The Guardian Noted: Sheryl Sandberg Is in Her 50s

 An oddball angle has turned up in the media in the coverage of Sheryl Sandberg's stepping down. That's looking at this development through the lens of aging by The Guardian.

Sandberg is now in her 50s. Those of us women who had been very focused careerists and began aging understand that a line gets crossed. The path can become very different. And the significant factor is not a decline in energy level. 

In speaking with other aging professional women I have found a shift in values. No, it's not an embittered push-back on how consuming a career can be. It's more the intersection of two factors.

One is a clarity about newly emerging priorities. One of them could be a decline in what we usually label "ambition."

And, two, are the confidence and the courage to go with it. That's papable. Perhaps for the first time we don't ask around for permission to veer away from a one-dimension preoccupation with work.

Recently, just as Sandberg had, I had stepped away from a plum assignment. That was atypical for me. Being the new me, though, feels strange. I wonder if the Post-Facebook Sandberg also has to adjust to who she is becoming. 

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. She helps businesses conjure up magic in their storytelling. One client said, "She makes shipping containers ‘sexy.’"

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