Lean Out: The Truth About Women, Power, and the Workplace Hardcover – June 11, 2019

I saw Marissa speak before the book came out. She told revealing personal stories about her experiences at Google and Facebook, bringing us along on her journey with an inviting humor and wit, also tying in research from behavioral science, management studies, etc.Yes, she answer a key question: what have we’ve gotten wrong about women at work?But she also provided great insights and perspective on corporate dysfunction and how we can improve everything from leadership and talent evaluation, to reward systems, innovation/creativity and motivation.With female-dominant strengths such as empathy and consensus-building being the future of business, and the headlines forecasting that women will dominate the future generations of corporate leaders its no surprise the prescriptions for success is NOT requiring women to act more like men, mistaking traits such as empathy as signals of weakness.The book...is truly excellent. Its not contrived or agenda driven. It reads like a memoir with the words and sentiments you've likely felt but never been able to capture.I believe its required reading for anyone in business (especially managers), and certainly anyone wishing to apply their talents and aspirations to work and careers that matters to them.

Wow, total respect for the author's arguments as they were rooted in a vast array of research. She did her homework. I remember thinking when I read Lean In why I couldn't relate and I felt S. Sandberg was such a phony. I was never called bossy growing up. I'm not a super aggressive person in the workplace and I don't want to be. I want to be myself, do things my way, and climb the corporate ladder (to a degree so that I don't have to sacrifice time with my family). I went on a similar journey as this author and have found a lot of happiness for figuring out what I really want (and not following someone else's story). This book just feels right on. Thank you for writing it and congratulations on your new career.

in BOOKSBook ReviewsShareTweetPinRecently I have been able to be a part of a few different book launches and I am happy to say I have enjoyed getting to read all of them. Most of them are nonfiction, but there is a fiction and a kid’s book included in this list. Hope you will go check a couple of the books out!Sick of Me – Whitney CappsThis book is so good! It was exactly what I needed at the time I read it. The author put words to what I have been feeling, which is…”Sick of Me”. There were so many things I highlighted throughout the book that resonated with me. She explained that even though we have been justified through Christ, sanctification is an ongoing process. A process that we can’t do on our own, but one that requires us to look to Jesus for help on a continual basis. She stressed how important it is to get into God’s Word for ourselves and learn how to be authentic and point everything in our life to Christ. That is where true transformation lies. It took me awhile to get through this book, just because I would read some and then want to think on it for a bit. I think there was a lot to this book and because of that some of it (especially chapters towards the end) didn’t seem to flow together easily. I did enjoy this book and will be referencing it in the future when I get “Sick of Me” and need a reminder to turn my focus on Christ and remember that it is a lifelong process of continually looking to Christ and asking for His help in our everyday.Paperback – I received a free copy of this book from B&H Bloggers for the purpose of an honest review. All opinions are my own.Disciple Her – Kandi GallatyWhen I saw I had the opportunity to review this book, I was excited! I have been contemplating finding a mentor to disciple me and this made me want to pursue it and then maybe begin my own discipleship group in the future. This book stresses the importance of Jesus’ command of “go and make disciples” and I don’t think that is something we actively pursue in the current day.The author walks women through a process of what discipleship looks like and how to go about doing it. She encourages Bible reading, memorization, Bible journaling, and prayer with just a small group of women (different than a Bible study class or small group setting). This book is full of helpful tools such as an 18-month by month plan, a covenant guide, a Bible reading plan, etc…I liked how she said there are two goals for the women that are a part of your discipleship group: spiritual growth and replication. The following is quoted from the book “You want your ladies to grow spiritually and then turn around to help other women grow spiritually too. The whole point of being a disciple is to follow after Christ and become more like Him.”I will definitely be reading this again and be praying about becoming a part of a discipleship group and hopefully in the future pursuing starting one myself.Paperback – I received a free copy of this book from B&H Bloggers for the purpose of an honest review. All opinions are my own.Lean Out – The Truth About Women, Power, and the Workplace – Marissa OrrThis book was so interesting! I enjoyed Marissa’s insight into being a corporate working mother at a couple of well-known companies and what was “required” of her. I was a little apprehensive about reading this because I thought it was going to be written in a “boring/factual/here’s what you should do” manner, but it was the opposite! Marissa’s writing style was easy to read as well as enjoyable. She intertwined research fact/findings with her own personal experiences she encountered within a male-dominated corporate culture which made it a thought-provoking read . I though this book was a breath of fresh air in the fact that she didn’t lean into the idea of “feminism” and how women should change to “be more like a man” in order to succeed, but instead focused on the idea of how you, and only you can only define your own definition of success. I wish this book would have existed when I graduated college and started out in the corporate world. I think it would have saved me a lot of stress and anxiety if I could have started my career with my own core values and what success means/looks like to me instead of realizing over 10 years later what that looks like to me now.Paperback – I received a free copy of this book from Harper Collins Leadership for the purpose of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

the author makes some strong points about what women want and, just as importantly, what they may not want. i like the fact she goes against the grain on a lot of the zeitgeist about women and how they should act in the business world.having said that, i was a bit turned off by her dismissal of various studies and books. her counter to various pieces of research seemed to be no more than various anecdotes involving her--perhaps true at a micro level but not very convincing at a macro one.she also makes broad generalizations about things like human resources departments that are dubious at best and make me question a bunch of her other assumptions.all in all, an important book and it's great to hear her perspective working at facebook and google, but it could have been stronger.

Wow, I just couldn't put this one down. I work at Google so I can relate to a lot of what Marissa shared. But what I loved more was that she put down in simple terms what many of us feel and explained why and how to address real change. If you believe that a woman needs to be like a man in the workplace, then this book is not for you. But if you believe that you need to be your best self at work, then this book will sing to you. Marissa, thank you for your extensive research and for sharing your personal experiences to bring this book to life. This needs to be in everyone's bookshelf.