We need to stop trying to out-man men.
We need to begin leading as women.
I remember beginning my corporate career and being so eager to smash through any barriers in my way, so sure I would climb the corporate ladder and become the most successful woman I could be in spite of ANY challenge. And from the very outset I faced sexism and just about all the inappropriate corporate behaviour from older corporately powerful men you can imagine.
I was a young, physically smaller, blonde woman with a palpable desire to succeed. I exuded the perfect storm of behaviours and traits that drew “successful” men toward me, eager to “support” me in my career. And that fed my belief that if I were to get anywhere in my life, I would have to be just like them, and more, to “make it”.
Yes, that corporate culture is broken, and no person should stand for such behaviour, but the truth is, women have been trying to FIGHT our way for equality by modelling those same sets of behaviours. Even if not overtly, we are playing the game the exact same way covertly, under the radar.
We keep trying to out-man men.
And we are trying to lead our teams this way too.
Women AREN’T men.
And while we’re all equal, we are also DIFFERENT. As long as we continue to try and train ourselves into the kind of athlete the corporate game wants, we will continue to deny, disown and devalue the exact traits and behaviours that create our unique and exceptional value proposition as female leaders.
If we ourselves don’t lead with our unique traits, the corporate world will never look for those characteristics and skills as they seek leaders for business.
So how do we begin to lead this way when all we’ve know is the masculine game face?
We start with embodiment. The feminine thrives in her ability to make empowered, grounded choices (and thus effective leadership decisions) when she is connected to her body. To her belly, her womb, her heart AND her brain. All together, aligned, in sync.
It’s not just about intellectual decision making, but also about embodied action based on innate knowing of the right choices. And that innate knowing comes from within the body, not ONLY the mind.
If you’re a woman… you KNOW this to be TRUE.
You can feel it, right?
That sense of the right way forward, deep in your centre?
It’s legitimate. And it’s RARELY WRONG.
Cultivate and practice your ability to follow what you KNOW to be true within yourself. Breathe, move your body, connect with your pleasure and play with what it’s like to follow your sense of “which way next?” more often. Watch how those choices rarely lead you in the wrong direction.
Pair that embodied intuitive knowing WITH your intelligent mind and you are a POWERHOUSE of leadership.
THIS is what the world needs right now.