When “Leaning In” Meets Motherhood

I’ve just finished reading Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. It is one of the most unsettling books I’ve read about modern corporate power.

Following its publication, Meta took legal action that resulted in Wynn-Williams being restricted from publicly promoting or discussing the book, with significant financial penalties attached to statements deemed detrimental to the company. That reality alone begs us to look closer. Because most of us are not Meta’s customers.

Sarah Wynn-Williams, former Meta executive and author of Careless People, whose account of life inside the company is prompting uncomfortable questions about power, culture and motherhood.

We are its product.

If you use Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp, your data is the asset. That is the business model. Understanding how the company operates, internally and culturally, to monetise our data matters.

Meta has said the book is defamatory and contains false claims. I have read it. And I believe her.

Every day, I think about how motherhood transitions shape women’s careers. This book showed me just how punishing that transition can be inside one of the most powerful companies in the world.

Wynn-Williams describes:

– Being expected to work during her maternity leave while recovering from serious birth trauma and post-partum health complications

– Experiencing deeply uncomfortable and inappropriate behaviour from a senior executive while postpartum

– Senior leaders paying for maternity nurses so she could continue working

– The reality of “leaning in” meaning being advised to minimise or conceal motherhood

When Lean In was published in 2013, I was a reader and a believer that women could have it all. I wanted that vision of work and motherhood to be real. But her account paints a very different picture.

As someone building a company to support women returning to work after having children, I cannot ignore this.

If you use Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp, I encourage you to read this book. Or listen to the audiobook, recorded in her own voice.