Fearless and Free: How Smart Women Pivot — And Relaunch Their Careers

Sheryl Sandberg writes in her book Lean In that women need to shift from thinking “I’m not ready to do that” to thinking “I want to do that and I’ll learn by doing it.”17

The celebrated start-up model of disruption that embraces failing fast and pivoting is not a typically female one. Women tend to be more risk averse. We can overthink our next move and not act until we’re 100 percent ready.1 We may feel like frauds when we’re trying something new. Instead of being disruptive, women tend to be more disciplined. And we’re often not pivoting—because we’re stuck.2

On engineering social serendipity:By putting yourself in the right places and putting energy into making strategic contacts and opening yourself up to what's out there, you can become the queen of your own serendipity.