I don't pretend there aren't biological differences, but I don't

Hear the words of Sheryl Sandberg, who lifted her voice for the daughters of tomorrow: “I don't pretend there aren't biological differences, but I don't believe the desire for leadership is hardwired biology, not the desire to win or excel. I believe that it's socialization, that we're socializing our daughters to nurture and our boys to lead.” In these words she strikes at the root of an ancient pattern: the way societies mold their children, shaping destinies not by the truth of the soul, but by the heavy hand of custom. For she declares that leadership is not written in the bones, but woven into the fabric of upbringing, taught and retaught until it feels like fate.

The ancients themselves often bound their daughters in chains of expectation. Women were told their duty was the hearth, while men were sent to govern, to command, to rule. Yet history whispers another tale—that many women, when allowed to rise, proved that the desire to lead was not foreign to them, but as natural as the desire to breathe. The restriction was never in their blood; it was in the customs that confined them. Sandberg calls this by its name: socialization, the silent training that tells girls to soften their voices and boys to sharpen theirs.

Consider the story of Joan of Arc, a peasant girl who heard a call to lead. In an age when women were taught to obey, she donned armor and rallied soldiers, guiding France in its hour of peril. Did she act so because of some accident of biology? No—she rose because her spirit was unbroken by the customs of her time. Her courage proved that the capacity for leadership is not owned by one sex, but lives within the hearts of all who dare to answer its call. Yet her fate also warns us: for breaking the pattern, she was condemned, showing how fiercely societies guard their molds of expectation.

So too in the modern world. When daughters are taught from birth to nurture, to yield, to please, and sons are taught to command, to strive, to lead, the result is not the revelation of natural law but the repetition of tradition. Sandberg unmasks this truth: we are not seeing biology—we are seeing training. Leadership, ambition, confidence—these are seeds that lie dormant in every soul. They flourish when nurtured, they wither when stifled. The soil of upbringing determines which flowers bloom and which are cut down before they reach the light.

The deeper meaning of Sandberg’s words is this: societies must look inward and question the stories they tell their children. For if leadership is reserved only for boys, then half of humanity’s wisdom is silenced. If nurturing is demanded only of girls, then half of humanity’s compassion is locked away. True greatness arises when both men and women are free to lead, free to nurture, free to choose their path unbound by invisible chains.

The lesson for us is clear: if you would raise children, raise them first as human beings before labels of gender. Teach your daughters not only to nurture, but also to lead with courage. Teach your sons not only to lead, but also to nurture with gentleness. Break the cycle of socialization that narrows the spirit. For in doing so, you will unleash the full measure of human potential, unbounded by custom, unshackled by tradition.

Practical action flows from this wisdom: encourage girls to speak boldly, to take risks, to seize roles of responsibility. Encourage boys to listen deeply, to care for others, to embrace vulnerability as strength. In workplaces, open doors equally; in homes, share duties equally. Let the measure of leadership be not gender, but integrity; not tradition, but ability. In this way, the world shall move closer to justice, and humanity shall rise with all its strength united.

So remember always Sandberg’s wisdom: leadership is not hardwired—it is taught. And if it is taught, it can be untaught and retaught. Let us then reshape the lessons of childhood, so that no daughter is told she must bow and no son is told he must dominate. Let us instead raise a generation that leads and nurtures alike, so that the whole of humanity may flourish, balanced in strength and compassion.