 | A recent Harvard studied showed that 58% of senior women leave the corporate environment within five years due to low job satisfaction. This finding relates directly to women not feeling valued for who they are, not being heard, and not sharing the same set of core values displayed in their work environments |
| | | The research on gender and leadership is very clear. Women are consistently rated higher than men in their abilities to motivate others, provide coaching and feedback, build high performance teams, express their thoughts and feelings and articulate a vision. And these are the very skills deemed necessary for successful leadership in the 21st century. So why don't we hear more about this research? And why are a growing number of women leaving leadership positions to pursue other things when, in fact, they are actually more suited to the requirements of this new leadership than men are? The answers to these questions can be found in an exploration of two key aspects of women's lives: energy and authenticity. | | One distinct characteristic of women's leadership is that women bring their hearts with them to work. They care, and they care deeply - about their employees, about the quality of their work, about the success of their organization, and they care about all of this while ardently pursuing their own success. Women's leadership comes from a different kind of energy - the energy of connection and intention. Engaging the heart and the mind, women lead while staying committed to their core values and what is personally meaningful to them. But this energy of connection and intention can become depleted in environments where it is not valued and reinforced. To sustain their unique leadership abilities, women need to internalize and deepen the value of this energy rather than dismiss it as "soft," or see it as something to be downplayed. This energy of connection is the core of women's leadership effectiveness and provides the platform for their unique perspective and contributions. Learning to deepen and trust this vital energy is critical for women as this energy connects them directly to their inner source and their truly authentic voice. | | Women grow up in a world of contradictory messages about how to be themselves. Their natural ability to intuit and understand their own internal sense of what is right and true for them is often lost in an effort to resolve these mixed messages by trying to fit into someone else's idea of who they should be. Women leaders are also faced with contradictory notions of what female leadership should look like. Faced with deeply entrenched male notions of leadership, women leaders walk the knife-edge of consistently achieving excellent results while making sure no one feels threatened or uncomfortable. It is essential that women leaders begin to acknowledge their unique differences, and learn to listen with intention and skill to their own internal sense of who they are, and what is right and true for them. Learning to connect with what inspires us through spirit and intuition is what gives voice to our deepest self and provides the pathway to creativity, authenticity and excellence. It is with these skills and actions that women will cause a powerful shift in the leadership paradigm for the 21st century. | |
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