Sheryl Sandberg is leaving Facebook/Meta. I used to think at best she was weak tea. Like Eric Schmidt, she was brought in to provide a degree of professionalism and organizational skill missing from their respective companies and leadership. And like Schmidt, she left when that missing skill was no longer needed or wanted.
I think Sandberg benefitted from having someone like Zuckerberg as her boss. The worst aspects of Facebook were associated with him, while whatever nefarious actions she was taking were unrecognized. This is not to absolve him or say that she was the one to blame. It’s just to note that many of the terrible things that happened on her time at that company should also fall on her.
Right now I think her legacy will change and darken over time. It will certainly be less bright than it was in her Lean In days. But who knows: she may pull a Bill Gates and go on to be someone who spends her time and efforts in being philanthropic and charming.
Whatever her future, here’s some things I’ve been reading now in mid 2022 about her leaving:
- Sheryl Sandberg’s Legacy – The New York Times – the time looks closer at her time at Facebook and the good and not so good she did there.
- The End of the Sandberg Era at Meta – The New York Times – related
- Sheryl Sandberg’s Meta departure is the death knell for Lean In – CNN – I don’t know how influential Lean In was to begin with, but it seems all but dead as a movement now.
- After COO Sheryl Sandberg’s exit, Meta’s now investigating her use of company resources – this, to me, seems like a settling of scores.
- Sheryl Sandberg’s Meta Departure and the Death of ‘The Deal’ With Mark Zuckerberg | WIRED – a good reminder of how Sandberg got to be so powerful at Facebook to begin with
- Sheryl Sandberg – Sheryl Sandberg – Wikipedia – for more on her, see her Wikipedia page.
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