Lean into
To “lean into” something is an expression that means to embrace, to fully engage with, or to actively pursue something, like an idea, a concept, a situation, a course of action. “Lean into” implies a proactive and enthusiastic approach to something rather than a passive, cautious, or hesitant approach.
For example, if someone says, “She decided to lean into her career as an artist,” it means she has chosen to wholeheartedly commit to her career as an artist, giving it her full attention, her full energy, and a lot of effort and focus.
There’s a famous book by Sheryl Sandberg. For many years, she was a leading executive at Facebook. The title of her book is “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.” And the book argues that women, at work, should “seek challenges, take risks, and [energetically] pursue their goals.”
In this sense, leaning in is the opposite of being too relaxed or cautious about something. For a long time, at work, I chose to focus on certain things and not focus on certain other things. I was in consulting, so part of the job is to do the projects, but a large part of the job, especially as you advance, is to build good relationships with clients and potential clients.
And for a long time, my bosses and mentors told me that I needed to lean into that part of the job, the building relationships part. That didn’t come naturally to me. It was a struggle. And for many years, I didn’t lean into it. I didn’t fully engage with it. I did the minimum.
I leaned into the technical part of the job, the doing and the managing the projects part. I got good at that part. But my bosses and mentors always said, you need to lean into the relationship building. That means, they wanted me to work more energetically, more enthusiastically, to pay more attention to building relationships with clients.
Some parents are active in their kids’ schools. My mom was one of those parents. She always leaned into that aspect of parenting. She was always volunteering at school, meeting the teachers, helping out. So when I say she leaned into that aspect of parenting, I mean that she was energetic about it; she was fully engaged in that part of parenting.
In today’s story, you heard that Taylor Swift is dating an NFL football player , Travis Kelce. And the NFL is leaning into the publicity. That means, the league is fully and energetically embracing the extra publicity they’re getting because of this budding romance.
How are they leaning into it? The broadcasters are talking about it, showing video of Taylor Swift cheering on the Chiefs. The NFL’s social media highlights her, quotes her lyrics, features her photo and videos.
They’ve published explainer videos about how football works, since they know a lot of new Swiftie fans are paying attention to football for the first time. So the NFL is leaning into the experience. They’re energetically embracing this new publicity.
“Leaning into” something can also imply a willingness to face challenges or difficulties head-on and make the most of the situation. It’s about being bold and unreserved in your approach to a particular part of life.
If you see a therapist, your therapist might say you have to lean into conflict or difficult conversations. That means, don’t avoid difficult conversations. Don’t treat them like some necessary evil. Lean into it: pay more attention to it, value it, do it energetically, really care about it; don’t avoid it.
See you next time!
And that’s all for today’s Plain English. Should I lean into celebrity gossip in future episodes? Relax! I promise: celebrity couples will not be a recurring theme here at Plain English. But this is a big deal in America right now, and you may as well know about it. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, remember those names.
All right, remember the full lesson is available at PlainEnglish.com/623. The video lesson this week shows you exactly how to use “even as” in a sentence. This is a great way to express a complex idea, just like I did in today’s story. Like always with the videos, I’ll show you how I used it, what it means, and how to use it yourself. You’ll have the opportunity to practice too—that’s the video lesson at PlainEnglish.com/623.
See you back here on Monday.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
