Michelle Obama on Sheryl Sandberg's 'lean in' strategy: 'That s--t doesn’t work all the time'

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama said that the "lean in' approach for women in the workplace, advocated for by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, isn't always enough for women.
She said that the idea that women can have it all at the same time is "a lie."
"It’s not always enough to lean in, because that s--t doesn’t work all the time," Obama said.
Sandberg's approach has been criticized for suggesting that individual women have to be the solution to workplace inequality rather than widespread policy changes.

Michelle Obama criticized Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's "lean in" strategy as insufficient for women trying to excel in their careers.

"That whole 'so you can have it all.' Nope, not at the same time," Obama said at an event for her book "Becoming" in New York, New York magazine reported.

"That’s a lie. And it’s not always enough to lean in, because that s--t doesn’t work all the time."

Sandberg famously advocated for women to take charge in the workplace in her 2013 book "Lean In." It encouraged women to supercharge their own careers by improving their negotiation tactics, striving to fill leadership roles at work, and taking control of their professional life.

Obama quickly apologized for swearing, New York Magazine reported. "I forgot where I was for a moment!," she said.

Obama's comments are not the first criticism of Sandberg's approach, which is accused of suggesting that individual women have to be the solution to workplace inequality rather than widespread policy changes.

In a study this year, a group of Duke University psychology professors used 2,000 participants to test the "lean in" approach and how it worked with structural and systemic disadvantages women face in the workplace.

One group of women read excerpts from "Lean In" and listened to portions of Sandberg's TED talks that focused on how women should be more confident in the office.

sheryl sandberg

Researchers found that they ended the trial with the belief that women can end workplace inequality but "were also more likely to believe that women are responsible for the problem — both for causing it, and for fixing it."

Sandberg addressed the criticism that her book left out underprivileged women back in 2016, telling CBS that, "I did not really get how hard it is to succeed at work when you are overwhelmed at home."

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