Sheryl Sandberg Just Announced She’s Leaving Facebook—and Taught a Big Lesson in Leadership

Sheryl Sandberg announced Wednesday that she will step down as Meta’s COO this fall. Her message announcing the move spoke a lot about her working relationship with Mark Zuckerberg, especially in Facebook’s early days. And it provides a blueprint for effective collaboration from which every leader can learn.

In his 14 years at Facebook he has served as Mark Zuckerberg’s right-hand man, helping to polish his image and his relationship with the corporate world, the sometimes controversial bestseller author. lean in Encouraging women to commit to their careers, and build Facebook’s advertising business, which is its main source of revenue. And Sandberg, who was older than Zuckerberg, was more media-savvy and more comfortable in the spotlight, often serving as the public face of Facebook.

But like many great collaborations, the Zuckerberg-Sandberg partnership may have begun with the changing times and circumstances. Although Facebook is famous about its internal dealings, word leaked out that Zuckerberg was unhappy with Sandberg’s handling of allegations that the platform was used to influence the 2016 presidential election and the Cambridge Analytica scandal that followed.

More Mark, less Sherrill.

In recent years, Zuckerberg has taken on the role of representing Facebook in public more and more often – in what appears to be some extensive and very effective training in public speaking and dealing with the media. Some of Sandberg’s former responsibilities have been passed on to others, resulting in new York Times To report that he was “effectively sidelined.” Zuckerberg made a very public commitment to the Metaverse and created Meta as Facebook’s parent company – thus separating the organization from Sandberg’s area of ​​expertise.

It seems safe to say that there has been some trouble in heaven over the years. But none of that was apparent in the announcement of Sandberg’s arrival, which, of course, he did via his Facebook feed. Instead, she talked about how she never thought she’d spend five years at Facebook when Zuckerberg first recruited her away from Google. She said she wants to focus more on philanthropy and on her Lean In initiative to connect women and empower them in the workplace. She also said that she wants to focus her attention on her upcoming marriage and the joint family that will be formed out of it. It was the class act we’ve all come to expect from Sandberg.

“It has been a lifetime honor and privilege to sit by Mark’s side for these 14 years,” she wrote, and she responded in the comments, “I am going to miss working with you every day, but grateful that you As a lifelong friend.”

Sandberg’s round of rules for working together.

Some of the most interesting information in Sandberg’s post is about how she and Zuckerberg first met, and they had a lengthy discussion about Facebook, before he decided to offer her the job and take it. did. Before starting the job, she made three requests that were deceptively simple and showed extreme emotional intelligence. She wanted to sit beside Zuckerberg at work, she wanted to meet with him face-to-face every week, and she wanted him to tell her whenever she felt like she was screwed. He asked for the same candor in return.

I’m willing to bet that this agreement is the secret behind their powerhouse collaboration that lasted over a decade. This isn’t always possible, especially during a pandemic, but being in physical proximity can make a huge difference if you want to work effectively with someone. So can regular face-to-face meetings and especially a commitment to honest conversations about any areas where you may disagree.

This approach was so effective for Sandberg that when the summer began just a few months after he was hired, Zuckerberg decided it was time to take his first extended leave from Facebook and went on a month-long trip. , leaving him in charge. “It sounded crazy—but it was a display of faith I’ve never forgotten,” Sandberg wrote.

It’s a model that every entrepreneur should consider following when hiring a second-in-command, and a commitment that every executive should consider asking before taking on a leadership position. Ensuring that there is frequent communication, and that communication is always honest, can be the biggest key to success when two leaders work together.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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