Diving deep in our feminine femaleness is a journey of many thousands of miles for today’s woman. Yet not all women want or need to take this trip. Many seek to be more assertive and often trip into that OTT alpha female zone with the possibility of upsetting men and women. The gap widens often and the pendulum swing is inevitable. How do you find the balance, the integration of business and life, and the magic that is so necessary to creative output?
When you read the news today, it becomes apparent that the general population of the world is still stuck in terms of achieving positive conversations between men and women at the top of the corporate world, the political government arenas and within gender groups, many women’s movements, men’s groups, entrepreneurial networks, local communities and family enclaves in many parts of our social and domestic world. Men and women alike get stuck into the “I’m right, you’re wrong” dialogue and end up either fighting or turning their back on resolutions. The numbers show that the traditional multi-nationals are still male dominated even with mandates to put women into the boardrooms!
Despite the ripple turmoil of #metoo and retrenchment of men advocating women, I hope you also find a growing groundswell of good stories. Sometimes you have to go and search for them, however they are there. Tales of collaboration where men and women creating amazing entrepreneurial and philanthropic ventures work together; of communities recognizing the value of women in the workplace as leaders; of men sharing emotional wisdom and seeking a heart-logic values-based life. Too often these stories are shrouded by nasty stories of male rhetoric and vicious “put-downs” of women, sexual harassment cases and frustrated cries from women concerned about the bad behavior of men, especially prominent celebrity or political figures. It’s time to stop this cycle of negativity, this struggle for power, life is a game not a battlefield. It’s time to live, not kill ourselves with hate and fear. It’s time both men and women distinguish their ripples of magic (before we all get sucked into confusion) and spin into chaos.
Let’s focus here on women today (attention to the men comes in another blog) ; You need to step into a new paradigm that says ALL is possible. For example, you can change the conversation and agree criteria that embraces all parties in the boardroom and throughout your working experience. You can orchestrate better conversations at home where tensions in teenage years can get out of control. Stop arguing about “what ifs”, e.g. if women were in charge would the economy be better? Recognize men within this chaos and confusion of the merger of business with emotions, they are confused. I interviewed 36 men over the last 6 months and the overriding narrative was that – confused, unsure where to be close to women at work, how to express their emotions without being smothered and much more. Candid raw, intimate openness. I have many female clients who have doubted their ability to get past a misunderstanding especially in a dominantly male environment.
