Leading with Feminine Energy in the Business World
The idea of being a feminine CEO in my business feels like a contradiction. I have always been taught to embrace masculine qualities in order to succeed. Qualities such as assertiveness, competitiveness, and logic are often associated with successful CEOs and leaders. But as I left the corporate world, I had to delve deeper into my soul and I started questioning this belief.
Why should being a successful CEO require me to suppress my feminine energy? Why can't I lead from a place of intuition, compassion, and vulnerability? To name just a few.
These questions have led me to explore the concept of being a feminine CEO - a leader who embraces her femininity while still maintaining strong leadership skills. This blog is a testament of my journey that’ll hopefully inspire you to do the same.
The start of my journey
My journey had to begin somewhere. After a deep breath, I opened up my bullet journal and started with radical honesty. I have to admit to you: my hand was shaking slightly. The reality that I had held so tightly onto was now being called into question.
Everything was up for debate.
My mind was a battleground, constantly questioning and criticizing every decision I made. With the harshest critic and judge witnessing it all: myself.
But at the same time, I felt a sense of Liberation. It was time to rewrite the story.
Knowing what I know about shadow work, I was compelled to ask myself: what is my image of a CEO? The archetype that I constantly measure myself against, perhaps without even realizing it?
I quickly realized that the concept of leadership has been heavily influenced by societal norms and expectations. For example throughout the last decades male role models have dominated stereotypical perceptions of effective leadership.
When you think of a Powerful CEO? Names likes Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffet come to mind (and Yes I totally Googled this:the search results confirmed this list).
As a result, we see leadership qualities aligned with masculinity as the best markers of success.
This limits the range of accepted leadership styles and ignores the diverse qualities found in both genders. It also hinders the exploration and recognition of feminine attributes that can have a powerful impact.
The challenge for women today: do you conform to the more masculine standards? Or risk being overlooked and undervalued due to the absence of "leadership qualities"?
GOING BACK IN TIME
In my mind's eye, a formidable female CEO stands tall in a sleek power suit, surrounded by her male counterparts in a grand boardroom.The sharp click of her high heels resounds against the perfectly polished floors, mirroring the unwavering confidence and assertiveness in her voice that echoes in my mind.
This was always my idea of what it meant to be a successful leader - someone who could command respect and make tough decisions without hesitation.
I wondered.....is this shaped by the masculine archetypes? Or is this the embodiment of a Queen?
-This was always my idea of what it meant to be a successful leader, someone who could command respect and make tough decisions without hesitation.-
I could still feel the cool, smooth fabric of my Italian cut power skirt against my skin as I strode confidently down the boardroom corridors in my black high heels. My laptop was securely tucked under one arm, and I held my head high as I prepared to stand my ground in front of the intimidating executives. Honestly? That felt pretty good at the time!
And yet....as I sat there are those big tables filled with powerful men, there was always something missing. Something elusive that came from my heart. This very faint whisper in the depths of my being that said "is this really who you are?".
Do you you recognize this feeling?
That nagging voice inside of you that questions if the image of success you have been striving for is truly aligned with your authentic self?
Here's why I want us all to have another look and do some introspection around our image of powerful CEOs and femininity.
The answers will define how we want to lead and not how society expects us to lead. We need to reassess our perception of powerful female CEOs and femininity.
Finding a more fundamental truth
As logical as these reasons may seem, there is a deeper, more fundamental truth that we often ignore. Ever wonder where those whisper of our soul come from? By suppressing our feminine power, we have created a divide between our true selves and the person we present to the world.
We put on countless masks to protect the world from who we really are.
As a result we don't feel good. Unhappy. Dissatisfied. We lose touch with our inner being.
So how do we reconnect to these lost parts in ourselves? Here are 3 lessons I learned from my own journey.
1. I actively searched for new role models and archetypes.
Growing up, our idea of powerful women may have been limited to the stereotypical image of the alpha female CEO. Think about movies like "The Devil Wears Prada" or "Gossip Girl."
But there are countless other role models who embody a different kind of feminine power – one that is for example nurturing, intuitive, and collaborative.
We have to look for them and see how they can inspire us. You'll find that true power comes in many forms and can be expressed through a multitude of roles.
2. I did a deep dive on my deep-rooted beliefs and stories about leadership and how they played out in my life
One of the biggest stories I had been internalizing is the ideas that some core feminine qualities are a weakness in work environments. Emotions? Powerful CEO's never cry. Or let their weaknesses show.
As a result? I found myself judging myself whenever I displayed these "weak" traits.
But here's the truth: emotions and vulnerability are (of course) not weaknesses.
They’re essential parts of being human and can actually be strengths in leadership. They are the source of connection and empathy. Vulnerability creates trust and creates an open environment. And we open up our intuition, a powerful tool for making decisions!
3. I had to a lot of shadow work to reclaim parts that I've rejected
There's a difference between knowing that emotions are actually helpful and not rejecting them (especially on unconscious level). Here's where shadow work comes in.
As I delved deeper into my journey of reclaiming my feminine power, I realized that there were many qualities that I had rejected or pushed aside in order to fit into societal expectations of what a leader should be.
These were my shadow qualities – the parts of me that I deemed as "weak," "unacceptable," or "unworthy." But in order to fully embrace my femininity and lead authentically, I knew I had to integrate these parts back into myself.
Was that easy? Hell no.
But it brought me happiness.
I could try to rationalize my love for shadow work with a carefully crafted list of reasons, but the truth is simple: it has transformed me into a happier, stronger, and more fulfilled Something I never thought possible before.
Uncover the masks
There are so many masks that keep you from Queendom, your own feminine leadership that'll make you feel good about yourself, silence your inner judge, feel more inner peace and happiness, lower stress levels and be in the present moment.
Everything I described in this article will help you.
Let' s make you over the moon happy with your life. This journey is so worth it.
p.s. If you need more help? Everything I describe here, I teach in my course Majestic. Check it out.