She displays all the traits that a charismatic woman leader is expected to display. For instance, Michelle Obama is considered as a charismatic leader because “Michelle Obama speaks out – she is not merely seen but heard. … Michelle Obama steps out – she engages even to the point of breaking precedent. And…Michelle Obama is available, ready and able to mix and mingle, willing to touch and be touched, literally and figuratively” (Kellerman, 2009). One quality of Sheryl that particularly makes her a charismatic leader is that she has been able to make it to the top without losing her femininity. She is glamorous, stylish, and delicate just like a woman is expected to be and yet she is so successful at work. As a successful professional and a qualified and confident person, many women look up to Sheryl as an example. Sheryl is also an example for many women because she is married and has children unlike so many professional women (Zeitlin, 2013). Women fancy being like her; Sheryl has what it takes to make the followers obey without any inconvenience or discomfort. In particular, she is a charismatic leader for the female workers. However, since Sheryl is a strong woman, some men from all positions including the seniors, peers, and subordinates might feel it difficult to accept her in the position she is, particularly because they are used to dominating women more than listening to them. Nevertheless, Sheryl is too emotionally intelligent to be controlled by such men in her profession. She knows the skill of gaining others’ consent since she supports her claims with facts, reasons, and statistics. There is no doubt that Sheryl is a very knowledgeable and intelligent person that makes it easier for her to win arguments, if need be. Sheryl is a leader that believes in equality of genders in spite of their differences. Being a woman and a successful leader, Sheryl has set an example for many working women who need motivation and inspiration to step up the ladder. Generally, a perception prevails among the women that deters them from taking challenging roles in their professions. A major reason for the formation of such a perception is that the concept of working women is not entirely consistent with the expectations of the society from the women. Many women feel guilty for not being able to fulfill their domestic responsibilities toward their families because of their work-related responsibilities. And the results are apparent; “The number of women age 20 and older not in the labor pool, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has soared from 40 million in 2000 to nearly 49 million today; another 315,000 called it quits last month” (Peek, 2013). Sheryl considers women responsible for having lesser representation in the top positions of organizations as compared to men. According to her, women themselves make choices in which they tend to compromise upon their career in an attempt to come up to the societal expectations. While Sheryl does not criticize women for keeping work as a second priority and establishing their domestic responsibilities as their first priority, she does encourage women to try to make informed decisions in their lives by thoroughly reviewing all facts. This problem can partly be attributed to the fact that women and men have traditionally been restricted to domestic and professional lives respectively. The contemporary lifestyle imparts the need for the women to work parallel to men in all spheres of work. Correspondingly, if men share women’s domestic responsibilities, this practice would help create the balance that is much needed. Leaders like Sheryl idealize a world in which women assume the same responsibility as men in leadership and men have a more equal role to play in the domestic sphere as women. For women to play their role in establishing such a system, Sheryl proposes three fundamental messages, “One, sit at the table. Two, make your partner a real partner. And three, don't leave before you leave” (Sheryl cited in dotsub.com, 2013). Sheryl respects women’s decision when they choose to stay at home and she equally respects their decision when they resolve to work. However, Sheryl discourages women’s attempts that make either of the two decisions to belittle or think bad of women that make the other choice. Personally, Sheryl wants to see more women joining the workforce in general and making it to the top in particular. She is not content with the dearth of women in the top positions in any industry in any part of the world. Sheryl is very skilled herself and believes that all women have what it takes to be successful at work, and thus wants women not to drop out of their professions if they had made a decision to be committed to their professions before. The most important reason she thinks that deters women from making it to the top is their underestimation of their personal abilities. Sheryl is in favor of organizations becoming more flexible. Organizations can take a number of measures to become more flexible and adjustable to the individualistic and collective needs of the organizational personnel. For example, organizations should try to understand that new mothers and new fathers need some time to spend with their new-born children, so they should consider giving paid leave in addition to the established period of paid leave. Sheryl is a strong person who is very ambitious and flexible. She expects her followers to cooperate and coordinate with one another without letting the differences originating in gender interfere and hinder the development of cooperation. As a boss, Sheryl is not a silo-minded person. She is very understanding and does not mind if her subordinates approach her with any kind of issue related to work. Her bright oratory skills, personal charisma, and confidence also suggests that she is capable of motivating people toward success in their professional as well as personal lives. Being a successful leader herself and having years of experience in addition to having a very caring and understanding personality, Sheryl may be the best person to approach to seek guidance over matters related to both career and otherwise. Since she is convinced that organizations should be flexible, it might be easier for a subordinate to get a leave approved by her. She might be generous in delivering such favors to the subordinates, but in return, she expects them to please her with their outstanding performance and not let the work get affected by their other businesses. She is easily approachable and not difficult to talk to. So to work for Sheryl Sandberg as one of her direct reports, it gets easier for an employee to talk out his/her problems, challenges, insecurities, and even personal thoughts and opinions without any discomfort. Sheryl is equally nice with both men and women at work, but wants women to be represented more at work. Therefore, she might be interested in asking a resigning female worker to rethink before approving the resignation. If a female worker is dropping out because she thinks that she cannot do justice to her duties as a wife and as a professional simultaneously, or if the female worker underestimates her abilities, chances are that she would be convinced by Sheryl to change her decision for the better and carry on working in the organization. References: Dotsub.com. (2013). Transcript for Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders. Retrieved from http://dotsub.com/view/5d25b1fc-f846-4060-bb06-faef90283add/viewTranscript/eng. Kellerman, B. (2009, April 3). Michelle Obama: A Charismatic Leader? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/2009/04/michelle-obama-a-charismatic-l/. Peek, L. (2013, April 17). Why Women Are Leaving the Workforce in Record Numbers. The Fiscal Times. Retrieved from http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2013/04/17/Why-Women-Are-Leaving-the-Workforce-in-Record-Numbers. Zeitlin, M. (2013, March 19). America's Working-Woman Problem—and How to Fix It. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/americas-working-woman-problem-and-how-to-fix-it/274143/. Read More