What the world needs now...
“One of the greatest myths in leadership
is that women can’t be both powerful and feminine.
Actually, we can. More importantly, we must.”
For 50 years, women adapted to the workplace by using mostly Masculine leadership qualities.
Society and organizational life have long been dominated by the Masculine Principle – the get-it-done energy that builds cities and puts satellites into space, and the structures that keep trains running on time. But too much Masculine energy is problematic.
But with the world suffering from "results" that nobody wants – war, climate change, environmental destruction, inequality, etc. – it's clear that we are in desperate need of rebalancing. To create a world that works for everyone, we must bring the Masculine Principle into balance with the Feminine Principle.
The good news is that this is already beginning to happen in some ways. The emerging post-modern paradigm is more caring, inclusive and connected – More Feminine – than the previous traditional and modern paradigms.
And, we are not there yet. As the entrenched patriarchal paradigm tries to hold on to power, we are seeing a major backlash happening now.
Many organizations have been working for years -- even decades! -- to correct this imbalance, but they have failed to produce breakthrough results. That's because they don't recognize an important truth: External circumstances are a reflection of internal consciousness and culture. To change our systems, we must first change our hearts and minds, and then learn to embody new ways of leading.