Sheryl Sandberg has inspired a wave of confidence and aspiration among women with her “Lean In” book and foundation. What a wonderful thing! Yet perhaps lost in all of the publicity and enthusiasm is the role a pragmatic and unselfish partnership has played. Fortune magazine has her on the cover of their October 28 edition, with an article titled “Sheryl Sandberg: The Real Story”.

She is the COO of Facebook, not the CEO. That is normally an inward facing role, oriented to operations while the CEO gets all of the press. By all accounts she is a terrific operations executive and leader. The article relates one instance where a string of black limos signaled the arrival of yet another distinguished visitor. During their Friday afternoon Q&A with Mark Zuckerberg someone asked who? Mark replied “Oh, that was Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. He came to see Sheryl”.

“While Zuckerberg is a celebrity in his own right — and the antihero of an Oscar-winning Hollywood film — Sandberg is not only the world’s most famous COO but also a rock star in business, politics, and popular culture, with unprecedented influence and reach.”

So how does that work? She is working for a much younger boss, and trumping him on visibility and influence. Where are the egos? I think that is an important part of the story. While most executives would let egos get in the way Zuckerberg finds it liberating for him. She does all the things he doesn’t really want to do so he can focus on product, engineering and retaining the core values of Facebook. Their trusting relationship has been great for Facebook, and for each other. Despite his relative youth he understands that “turning her loose” is a good thing on every measure. For her, and for Facebook. Congratulations to both!

As I think back I can name many situations where egos at the top collided, and would never have produced this result. The only one I can name that really worked for the individuals and the company was Roberto Goizeuta and Don Keough at The Coca-Cola Company. Yet there are so many instances where talents could have been meshed like this, with spectacular results. Hopefully her story will inspire more — in any combination of men and women.

– Jim Deupree