Former Google and Facebook Exec on the REAL Reason Women Struggle to Make It to the Top

Former Facebook and Google executive turned bestselling author Marissa Orr says we should measure ourselves according to well-being, not corporate executive titles.

After 15 years working at the world’s top tech giants, Orr left Facebook to write a bestselling book. Lean Out: The Truth About Power, Women and the Workplace confronts the corporate hierarchies which, by nature, reward aggression, self-promotion and power-seeking instead of focusing on competence. 

“In big corporations, it can be hard to tell who’s doing a good job,” says Orr. 

What’s more, self-help books on female empowerment and leadership tend to pin the blame on women; if they apologized less and spoke up more they’d be better-represented in the C-suite and STEM professions. 

Orr’s Lean Out is a refreshing contrast to the popular leadership book, Lean In by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, which, according to Orr, perpetuates the persistent myth that traditionally male leadership traits are more effective than empathy, listening and emotional intelligence. 

In this exclusive interview with CCW Digital, Orr discusses her time as a former Facebooker and Googler and proposes a new lens for how we should perceive a real leader and reward people in the workplace.

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