She-Leadership Will Get Us Out of This Mess

Forget China, India and the internet: economic growth is driven by women.
-- The Economist, April 12th, 2006

Crisis, crisis, crisis... It seems to be that everything is collapsing… Global economic imbalance, layoffs, suicides, frauds, heart attacks, burn-outs, bored-outs, high cholesterol, overweight… This crisis seems to affect everything. It is very clear we do not want these outcomes, but it is still not clear what we do want and how to get that.

What brought us here? Ideas! We have reached this point because the ideas we have about the world do not match reality. These are:

• Independence: We believe that we can do it all without the support of others. We don’t need anyone’s help. Asking for help is for weak people.
• Linear view: The more you work, the more you study, the more happiness and satisfaction you will have. More and faster is better.
• Game theory: We believe that life (work, love, health, etc.) is a game. We have winners and losers.

Our world is based on these three paradigms and constitutes a fertile ground for competition, over consumption, fear, stress and dishonesty. Our identity is defined by what we have and what we do. We are our cars, houses, titles…. This model generates distrust and weakens relationships. It discourages a meaningful life, innovation and creativity.

Where do we want to be?
No matter what we do, we are heading to a new world. Strong social and technological drivers are undeniable and unstoppable. Let’s take advantage of the situation to move:

• from progress to process,
• from infinite growth to long term satisfaction,
• from quick fix to mastering change,
• from panic to trust and
• from crises to renewal opportunities.

We need to replace the old paradigms with new ones.

• Interdependence: When our identity is based on who we are, we tap into our true potential. Subsequently we become interdependent, we are able to give and accept help. Then the community of trust starts to thrive.
• Cyclical view: The world is more chaotic than stable. Order is a temporary holding pattern. Chaos cannot be controlled or eliminated. To accept chaos is empowering. It is like accepting the wind. Once we do that, we can sail. We need to read the moment and adapt to it.
• Art of possibility: When we stop seeing life as a competition, tremendous abundance emerges. When we play for joy, competition is dead while creativity and uniqueness are born.

How we will get there?
She-leadership

To adopt these new paradigms, we need to transition to a world of personal responsibility, in which we are all choosing for ourselves what is right, not what is convenient. In order to make effective this transition we need guidance and support. We need leaders that:

• build interdependencyn • Acknowledging the value of self and the value of othersn • Promoting trust, respect, collaboration and differencesn • build the cyclical viewn • Accepting chaos is the rule, not orde
• Promoting an organic and long term viewn • create possibilitiesn • Stop competing and start playingn • Promoting joy and creativity

Some of the traits that make women the perfect leaders in this transition era are:

• Ease to improvisen • Network thinkingn • Appreciate and use intuitionn • Ease to deal with uncertaintyn • Orientation to empowermentn • Understanding and developing relationships

There are millions of people who are beginning to do what they know is right. In order to build critical mass we need more and more she-leadership all over the world.