Full Circle: A memoir of leaning in too far and the journey back

Very personal. Erin writes an important story all women in the corporate world should read, especially those in financial and emerging industries. I loved reading about Erin’s various perspectives as she got older. Funny enough, I saw a lot of myself in her descriptions. I’m grateful she wrote this book.

I definitely feel the personal trauma Callan has gone through but she is much more to blame for it than she wants to admit. She was a liberal arts major undergrad and then a tax lawyer before Lehman poached her away from Simpson to basically sell tax products to clients. She hopscotched around at Lehman but basically was a sales person in client management. In other words, she had ZERO background in accounting/finance, which meant that she was completely unqualified to be the CFO of any company. Did she even know what a cash flow statement was when she took the job because her prior work experience had nothing to do with financial statements? I'm sure part of the reason why Fuld and Gregory picked her to be the next CFO was that they knew how toxic the balance sheet was and how fraudulent their past reporting was so all the better to pick someone who would be completely clueless and likely not notice any issues but that doesn't absolve her.Given her background completely lacking in the skills needed to be a CFO, she never should have taken the job but the money and the ego boost took over and she took it anyway. Once in the CFO position, she was responsible for signing off on the financial statements and Lehman has subsequently admitted that it was cooking the books and committing fraud (Repo 101 anyone)? Under Sarbanes Oxley, Callan broke the law when she approved the Q1 financial statements. Perhaps she was so clueless that she honestly thought there was no fraud going on but I have a hard time believing that she was that stupid. I get that she was in a tough spot -- tell Fuld/Gregory that the proposed financial statements were fraudulent and that she couldn't approve them and thereby risk getting canned -- but I would have infinitely more respect for her if she had done just that. Instead, she put her head down, approved the cooked books and publicly sang the song of the Lehman Kool-Aid. If our government weren't so corrupt, all of the senior Lehman people would have been prosecuted and gone to jail. Instead, she never has to work again and enjoys relaxing in her homes in Long Island and Florida.My other issue with this book is that she went to Harvard, NYU Law and then was an associate at Simpson and published a book full of typos and grammar mistakes? It was completely shocking that someone whose career was based, in part, on the attention to detail, would allow something this riddled with errors go to print. Did she even proofread it? She at least could have had a former Simpson colleague to do a quick read because even the most incompetent Simpson associate would have been able to flag a lot of the egregious errors in this book.

Quick read, awesome book that every women should read whether she is off to Wall Street or on to any career. True story, to the point and something you need to learn from of "what NOT to do" early on in your career! Getting your priorities straight is difficult when your young and climbing the corporate ladder. When it is all said and done, you realize just how "unimportant all those long hours and time away from your personal life" really were.Erin, I am happy you have found peace in your life and you have a happy ending! Congratulations, God only knows you went through hell and back and deserve to have YOUR story told.Having been with the firm for over 20+ years I enjoyed reading your story which was funny at times and brutally honest. It is a shame that Lehman was the sacrificial lamb for the rest of Wall Street. Lehman was truly an incredible firm with some of the most brilliant minds and special people I had the pleasure to work with including yourself. I could relate on so many fronts and yes there is Life After Lehman!

Surprisingly honest and raw. Worthwhile reading for aspiring high-flyers, overachievers, and ambitious professionals - men and women. Valuable insight into Lehman and Wall Street culture. Nice antidote to Sheryl Sandberg. Well-written. Kudos to Erin. HOWEVER, would be more powerful story if Erin now balancing vibrant professional life with motherhood. As it now stands, Erin was a professional and now is a mother, and that's her balance - to do only one thing well at a time, and be a cult-like devotee in the moment. Her Lehman fever has now been replaced by baby fever - more meaningful, yes, but "Full Circle" for all the wrong reasons. Erin, you can be both a professional and a mother.

I read this book in just a few days. I have a tendency to lean in too hard to work, and I’ve been feeling the pull of needing to lean out a bit to focus more on my family. This book is interesting, engaging, and gives solid guidance on evaluating your true priorities. I will recommend this to everyone!

Erin Callan Montella writes in a personable, open, candid style, with lots of self-reflection and interesting insights. I enjoyed reading about her youth, education, career moves, family dynamics, and thought processes every step of the way. There are some minor editorial issues, but the storytelling is nicely paced and she does make some good points for men and women alike to consider. As a similarly ambitious and competitive person, I could relate to much of her feelings, if not her exact experiences.I did feel the book was missing a little something, maybe just some more depth. I would rate this closer to a 3.5.

In a different mode than the comically depressing memoir, Opening Belle, by Maureen Sherry, about the frantic rise of a young mother on Wall Street right up until Bear Stearns collapses, Callan's book is also just riveting. She was, for a time, the most senior woman on Wall Street and a North Star for many women of my cohort. Her rapid, single-minded rise at a young age to increasing success and power at Lehman, then quick devastating crash, creates a rational dialog with Sheryl Sandberg's famous book Lean In.It seems one can lean in too far.Sandberg's book left me feeling I don't lean in enough. Callan's makes me wonder if I've overdone it. Sheesh.

Really interesting book. Frank, honest account by someone who realised what Life (with a capital "L") is really all about, before it was too late. Although older women reading it might think, "Well, I could have told you that....", it is a book that young women should read before deciding whether they are going to live for their career or for their family. Contrary to what women have been led to believe, no-one can "have it all" - that applies to men, so why wouldn't it apply to women ! Most of us make choices in life and live with the consequences of those choices. Ellen Callan Montella is admirably honest about the fact that the choices she made when she was young, ultimately led her down a blind alley. Food for thought.

A boom that should be read by all professionals, specially those fresh into their careers!

A vrai dire , avant la chute de Lehman Brothers, elle ne s'occupait pas trop d'éthique et devait vendre un peu n'importe quel produit à des clients "gogos". Mais elle le faisait bien et professionnellement. Qui n'a pas travaillé dans une corporation, et y étant totalement dévoué, ne s'est pas compromis d'une manière ou d'une autre?. Donc je ne lui jetterai pas la pierre. Bon sinon il y a des passages un peu féminins comme le Wall Street Journal qui lui propose de faire une séance photo en robe du soir, ou cette séquence ou son copain de l'époque ne se rappelle plus la couleur de ses yeux. Somme toute ce n'est pas trop désagréable à lire, (et pas difficile) mais ca ne vaut pas les autres livres parus sur la crise de 2008 comme "too big to fail".

I loved this book! I could not stop reading it. It is very interesting to understand Erin Callan's perspective on what happened during the crisis at Lehman Brothers. This memoir also contains insightful thoughts on work-life balance and the purpose of a career.

The book is written very well. I couldn't put it down, but had to pause many times and think about my own life. A must read