Sheryl Sandberg Just Nailed A Subtle Way Men Hold Womens Careers Back

Sheryl Sandberg Just Nailed A Subtle Way Men Hold Womens Careers Back Every time Sheryl Sandberg speaks at an veranstaltung, she makes us want to stand up and cheer. She consistently raises awareness for women in the workplace and challenges the world to do better.In a recent interview with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Sandberg pinpoints a subtle way women are held back at work by not being involved in out-of-work events. Men sometimes feel uncomfortable spending time one-on-one with women they work with and avoid dinners, meerbusen outings and other outside-of-work events with them as a result. This eliminates crucial networking opportunities for women at work.Fortunately, Sandberg has a solution. Referencing a connection from Goldman Sachs, Sandberg recalls that he realized he was totally comfortable having dinners with men, but not women. So he decided no dinners.Being aware of the ripple effects of your own networking decisions is important, but taking the initiative to cha nge those bad habits is even more so. You may decide all the travel, all the dinners, no travel, no dinners, Sandberg said. But whatever you decide,make it explicit and make it equal.When out-of-work invitations are not equal, it leads to further gender disparity in the workplace. Though its unfair, personal connections always come into play when supervisors choose who should get the promotion, who should get that new corner bro or who should get that raise.It didnt occur to me that to thrive professionally, I needed to do anything more than be a dedicated employee who did great work, Jill Filipovic wrote for Cosmopolitan. It was clear their informal social outings strengthened this personal and professional bond, and gave these younger men a leg up in their careers.Theres a lot of data about why networking is important, and its been repeated time and time again new positions are filled by personal contacts before theyre posted online. Business partners meet through mutual friends. That pitch youve been crafting for a year can land in front of your dream VC firm thanks to the right introduction.But none of that happens if men dont spend one-on-one time with women.A huge percentage of men are literally afraid to be seen one-on-one alone with a woman, Sandberg said. Where do you think the mentoring happens? At the very least, we know the results of when it doesnt happen a lack of equal pay and absence of corporatefemale leadership.It took some years and some distance to reflect on how these systematic disadvantages privilege mens careers and hurt womens, Filipovic wrote. Even if no one is intentionally trying to screw women over.Regardless of your gender identity, there are steps you can take to make sure youre prioritizing inclusivity when looking at mentorship opportunities. When youre planning your next networking coffee date, here are some questions you should ask yourselfIs this an activity I can do with everyone?Whether its lunch, a networking event or so mething else altogether, make sure that the activity youre doing is something you can replicate with all of your employees/colleagues. If you realize its not, do something different instead.Who haventI spent time with yet and why?When scrolling through your contacts, is there a name you always gloss over? Take a few minutes to understand why that is, and determine what steps you should take to fix it.What can I do to be better?Asking yourself this question is always a good idea, but it never hurts to ask your co-workers this as well. Getting feedback from the person on the other side of the table will help you improve your perspective. Who knows your mentee might mention something youve never even thought of