While it may be common to fuse the terms female and feminine together & many languages make it hard not to, I believe this does a huge disservice to us all. There is so much more available in the human experience when we are able to differentiate feminine as an energetic that exists within all beings. When I refer to the feminine, I am referencing not only what is female, but to feminine energy itself. Just as I’m not referring to men when I refer to the masculine. The terms masculine and feminine are just descriptors for energy. This is important, as it is important to know when we are speaking about men & males or women & females, and when we are talking about embodying masculine and/or feminine energetics. There is a truth that the male perspective has dominated most of the world for centuries, and masculine qualities in the realms of leadership are praised. But your most effective leadership will come from cultivating both feminine and masculine energies, whether you live in a male or female body, in order to bring about a new & wider perspective.
Female Leadership does not equal Feminine Leadership
The feminist movement over the last several decades has seen females pushed to the forefront in many male dominated industries. Despite the appearance of more ‘feminine’ leadership, simply because there are more females, this is still operating from the masculine perspective. Females are being trained to lead from their masculine. Masculine leadership tends to be goal-oriented & completion-driven, only focusing on measurable data, and what can be proven through rational measurement(s). Because the masculine has been overvalued, this rational sense of leadership has been assumed to be the most effective, and women who are interested in leadership roles also (often unconsciously) assume these masculine energies to be the most efficient. The feminine has been disregarded, dishonoured and dominated by wounded masculinity and cultural beliefs over the years resulting in an absence of feminine leadership in the world.
Defining the Masculine & Feminine
The feminine and the masculine both have a wounded and an empowered sense of identity – sometimes called ‘toxic’ in the current cultural conversation. In modern day society, we have seen the wounded masculine within individuals at the societal level, where men are taught to believe that aggression and competition are healthy representations of power – but this is far from true.
The wounded masculine expresses as controlling, dominating, fearful, distant, withdrawn or working in overdrive – at the expense of any emotional or bodily feeling-sense. Over the years, women in modern society have felt the consequence of this toxic masculinity, prompting more women to shift into the wounded feminine archetype.
The wounded feminine comes from a lack of self-worth, with weak boundaries, a tendency to seek safety, and be afraid to say no. The wounded feminine resists any & all structure, instead opting for ‘self-care’, ‘going with the flow’, and only doing what ‘feels good’.
Empowering both the masculine and feminine energies will result in a more balanced society, playing to each other’s strengths. A truly empowered masculine energy comes across as conscious, aware and self determination in the form of agency. This energetic agency tends to be overvalued in comparison to the feminine strength of communion. We can even see how the “American Dream” came from a point of self-determination and how that theme has carried its way through to modern day societal standards. The divine feminine represents energy, expression, the interconnectedness & interplay of all things, and encourages unity to restore balance. We need to encourage these two ideals of leadership to dance together to produce more beauty in this world.
Feminine leadership vs Female leadership vs Masculine leadership vs Male leadership
Although masculine leadership is not reserved for men alone, a masculine way of leading dominates many workplaces. Despite some of our greatest leaders possessing feminine leadership qualities, these qualities are vastly overlooked. Feminine leadership is process-oriented and focused on a sense of perspective that is intuitive. A leader that encompasses the feminine energy leads by feeling and sensing, looking at how each detail is connected. Masculine leadership is completion orientated and tends to look at the bigger picture rather than the finer details. For example, the development of a new dam that would yield high profits, a masucline leader would look at the goal – a substantial profit, great for the economy. A feminne leader would look at the details – who and what is affected if we do this? For our society to fully function and thrive, both feminine and masculine leaders are needed. The most effective leadership and decisions derive from the fusion of these two energies – and how they dance together. A true dance of both the masculine & feminine in this example wouldn’t look at the decision(s) around water flow as all or nothing, but rather, would allow for creative solutions that create both financial sustainability as well as ecological sustainability.
The Feminine in business
Masculine leadership has been overvalued in society as the masculine tends to lead by rational decision making. But that does not make the feminine irrational, but rather, non-rational. I would say that 85 percent of my business was created from a sense of knowing rather than statistics, facts and rational decision-making. This process often requires listening & noticing what are the next right steps, without insisting on needing to know how immediately. You do also need to know your numbers to run a profitable business and it is necessary to make rational decisions. The most effective leadership will result from the combination of these energies.
(I go into more detail, as well as sharing many examples, in the video teaching below)
Restoring Balance
The world needs more females in leadership to restore the balance between our two sexes and to offer an alternative perspective to a male dominated world. For years the world has revolved around a male sense of living and leading. We need more female voices to share their stories, culture and language and represent the women who move through this world. The world also needs more feminine leadership, expressed in both male & female bodies. In order to encourage, inspire and empower others to be confident in their own abilities, the world needs both men and women expressing the full range of what it is to be human represented in positions of power & leadership.
Want more? Watch the full video here: