The Atlantic

What It Really Means to Be the Adult in the Room

Sheryl Sandberg, the “responsible” grown-up at Facebook, had one job: Make the company more and more money.
Source: Jose Luis Magana / AP

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, often has been called the company’s “adult in the room.” A former Clinton administration chief of staff, Sandberg ran both sales and philanthropic divisions at Google before joining Facebook. Her 2013 book Lean In made her a feminist business icon, of a certain stripe.

And so it was particularly devastating when a earlier this month portrayed her as a bumbler, sinking the company further into the murk. Facing deepening controversy over Russian meddling, sloppy data hygiene, and other

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