The media landscape has been covered to saturation with the perceived controversy, societal ills, and limitations of women, specifically mothers, in the workplace. It is clearly a polarizing and subjective topic, and one that breeds frustration for me because I think we’re missing an important part of the perpetual debate that is relevant to a majority of professional women. Sheryl Sandberg tells us to “lean in” if we want to find success. But what if we have leaned in so far we’re about to face-plant? I don’t disagree with the concept as a whole; it’s how I started my career and found early success – as I defined it then. What I didn’t realize was that my notion of success would change significantly as I progressed through many different life stages.
Allison O’Kelly
Huffington Post