Born to Joel and Adele Sandberg in August, 1969 in Washington D.C., Sheryl Sandberg is the daughter of a Jewish family. She currently is holding the position of chief operating officer. She began her college at Harvard and graduated in 1991 with a bachelor of arts in economics. She was awarded the John H. Williams Prize as she was the top graduating student. She is the founder of the organization called Women in Economics and Government. Then she earned her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1995. She was recruited as research assistant at the World Bank. She also worked at Google, United States Secretary of the treasury in her professional life.
Leadership Qualities – Styles, Skills, and Traits of Sheryl Sandberg
Visionary: Sheryl is a leader of exceptional vision of the future. She always tries to envision future situations and makes plan for that. When she left Google for Facebook, it had only 550 employees in 2008. Yet, she thought that it was the correct move. She had a plan for Facebook’s future growth. Her appointment in the organization changed it and now it stands as one of the top companies in the world.
Charismatic: Sheryl’s charisma as a leader is undeniable. She has exceptional connections to keep her employer always assured about all kinds of support whenever the employer needs one. Facebook had issues to resolve with PayPal. Whenever this kind of situation arose Sheryl would contact directly the owner company of PayPal – eBay. This way it was easier for Facebook to resolve all issues.
Influencing: Another powerful quality Sheryl has is that she can influence people. This is the most common quality of a leader. They are leaders because they can influence people with their action and words. Throughout her life she has gone through a lot of difficult situations and that is why she can relate to others. She can be the kindred soul to her people. This is she is a great influencer.
Societal Impact: Sheryl is a leader with a big social impact. Her impact was observed during her book-writing of ‘Lean In’. Her worst time in her life was when she lost her husband. Despite this heavy social loss, she did not give in to depression and worked hard to come out of it. This positive way of thinking creates a lot of social impact in a society. But Sheryl never losses her spirit.
Transforming People: She strive to transform people. She may not groom others as future leaders but she influences people to transform themselves. People around her get inspiration to change at a personal and professional level. She does not simply serve others as a leader, she transforms them.
Leadership Style of Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl follows a transformational leadership style. By definition it is to establishing connection with people at an individual level. This increases motivation among the people she works with. Coming down from the high stage and socializing with the others makes her more human and that helps people around her to work harder and live by her example. When she first joined Facebook, she went to every desk and met every employee, introduced herself and asked personally what they want to see changed in the organization. She learned about their expectations and supported them. As a leader she likes to act human and show vulnerability and that way she can connect to more people.
Leadership Traits of Sheryl Sandberg
Optimism: Sheryl is an optimist. She never backs down. She follows what she believes and does her best to abide by her own principles. She is always calling out to women to take a seat at the table which means take on a leadership role not just be a mother at home. She believes more women should come forward and take charge.
Critical Thinking: One of Sheryl’s leadership traits is critical thinking. She is always thinking about future and working on the present to shape the future. She does not only prepare people to succeed positions after others, she also prepares people who will be succeeding after them. She is always 3 steps ahead of others.
Courage: Sheryl has a lot of courage. She is one of very few female leaders in the world ruled mostly by men. It is not easy at all to keep the leadership role for so many years as a female. But Sheryl fights the world to establish her views and she encourages other women to take lead as well.
Other Leadership Traits and Characteristics of Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl is a lady with exceptional leadership traits. She takes responsibility of her own actions. She is an effective communicator, persistent for success, can manage complex situation well, fosters creativity and innovation, etc. These traits have made her what he is today. Without these she would have not been able to be in his current position.
Leadership Skills of Sheryl Sandberg
Self-Awareness: It is a very important skill of a leader such as Sheryl. This skill helps Sheryl to know her problems and situations better. With this skill she can balance her work and personal life. Her awareness helps her notice things about the people around her and she can then promptly take decisions based on that information to improve her situation.
Gratitude: A leader like Sheryl is always grateful to her people who helped her reach the pinnacle of success. Sharing credit is important for a leader. To keep her people motivated, a leader shows gratitude and says thanks and this helps her people work harder for their next success.
Learning Agility: It is another skill of great magnitude and every leader has it. With this skill a leader can learn quickly about a lot of things about a situation and take action. Sheryl is at the top of the world because she has this skill. She can learn quickly and then take action based on it.
Empathy: This skill helps Sheryl to understand people around him. She can empathize with her team of talented people and also the people in the market. This way she can manage and influence the people around her.
Bottom Line
Sheryl is a great leader who believes in transformation of people. She loves her work, and her people. She gives encouragement to her people. She is lone fighter who is fighting the world to make it better for women. She encourages women to take lead instead of just going back to the safe heaven called home. She wants women to transform and become future leaders.
Hey Guys! My name is Richard Andrew. I am a contributor to the Strategy Watch. I have finished my graduation with a major in Economics. My interest areas are Economics, Financial Analysis, Stock Analysis, and Business Strategy.