I’ve got a growing list of articles saved under my Sheryl Sandberg bookmark.  Prompted by her book Lean In, and her movement to help women lean in at work, and everywhere else, it is beginning to feel like a movement with some real potential.

Today, on The Daily Beast, we find this article:  Millennial Males’ ‘Lean In’ Ambivalence:  There’s now a host of ambitious terminology for women in the workplace—and young guys are feeling left out of the girls’ club, by Peggy Drexler.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

The lexicon of women and work is crowded with terms like “queen bee,” “glass ceiling,” “burnout,” “have it all,” “mommy track,” “on ramps,” and—now—“lean in.” Name one for young men.

There are some indications that the adjustment isn’t as smooth as the assumptions of an evolved male might indicate. Pew research finds that young women are, for the first time, surpassing young men in career ambition: 67 percent of women put career success high on their list of life’s goals, versus 60 percent for males. It’s a statistically significant difference, and an even more significant shift from decades past—when the majority of women were just happy to be in the game.

And this important point:

Roughly 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have organized and funded women’s-affinity groups. The number of men’s-affinity groups are a handful and largely informal.

So, the organizing energy is on the side of the Lean In Women at the moment.  But if the question is “Will men be left behind?,” I’m not sure there’s much danger of that anytime soon.  Over the long haul? – That may be a different matter.

I speak to a lot of organizations.  And, at least in my circles of exposure, men are still pretty much at the top of the pyramid.  And, the next group of men are just “expecting” to keep moving on up.  It has been, for so very long, the “given” about the work place.  The men are the ones who will get the next slots near, and at, the top.  And it is that fact that prompted the single best career advice line in Sheryl Sandberg’s book:

It’s a cliché, but opportunities are rarely offered; they’re seized. What I noticed over the years was that for the most part, the men reached for opportunities much more quickly than the women.

Let me put it this way:  women need the new Lean In groups and discussions and meetings and movement to help them, because they are starting way behind. And though they have made great progress, the very top spots, in disproportionate numbers, are still filled, and almost seem to be reserved for, the men.

Men don’t have to do much of anything — at the moment.  But, maybe, if the Lean In movement endures, the men might have to create their own movement to stay even.  And if they wait until the women gain their hoped for success, it might be too late.

And, in case you are wondering, here is my answer to what things should look like.  It is right out of Sandberg’s book:

The promise of equality is not the same as true equality. 
A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes.
Conditions for all women will improve when there are more women in leadership roles giving strong and powerful voice to their needs and concerns.