It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg (she’s even listed on our company’s Pinterest board among other influencers and PR crushes we all hold close to our heart).
For those of you who don’t know, this is a woman to watch and it’s not just because Mark Zuckerberg reportedly once declared, “Everyone should have a crush on Sheryl” after he hired her from Google as his COO at Facebook.
If you need more convincing, here are 8 reasons why Sheryl Sandberg is one cool lady:
- Today, it was announced that she will become the first female executive to join Facebook’s board of directors — a big step considering only 16% of directorships are held by women at Fortune 500 companies.
- She typically leaves work at 5:30 p.m. How many of us can claim that for ourselves?
- While at Harvard, she donned legwarmers and led the Harvard Aerobics club. Now that’s cool.
- The woman knows how to network. In fact, she met Mark Zuckerberg at a Christmas party. And the rest? It’s history.
- She’s only 42 and has already been ranked #5 on “the world’s 100 most powerful women” by Forbes.
- She can give a TED talk like nobody’s business, especially on why we have too few women leaders.
- She’s admitted that she’s cried at work before. C’mon, you know you have too.
- During her commencement address at Barnard last year, she told the young women in the crowd, “I know I need to believe in myself and raise my hand, because I’m sitting next to some guy and he thinks he’s awesome. So, to all of you, if you remember nothing else today, remember this: You are awesome.”
Right back at ya, Sheryl.
~ Lauren Cook is a Senior Director of Social Media & Digital Strategy at GroundFloor Media and is on a quest to meet Sheryl Sandberg in person.
