According to Katherine Losse’s tell-all book about Facebook’s early years, Mark Zuckerberg gave a rather inappropriate and slightly sexist introduction to Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, on her first day at the company.
According to Losse’s book, The Boy Kings, Zuckerberg made several candid comments about Sandberg when he introduced her to, what seemed more like a boys club previous to her arrival.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg apparently made the following remarks about new COO Sheryl Sandberg on her first day at the company upon her introduction:
“Everyone should have a crush on Sheryl.”
“When I met Sheryl the first thing I said was that she had really good skin,”
“And she does.”
Katherine Losse, who was an early employee at Facebook, and certainly one of the few female workers, admits the climate was rather sexist, but more likely due to a lack of experience and failure to recognize the facilities as a formal place of work, rather than any ill intent.
Losse commented on Facebook’s sexist work climate in an interview with the Huffington Post:
“That’s one of those instances where you’ve got a bunch of guys and they’re not really aware of those kinds of issues, so those kinds of things can be said because they don’t realize that this is a workplace,”
“The arrival of Sheryl Sandberg really helped because she was vocal and would say, ‘I really care about women in the workplace. I want to make this a good place to work,'”
“I think that was a huge relief for women employees.”
Just recently, Sandberg was named to the Facebook Board of Directors, breaking the previous all-male composition of the crew. Sandberg handles Facebook’s business operations, including sales, marketing, legal, HR, and public policy, and now she has a voice on the board.
Of course, Facebook has constantly been subject to persecution for their lack of diversity as far as the board was concerned. Many believe such a large and prominent organization should be promoting balance and equality, and that doesn’t appear to be the case.
While adding one women to your board of directors doesn’t necessarily mean you are an equal and fair opportunity provider, it does go along way to better the company. Sandberg is as business savvy and well-qualified as any other who currently sits on the board.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg comments on naming Sheryl Sandberg to the Facebook Board of Directors:
“Sheryl has been my partner in running Facebook and has been central to our growth and success over the years,”
“Her understanding of our mission and long-term opportunity, and her experience both at Facebook and on public company boards makes her a natural fit for our board.”