Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Sandberg is spearheading the campaign to change negative language used to describe women and girls who take charge.

"When I was in junior high and running for class vice president," the Facebook exec described in a Wall Street Journal column, "One of my teachers pulled my best friend aside to warn her not to follow my example: 'Nobody likes a bossy girl,' the teacher warned."

"When a little boy asserts himself, he's called a 'leader,'" a mission statement on the Ban Bossy website reads. "Yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being branded 'bossy.' Words like bossy send a message: don't raise your hand or speak up. By middle school, girls are less interested in leading than boys—a trend that continues into adulthood. Together we can encourage girls to lead."

Ban Bossy: Beyonce and Jennifer Garner join campaign to take back the word