The Inspiring Story of Sheryl Sandberg, a Successful Woman in Business

We are on the cusp of eliminating discrimination based on gender in the workplace. Women are increasingly entering the workforce, and an increasing number are assuming positions of authority and successfully running businesses on pace with, if not surpassing, their male colleagues. Present-day firms have women as their public face because they advocate for key business decisions. As with Facebook’s predecessor, Meta (now known as Facebook), its own “iron woman” goes by Sheryl Sandberg. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO from 2008 until 2012, was the company’s second most recognizable face behind Mark Zuckerberg. Since joining Facebook in 2008, Sandberg has become almost as well-known as CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Sandberg announced her resignation as the corporation’s chief operating officer (COO) on her personal Facebook page on June 1, 2022, after serving for 14 years. In addition to being repeatedly recognized by Fortune as one of the World’s Most Powerful Women, Sheryl Sandberg’s leadership of the Mark Zuckerberg-led company has earned her numerous other accolades and philanthropic endeavors, making her a towering figure not only in the world of startups and businesses for all globally but also as an inspirational woman entrepreneur.

After finishing her Master of Business Administration, Sheryl Sandberg began a new chapter in her professional life.
Sandberg spent one year working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. While Lawrence Summers was United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton, Sandberg worked for him again after she left McKinsey. During the height of the Asian financial crisis, she helped the Treasury’s efforts to cancel debts incurred by developing countries. Sandberg worked for Treasury for five years before joining Google in 2001, just three years after the search engine giant’s inception.

She eventually became Vice President of Global Sales and Operations. In addition, she contributed to Google’s nonprofit arm, Google.org. While at Google, Sandberg oversaw the company’s online advertising and publishing product sales. She was in charge of the business side of selling Google Book Search and other consumer items. Sandberg’s contribution to Google was crucial because she started working there when the search engine giant was still somewhat different from what it is now. At Google, Sandberg was instrumental in expanding the company’s ad and sales division from 4 people to over 4000.

In the fall of 2007, Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg met. Sheryl initially met Mark Zuckerberg, the teenage founder of Facebook, at a holiday dinner hosted by Dan Rosensweig. Even though Sheryl wasn’t on Zuckerberg’s radar for the COO post and wasn’t actively looking for one, he decided to promote her nevertheless.
That’s why Facebook promoted Sandberg to COO in 2008. She left Google, where she had been a “respected member of the Google team” and a “well-regarded Google executive,” to join the then-four-year-old social media company in 2008.

Sheryl Sandberg is Facebook’s COO, making her the company’s second-highest-ranking executive after Mark Zuckerberg. In addition to recognizing and rewarding staff for their achievements, Sheryl Sandberg inspires them to perform at a higher level through her transformative leadership style. Sheryl is famous for Facebook and many other causes, such as Lean In. Sandberg had been working hard as Facebook’s COO, and she continued to make significant contributions to the company even after Facebook rebranded as Meta on October 28, 2021, before she announced her resignation on June 1, 2022.

In an interview, Sandberg explained that she wanted to be in charge of the next part of her story. During the fall of 2022, she decided to leave her position. As of the end of 2022, Sheryl Sandberg is estimated to be worth $1.5 billion, based on data from Forbes’ richest people in the world list. Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg’s debut book, was a runaway bestseller. Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In sparked a worldwide movement that brought feminism back into the public consciousness when it addressed the problems of the underrepresentation of women in political and business leadership roles.

For this reason, Sheryl Sandberg is now frequently mentioned alongside Oprah, Bono, and Michael Bloomberg as a prominent advocate for women’s rights and gender equality. In 2008, Sheryl Sandberg released an article in The Huffington Post defending her role model Lawrence Summers. At the 2010 Jewish Community Federation’s Business Leadership Council meeting, she delivered the keynote address. By December of that year, Sandberg had given her first TED talk, titled “Why we have too few women leaders,” in which she advocated for the advancement of women in leadership roles.

The next year, Sandberg was again selected to give the Commencement Address at Barnard College. In the following years, she frequently served as a keynote speaker and gave multiple commencement addresses. Sheryl Sandberg is a respected member of the Board of Directors at several notable companies, including Meta. Sandberg is currently a member of the Board of Directors at The Walt Disney Company, Starbucks, and V-Day. Now, Sandberg sits on the boards of Women for Women International, the Center for Global Development, and the Brookings Institution; she formerly served on the boards of the Ad Council and the World Economic Forum. In addition to her other accomplishments, Sandberg was well-known for serving on the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s board of advisors.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Sandberg is a role model. As a result of her business acumen, Facebook has grown to become the most popular social networking site in the world. She has worked her way up the ranks and is a huge part of why Facebook is still well-known in a world where the internet rules. Under Sandberg’s leadership, the team has been productive, and that trend persisted even after she announced her resignation (after which she will remain on the Facebook Board).

The end of Sheryl Sandberg’s journey is not near; rather, it is a prelude to the fresh starts she has alluded to in her resignation article. A joint effort between Sheryl Sandberg and her husband, Dave Goldberg, the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation works to make the world a safer, more inclusive place for everyone. Specifically, they do this through the collaborative efforts of the LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org programs.