Keeping It All Together

Sheryl Sandberg is the author of Lean In and of Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. Here are her top tricks for keeping it all together:

• What time do you go to bed and wake up? I sleep from 10:30 or 11pm until 5:30 or 6am. I try to get seven hours of sleep every night. 

• Give us your top life-organizing strategy. I always have a notebook. I’m such a geek. People think I’m crazy - I’m the only one at Facebook with a notebook! 
• How do you control email overload? My motto is ‘Done is better than perfect.’ I try to do it quickly. I think people really appreciate fast answers. 
• Best everyday work advice? Have someone who praises you publicly. It’s hard for women to praise themselves, but I can say, “What Andrea did is amazing!” 
• What are your rules for making your home life sane? We don’t have phones at meals. And my husband and I try not to travel at the same time. 

[Article in Glamour, photo from Vogue]

Charming Career Advice

Charm is one of the most underutilized weapons in business. Because people are drawn to it. And it’s free! 

Charm makes people want to do business with you. Women have to be smart and hardworking to get ahead. But a dose of charisma always helps; people like happy people. 

I read a memoir by Howard Schultz [CEO of Starbucks], and he only ever hired happy people. There’s enough drama in the world without coming to work and being a burden on everybody. 

In sales, we have a saying: “Teeth make smiles, and smiles make sales.” 

I genuinely believe that happy people sell more, and work harder, because they love what they do. I have so much fun!

If you’re trying to achieve perfection, the reality is that perfection doesn’t exist. So we each need to find our own recipe for success. 

Organization is key - I am a great believer in lists. 

Life runs more smoothly with the five p’s - Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. 

Be Bold, BB, is another one. Bold is better than being ignored. 

- Marigay McKee, new president of Saks Fifth Avenue -