As soon as we open the subject of masculine and feminine in any context, the temptation is to rush to gender and separation. In inviting us to reflect on the feminine within leadership it’s important to be clear that this isn’t about labelling men and women, male and female leaders even though we can and often do see some characteristics more in evidence in one gender or another.
But let’s try and stay in a more open space of seeking understanding (a feminine leadership characteristic) and allow ourselves to embrace the topic in a more emergent and holistic way (also feminine in nature). You get my drift?
As we navigate the disruption in our current world binary A to B, task and control-based leadership is no longer serving us. There’s too much volatility and uncertainty. Add to that the need for deeper connection, greater resonance with nature and our planet and more love in the world, and for that matter within leadership, and we start to see that feminine qualities will serve us so much more. And if that’s the case surely it must also be true for leadership?
Feminine qualities (also present in men) are about our capability to hold and integrate ambiguity without needing to fix it before understanding it. It’s about being in touch with our emotional nature and using it as a divination tool, to get into harmony and resonance with energy, with a feeling, with our intuition. It’s about taking time to be present with what is and, through a deeper level of understanding, work collaboratively with and through others to move to the next stage of the journey.
Putting the ‘feminine’ into leadership is about holding a dialogue and building connection with individuals, groups, the wider energetic field within which a group or organisation is functioning and seeking the way forward from there. It’s about seeing and sensing on a deeper level and building understanding that goes beyond the obvious.
Why does this matter? Many (too many) current leaders by and large are doubling down on harder, smarter, control based, practical fixes to our current reality without listening to what really wants to emerge. Firstly we have to be prepared to admit we don’t know the answers to the many huge issues facing us and then we can start to dialogue together to see what’s present and what wants to be born. Yes it sounds abstract, possibly even alien or scary. But the more we uncover our feminine the more we will resource ourselves to lead and respond in the way that’s right not only for our times but for our collective evolution.
Courage is a heart-based quality and often represented as the male warrior. A different courage is needed now – one that is born out of a deep love for humanity, our planet and the future we are capable of creating together. A courage that steps into the unknown, that does so with love and inclusivity, and listens. Can we lead courageously in this way together?