Sheryl Sandberg’s Classic Advice on How Women Can Brag Effectively Was Just Confirmed by Science

There was a moment about a decade ago when Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In was the bible for ambitious, professional women. Celebrated in the press and imitated worldwide in “Lean In circles,” Sandberg was treated as an exemplary role model for women who wanted to rise at work.

But over the past 10 years, a fair bit of tarnish has built up on Sandberg’s once glittering reputation. Some of that is due to her involvement in Facebook’s repeated privacy and disinformation scandals. Part of it is that, as Michelle Obama once pithily said of the classic Lean In playbook, “That s**t doesn’t work all the time.”

Since the tragic death of her first husband, Sandberg has admitted her advice to go strong at work is a whole lot easier to implement when you have the privileges of money and support. Meanwhile, studies showing that women are actually penalized for being “difficult and unpleasant” when they advocate for themselves have continued to stack up.

So does that mean that female entrepreneurs should simply toss their dog-eared editions of Lean In in the trash? Actually no, says recent research. At least one pillar of Sandberg’s advice for women seems to have stood up to both the test of time and additional scientific scrutiny, and it…