For decades

Lean in, locally

“For decades, we have focused on giving women the choice to work inside or outside the home. . . . But we have to ask ourselves if we have become so focused on supporting personal choices that we’re failing to encourage women to aspire to leadership.” Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In

Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean in has been one of the best selling books of the last year and for that I am grateful. I picked up my copy at Bahrain Airport after watching her Ted video online. She won me over when she asked the question, why are there so few women leaders?

There are 229 missing female fortune 500 leaders and many that occupy lower level positions than they deserve. Sheryl takes a step back to find out why.

Without a doubt one of the best reads I have indulged in a while, I wrapped up the book in a record 5 days.

Sheryl’s writing style is more of a debate and a conversation. She asks questions and keeps the pace interesting by being funny and likeable whilst tackling issues like ‘How to make your partner a real partner’ and the importance of believing in yourself as a women in the workplace. But her main mission in the book, is to get women to ‘lean in’ and sit on the table and to participate in life. Too many women have sat on the sidelines listening, and not taking part in the conversation. Sheryl asks women everywhere to be confident, take risks, be ambitious, and speak at the table.

The book is jam packed full of fantastic and delightful stories on how Sheryl wants to be better, as a mother and within the organization she works for as  the COO of Facebook. She is always asking herself how she can be better and how important it is to get something done than get it done right at times.

The most important information though comes from reports on how women do not put themselves forth, have lack of confidence when it comes to taking risks, and how discouraged they feel about themselves and other women around them. It is important for me to take that step back as a women entrepreneur to see how we can better support other women to not only feel empowered and confident in themselves but also create women leaders in business locally and within my arena as well.

Part of what we do at Obai and Hill, the agency I founded and manage is we hire women. Our hiring strategy is simple. We hire women young, fresh out of university, invest in their training and confidence building and put them at the front lines. Many of our recruits are in their early 20s, eager to learn and prove themselves in the workplace and they find themselves managing multiple accounts with mentoring and support from management. I find that it is the best way to learn and create leaders, prepare them for battle and then take them to war. They learn far easier when they are made to lead projects.

When asked why I tend to go for hiring women, I tell my clients of members of the press that I am building a women’s army. And that resonates with people, not only because I personally enjoy and choose to work with women, but also my sense of purpose ties very closely to this cause of hiring and empowering women through my platform.

As a Bahraini entrepreneur it is important for to me be aware of my surrounding, and my resources. Having been doing business for a little over 3 years I must say that I received an immense amount of support from my environment here in the island in terms of mental and emotional support. I have always received recognition for my work and applause for pushing my business ahead solo. My bets clients are the ones that believe in my business model and believe in my team and me to achieve the results that they would like to see. I can see that as a Bahraini woman when one is confident and sure of the way foreword, the doors do open for her. 

But as Bahraini women, we need more women leaders in this region, and especially locally to look up too. Women that lead well by example and are local and self made that can also pass on messages of empowerment, and confidence in a younger generation that are looking for answers. The one that I can take away from Sandberg’s book lean in is my sense of responsibility to train and inspire other women to practice leadership in the work place or in a business. And the most important lesson of all is, Sheryl is a living example that you can have a family, be the best mother you can be, and still manage a Fortune 500 company.