Reflections On The Road To Respect

The Elephant in the RoomIn 1998 I quit my corporate job to start the Respect Business. When people asked me why I made that choice my standard response was:I want to see change in my lifetime.Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of the bestselling book Lean In, shares that interest. She is working to challenge the status quo with respect to gender inequality. Like many of us, women and men alike, she envisages a world where women can live life on their own terms.A pivotal point in her journey occurred in 2010 when she was asked to speak at TED Women on the topic of women and leadership. She arrived in Washington prepared to deliver a well-researched, unemotional speech “chock full of facts and figures.”As she stood backstage Pat Mitchell, CEO of the Paley Centre for Media and co-producer of the conference, asked how she was feeling.Rather than make a choice many of us do and say ‘oh fine,’ Ms. Sandberg disclosed that she was having a hard day. Her 3 year old daughter had been clinging to her leg cryi