Sheryl Sandberg opens up about the journey she’s been on since the sudden death of her husband in 2015 in a new TIME cover story. The details are heartbreaking, but the piece also illustrates an important point about Sandberg: By being open and honest about her grief, she’s set an example for anyone dealing with loss.
We can all learn from how Sandberg has moved forward with her life while acknowledging that grief isn’t a process to simply ‘get through’ — loss stays with you and the path back to a full life has ups and downs. Her openness about such a deeply personal experience is also something we should embrace.
As Adam Grant, the Wharton professor, bestselling author and Sandberg’s Option B collaborator, explains in the piece, people in positions of power should take note of Sandberg’s message, too. “I would like more leaders to realize what Sheryl did through living it,” he says. “Expressing emotion when you’ve gone through extreme pain is not weakness. It is humanity.”
Read TIME’s cover story here and learn more about Option B here.
Originally published at journal.thriveglobal.com