Lean Out: The Truth About Women, Power, and the Workplace

by Marissa Orr

Overview

More than fifty years since the passage of the Equal Pay Act, the wage gap still hovers at 80 percent. Half a billion dollars are spent annually on corporate diversity programs, yet only 5 percent of CEOs in the Fortune 500 are women. Lean Out is an ambitious attempt to answer the question few dare to ask: What have we gotten wrong about women at work?

Based on in-depth research and personal experiences, Lean Out is inspired by the journey of Marissa Orr, a single mom of three trying to succeed in her fifteen-year career at the world’s top tech giants. In an eye-opening account, Orr exposes the systemic dysfunction at the heart of today’s most powerful corporations and how their pursuit to close the gender gap has come at the expense of female well-being.

“Fewer women at the top is a clear signal that the system is broken,” says Orr. “With female-dominant strengths such as empathy and consensus-building being the future of business, the headlines forecast that women will dominate the future generations of corporate leaders. But that won’t happen until prescriptions for success stop requiring women to act more like men, mistaking traits such as empathy as signals of weakness.”

Lean Out provides a new and refreshingly candid perspective on what it’s really like for today’s corporate underdogs, while challenging modern feminist rhetoric and debunking the belief that everyone has to be the same in order to be equal. Offering compelling new arguments for the reasons more women don’t make it to the top, Lean Out presents a revolutionary path forward, to change the life trajectories of women in the corporate world and beyond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595557568
Publisher:	HarperCollins Leadership
Publication date:	06/11/2019
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Marissa Orr spent 15 years working at today’s top tech giants, Google and Facebook. She has conducted talks for thousands of people in the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, at companies and universities such as Google, Twitter, Pace University, New School, American Express, and more. Originally from Miami, Orr received her Masters degree in Decision and Information Sciences from the University of Florida.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

Prologue: A Series of Fortunate Events xi

Introduction xxvii

Part I

Chapter 1 Silencing the Lambs 3

Chapter 2 Free to Be Just Like Me 19

Chapter 3 The Confidence Gap 35

Chapter 4 Putting the Men in Mentor 55

Chapter 5 School vs. Work 69

Chapter 6 #SorryNotSorry 83

Part II

Chapter 7 The Power Reward 105

Chapter 8 It's the System, Stupid! 117

Part III

Chapter 9 A New Way Forward 135

Chapter 10 Weil-Being vs. Winning 165

Acknowledgments 185

Notes 189

Index 201

About the Author 206

Editorial Reviews

'Marissa's refreshing voice about systemic cognitive bias and the mental limitations holding women back—while supporting maleness—rings true with well-researched, commonsense insights that speak to the experiences of women in corporate America. . . . The ideas presented here for driving change are powerful, clear, and actionable. This book is a must read for insights on the impact that reversing systemic gender biases can have on creating more diverse, healthier workplaces for both women and men.'


—Joanne Harell, Senior Director, USA Citizenship, Microsoft



'For the first time in a long time, I finally read a book that states clear facts around the gender issues, with sound research backing the assumptions, in a simple way for men and women to comprehend. This book should be read by leaders of all types, as it provides a fresh perspective on valuing oneself without shame or blame, while preparing the reader for the corporate ladder.'


—Dr. Betty Uribe, Executive Vice President, California Bank and amp; Trust and author of #Values: The Secret to Top Level Performance in Business and Life



'Lean Out is a highly readable book that has 'leaned in' and listened to many—and maybe the majority of—women in the workplace. Many, many women will proclaim, 'Finally, an honest book that gets me, who I am, where I am, where I'm trying to get to, and the myriad of roadblocks stopping me.' If you're a working woman, read it to feel validated and less alone and uplifted in your struggle.'


—Mark Goulston, author of Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone



'This book will make you think differently about what it will take for women to succeed in American business, by exploding myth after myth with cogent arguments and simple common sense.'


—Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe



'I wish I had the clarity I found in Lean Out earlier in my career. This book is a game changer and a must read for every young woman (and man) starting their career.'


—Ali Spain, Executive Director, Microsoft Alumni Network

From the Publisher