Sheryl, It’s Time to Lean Into the Suck
An Open Letter to the Facebook COO from a Former Classmate
Dear Sheryl,
I read your piece in Fortune about the “disastrous” reluctance of male bosses in the #MeToo era to advance women in the workplace and how we should “expect more.” I admire people who challenge men to provide women with active opportunities for personal advancement even if it is challenging or awkward. But I have to ask: Are you seriously offering workplace advice?
I remember fondly your spirited aerobics class when we were classmates in college. We’ve only had brief contact since graduation, but as a single mom who has always worked in male-dominated industries, I applauded your decision to launch the Lean In movement. I was moved and impressed by your searingly honest account of finding resilience, and ‘leaning into the suck’ at a time of personal tragedy.
I want you to succeed. So, I am going to give you some advice: #Youtoo, Sheryl.
Over the past two years, as Facebook has faced one problem after another, you’ve remained relatively silent. When you have commented, your remarks had the texture of well-coached legalese, lacking the fierce honesty and leadership you’ve sold in your books and lectures.
The optics haven’t been good either, like the time in 2017 you blew off briefing Congress about the Russia probe to report record profits to shareholders. Last week, you ignored a subpoena from the Canadian parliament. Do you think you’re above the law?
You are COO of a powerful, global firm whose litany of scandals include breaching user privacy, skewing elections, facilitating organized crime, and promulgating hate speech and violent content. You can see how your words in the Fortune article about supporting human endeavor and access to opportunity might sound hollow — at best.
You’re not the only tone-deaf Facebook executive. I mean, Mark Zuckerberg posting an anniversary selfie from the Acropolis just days after the BBC’s report on how Facebook has been hosting groups — some with more than 100,000 members — where criminals “loot to order” ancient sites from Egypt to Syria? Cringe.
Was it just me, or were the pictures of a grinning, vacationing Zuckerberg reminiscent of when BP CEO Tony Hayward went yachting instead of dealing with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill?
Of course, it’s great to see that the Facebook founder takes an interest in world heritage, but perhaps he could direct some of that interest to his platform and, say, put an end to the wholesale trafficking of antiquities there? Or illegal drugs? Or endangered animals? Or human remains?
Because just saying that, “We didn’t do enough to prevent [Facebook] tools from being used for harm,” is neither an apology nor a solution.
As you point out in your editorial, simply not harassing women isn’t enough — you have to create mechanisms that actively enable progress.
You and other Facebook executives must recognize that there are millions of people out there — from Rohingya Muslims to children trafficked on Facebook — whose lives have literally been turned upside down because of your failure to control your platform.
They deserve acknowledgement and redress, not awkward jokes, not workplace wisdom, and certainly not a “privacy overhaul” that sounds like a con. The world expects genuine contrition for — and concrete responses to — the myriad problems caused by your poor management. It’s time for you and Mark to “lean into the suck,” and start treating your users like people.
Because you’re right. We should expect more of one another.
From Gretchen Peters
Executive Director of the Alliance to Counter Crime Online.
