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It’s important to understand masculine and feminine energies and how we use them daily.
Embracing Femininity to Redefine the Workplace
Embracing Femininity to Redefine the Workplace
The theme of this month’s magazine is How Women Are Redefining the Workplace. To understand the important contributions women are making today, it is vital to understand the history of women in the workplace and to celebrate how far we’ve come.
In this article, I’ll also dive into the masculine and feminine qualities we all have, regardless of gender, and discuss how honoring these feminine qualities can help us to continue to redefine the workplace.
Crisis Breeds Opportunities
Throughout history, women have been caregivers. A woman's self-worth and main job were to carry on the human race and upkeep the family dynamic, and it was frowned upon to have a job outside of that.
Yet throughout history, times of crisis gave women temporary opportunities in the workplace.
For example, during both World War I and World War II, we saw an increase in women being allowed to enter the workplace. And while this was a mostly temporary development until those wars were over, women proved time and time again how valuable our contributions and perspectives are.
Fast forward to today, women have made leaps and bounds to redefine the workplace. While there are still male-dominated spaces, there are also laws set in place to demand equal pay, equal opportunity, and boundaries around sexual harassment.
I’m so thrilled when I attend conferences and see they have an entire day dedicated to women: honoring, supporting, and hearing our voices. It’s evidence we have redefined the role of women in the workplace.
Today, it is disrespectful and frowned upon to define someone by their gender, and we now even have pronouns to respect further our peers, which, to be honest, I’m still learning about. But what I have learned from deep self-reflection and my spiritual journey is that defining things by gender puts them in a box. I have come to learn that all people, regardless of gender or pronouns, have masculine and feminine qualities.
Written by Megan Anderson
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Being able to understand these traits can help us to step into our power and lead our team or company to new heights.
I’m so thrilled when I attend conferences and see they have an entire day dedicated to women: honoring, supporting, and hearing our voices. It’s evidence we have redefined the role of women in the workplace.
Today, it is disrespectful and frowned upon to define someone by their gender, and we now even have pronouns to respect further our peers, which, to be honest, I’m still learning about. But what I have learned from deep self-reflection and my spiritual journey is that defining things by gender puts them in a box. I have come to learn that all people, regardless of gender or pronouns, have masculine and feminine qualities.
Masculine and Feminine Energies
To gain a better understanding of the masculine and feminine qualities we can all exhibit regardless of gender, take a look at the chart below, which is based in part from the book Gender Physics by Betty-Ann Heggie.
Feminine Strength
Collective
Listen
Accommodative
Pull
Support
Collaboration
Relationships
Empower
Process
Problem
Prevention
Intuition
Emotion
Empathetic
Right Brain
Feeling
Reflection
Masculine Strength
Individual
Speak
Assertive
Push
Direct
Competition
Results
Command
Goal
Problem Resolution
Analysis
Logic
Rational
Left Brain
Thinking
Action
The first time I heard this topic of various energies and archetypes discussed in a business setting was during a talk by Betty-Ann Heggie at a Mortgage Bankers Association conference. Her book, Gender Physics helps bring awareness to the various energy types we have and how eliminating gender boxes can help us become better leaders.
If you want to understand better what energies you tend to reside in, take her quiz here. Fun fact. I’m an even split between the two!
It’s important to understand masculine and feminine energies and how we use them daily. For example, if I’m about to give a sales pitch to a potential client, I naturally dive into my more masculine traits. I focus on the goal I want to achieve, command respect from listeners, and share how our company can be their solution. Meanwhile, if a coworker tells me her dog just passed away, I will naturally step into more feminine qualities. I’ll listen and be empathetic.
Being able to understand these traits can help us to step into our power and lead our team or company to new heights.
Movies and television shows can also help us understand the various gender energies. One of my favorite examples is the movie, What Women Want. Mel Gibson stars as Nick Marshall, and Helen Hunt plays Darcy Maguire. They both work at an advertising agency and have the job of creating an ad for women’s products. At first, Nick taps into his masculine energy and creates a pitch based on what men want to see: attractive young women exercising.
It isn’t until Nick is electrocuted and can hear women’s thoughts that he begins to step into the feminine energy. The final ad pitch is a busy mom putting on her shoes and running down the road in silence, taking time for herself. Although he stole Darcy’s idea, the final ad creation is a beautiful example of how it took stepping into the feminine energy and mindset to get the job done.
Embracing the Feminine to Redefine the Workplace
While women have come a long way in redefining the workplace, there is still work to be done. And not just as women but all of us as a collective.
Today, I still believe there is a narrative that masculine energies are better suited for the workplace. When I started working, I remember being told, “This is work. This is not a place to bring your emotions.”
Yet, embracing the feminine in the workplace can lead to great impact.
Men have been conditioned as little boys not to show emotion and to be tough. In other words, to see their feminine qualities as a weakness. I have seen how later in life, this can impact the growth of businesses and company culture.
I once witnessed a period of uneasiness between two male senior executives that gradually escalated over several months. One man was quieter and had a harder time speaking up for himself, while the other was loud, assertive, and focused only on the roadmap ahead to achieve the company’s set goals.
Since the louder executive could never step into his feminine energy and listen to the other, the tension grew, making it harder to achieve the set deadlines. And with each missed deadline, the tension grew unbearable, and the only choice left was to come to an agreement, or someone had to go.
This is when the loud executive did something unusual. He stepped into his feminine energy and prioritized the relationship over the company’s goals. He listened instead of speaking, and the two were able to find an agreement and move forward with achieving the set goals.
As women, since we were little girls, we’ve been conditioned to believe it takes specific skills to make it in the workplace. The top dogs are tough and assertive, so we must be strong. We want respect, so we often overcompensate. It is time to change the narrative, and instead of feeling shameful or pushing the feminine away, we need to embrace it as a power. We have a gift to bring companies together, to think of the user and their experience truly, and to create impactful change.
Just like the first record of human time, it was the women who kept the family together. We are now in a world where we do not have to spend all day foraging for our food, where kids go off to school, and we as humans have more time to be in the workplace to serve multiple purposes. The workplace is a family, and as men and women, we should allow ourselves to see the power of being able to step into both energies and archetypes to bring greater change.
We should allow these energies to co-exist so we do not let our strengths become our weaknesses. We should give both our masculine and feminine energies a seat at the table so we can make more impactful choices as we redefine the workplace.
