Lean In . . . Bend Over

The Lean In debate* is flourishing and Penelope has been perusing the myriad public responses. My favorites include: Lean In, Buddy Boy (savagely sexist, yet funny); The Retro Wife (sadly, what I see most); How Do You Lean In, If You Don't Have Someone to Lean On (yes, I am sympathetic with single parents); and, of course, Yes, You Can (right on, sister), by Anne-Marie Slaughter of women-can't-have-it-all fame.**

Yet, no matter how many responses I read, there is still one awful image I cannot shake every time I hear the expression “Lean In”: The image of Erin Callan, former CFO of Lehman, quite literally leaning over a conference table populated by about 20 or so 30-something men, her wearing an absurdly tight black dress punctuated by a plummeting v-neck and breasts literally spilling over and onto the conference table as she smiles and engages energetically with each of the men around her.

This is not an image I invented, but a memory I cannot repress from a meeting I attended with a client at Lehman in 2006. I would have diverted my attention from her odd display, except that my tax colleague had already surreptitiously emailed me on his BlackBerry within seconds of our sitting down, confirming what he thought I might be wondering—yes, those were fake breasts.

Based on my brief experience, Callan is a stark contrast to the typical corporate female Sheryl Sandberg describes in her book. Callan did not hold herself back from pursuing any opportunities offered to her, which apparently women do as they sit back in a destructively self-critical fashion and second guess their qualifications.

She was offered to head the hedge fund group at Lehman in New York. She did it, despite a tenuous understanding of certain hedge fund basics (trust me on this one). . . And then there was her promotion to CFO. Who knows whether she aggressively pursued the opportunity or was set up to be a scapegoat, but she signed up for it and leaned in, until she fell over.

Ironically, Callan is the most recent female voice to weigh in on the Lean In debate.*** In her own words, she leaned in “very far.” Yes, she certainly did and most of the guys around the conference room that day in 2006 were certainly thrilled she leaned as far as she did.

Yet Penelope digresses . . . Her point is not to tear apart Callan, who has already been eviscerated by the press for several years now. Penelope’s point is that there are ways to engage in one’s career while still preserving one’s dignity and then there are other ways . . .

I have read “Lean In.” It is both well written and researched. I applaud Sandberg for putting her views out there. I equally applaud Slaughter's insightful response. I just have one thought to add: lean in, but please don’t let your breasts spill on to the table while you do it—there may be another female in the conference room and she really doesn’t want to watch you degrade yourself.

*For those of you who have not been following it, the Lean In debate is a reference to the current and very public discussion of the book “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead,” by Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg (Knopf, 2013)

**Lean Back, Buddy Boy, by Dan Zevin, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/lean-in-buddy-boy.html

The Retro Wife, by Lisa Miller, New York Magazine, March 25, 2013.

How Do You Lean In, If You Don't Have Someone to Lean On, Katharine Weymouth,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katharine-weymouth-how-do-you-lean-in-when-you-dont-have-someone-to-lean-on/2013/03/22/b117d730-8b24-11e2-b63f-f53fb9f2fcb4_story.html

Yes, You Can, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/books/review/sheryl-sandbergs-lean-in.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

***Following is a link to a recent interview of Erin Callan on RockCenter: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/51187891#51187891 Delete Reply Reply All Forward Move Actions Next Previous