Will men listen and hear women for their true value?
Today we face unprecedented chaos in our lives, the pandemic has impacted every part of business and life - yet maybe women are the front runners if only we can recognize and act on the huge opportunity immediately in sight by being female first and foremost and changing the game plan of business and life together.
Equality in business and life needs a new narrative. Equality is not merely equal numbers, equal rights, and equal pay… for me that is policy making and system changes. I have challenged my perceptions over the last year. When told “you’ll never have 50-50 men women in the boardrooms of the business world” or if you do, it will take 100’s of years, I beg to differ. COVID has proved that huge change is possible on a world stage. Let’s make this stage an opportunity for a new business/life operating baseline – not create by numbers alone, but by recognizing a new way to be and do business!
First - we need to recognize that everything we need to know about women and men running business in the past is PAST! I have watched the changes over the last 70 years, and especially this last 20 years of digital revolution, our lives have equalized in many ways (we can all use technology) if not in numbers.
Second - we need to HONOR and applaud the evidence that women and men are different (thank goodness). From research, we know that the convergence in men (brain research and neurology) causes men to think and act in two hemispheres separately – topic centered, task focused. Women’s brains are divergence (multi-levels of thinking feeling and doing) and living in two hemispheres (all the time!) and work in circular ways, relational and emotion led.
Together men and women create the whole complementary package of logic and intuition, strategy and operations, alongside relational strengths with emotional intelligence as partners to tasks, creativity, and innovation. Business needs us all. It makes good sense to value men and women for their core life and behavior differences not only for equity reasons but for the range of perspectives, but also in the REAL SYNERGY mix of business/life requirements each has today as we ride the wave of this pandemic together, often in home office scenarios.
We need a paradigm shift from mind-set-to-mind-flow, bringing into balance logic and emotion, business and life, passion and profit!
We can now acknowledge there are two operating platforms – one task focused, either/or (mainly used by men) and one relational, and/and circular style (mainly used by women). BOTH are hugely valuable and necessary to success. This is now an extended conjoined territory (not a male only map) for business success and life fulfilment. Here we can value the either/or of men, and the and/and of women when we know the difference matters!
The world of business is now intricately merged with life safety, family needs and wealth requirements all wrapped together. Remember the core life needs of women are different to men – and men have held the operating platform standard on a square grid, action, profit, task continuum for several centuries!
We need a new narrative that is inclusive of task/emotions. Logic/intuition, thinking/feeling and so many questions!!!
We need to value the full diversity and amazing variety of characters and their talents that play on these operating platforms and the connectivity channels that forge the best most inclusive collaboration, communication, and conversations possible for mutual success.
A New MAP for a New NARRATIVE
We have designed a GDI map to embed the Intelligence required so that we (all women and all men … of all diversities) can co-create real synergy and a more all-embracing culture for #lifeatwork. Watch here for more details on how the map is created...
In our client programs, we develop REAL SYNERGY through a narrative using four archetypes; the men = Ruler and Philosopher; the women = Magician and Sovereign. and apply various communication tools, and personal development approaches - and develop an experience for individuals and teams and groups that allow learning in a space of no judgement. the results are amazing.
Why four archetypes? These are not personalities, these are core behavior influences to help and guide each to communicate with the most resonance for themselves and others around the table. Our goal is a collaborative culture of Magical Conversations, simply stated, where conversations develop in a space of no judgement so creativity and mutual understanding can benefit business.
These archetypes help us to locate our position on the map to start the journey to a blended and mutually beneficial narrative so that ALL are heard, listened to and understood. This is not about becoming the same, but about having the same awareness of human differences; no one loses their uniqueness as individual players at the table of business.
Are women ready to expand the territory of business? Are men able to hear us effectively and recognize the win-win for all?
This is our call today 2021 - women have had many gains over the last 70 years (my lifetime) that set us well prepared – yet even more so our narrative needs to raise above the past, instill the value we hold dear as women not playing on the old map, i.e., creating the new and fully engage men in the expanded territory of our talents, lifestyle needs and visionary future potential as a humane society, free to imagine the best for all.
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Developing a co-creative narrative considers kindness, compassion, purpose, emotional integrity alongside logic and profit only policies, our research meetings have showered us with wisdom and opportunities to create our future together.
For a copy of our research publication in advance, email pauline@corporateheartinternational.com
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