There are some unique ways we can step into leadership from a more feminine perspective that balance out some of the problematic aspects of leadership styles that exclude human qualities that have been devalued and under-prioritized because of their association with femininity and therefore weakness. These qualities have often been deemed inappropriate for people in leadership roles to embody because they are assumed to incapacitate leaders, making it hard to 'get things done' and earn the respect, loyalty, and devotion needed from a team of devoted followers.
However, I feel that without these more feminine qualities, leadership all too often, in fact I would say almost always, turns into manipulative abuse and exploitation, robbing followers of their intrinsic sovereignty, personal power, and independent agency. These are models of leadership that are based on the leaders having power over their followers, instead of sharing power.
I feel passionately that in order to evolve as a society and as humans, we must create harmonious balance between our masculine and feminine qualities. Our leaders must be included in this balance. An important step in this process is for many of us to step into Feminine Leadership, prioritizing those qualities previously deemed too weak or inappropriate to leadership roles as our primary focus and modes of operation. These feminine qualities include:
1: Sharing power and responsibility with all community members
2: Flowing with the rhythms of nature and our bodies as guides for our plans and activities
3: Inquiring into and allowing the wisdom of our emotions to guide us
4: Prioritizing codes of ethics and moral conduct as integral to the foundations of our power as leaders
5: Prioritizing the importance of caring for ourselves and each other
I was blessed to be invited to speak as a guest on these topics in a recent online summit entitled 'Where is the F in Leadership' hosted by Eimear Stassin. I have published that interview in the Womb Centered Healing Podcast. Please listen in to the video version here:
Or if you prefer listening to just the audio version that you can also download, you can do so here: https://anchor.fm/WombCenteredHealing/episodes/Feminine-Leadership-Interview-e9no43
Please subscribe to either or both channel to be notified of future episodes.
And please comment below with your insights, questions, and inspirations.
Warmly,
Sama