In a typically provocative and mischievous fashion, I recently joked that I was thinking about getting a sex change. (click to tweet)
Not because I want to be a woman (although I would probably sign up for a temporary experiment) but because I think we’re on the cusp of a shift from a masculine world to a more feminine world.
Women are traditionally the carers, the collaborators, the peacemakers, the givers, the communicators. Such feminine skills and qualities are precisely the strengths we all need today to face the global challenges of the future: the environment, globalization, preventative and ongoing health care, and feeding an increasing population.
Let me be very clear. This is not a post about men vs women. This is a post about how the world is relating to masculine and feminine traits. We all have masculine and feminine traits.
Women generally tend to have more feminine traits than men – and men, more masculine, but we’re all a mixture, to a greater or lesser extent.
Whether we like it or not, it’s been a paternalistic world where men have had a competitive advantage for a long time. That doesn’t mean that women can’t succeed – it just means that it has been harder for them. The figures around pay, inequality, politicians and senior management positions speak for themselves – and it is not surprising.
The world to date has been designed by men. And not necessarily by good men, either. So the cards are stacked in the favour of so called ‘masculine’ behaviour. We have a plethora of big, masculine, cumbersome hierarchical structures based on power, competition, winning, and aggression.
Think about it. Your typical organisational hierarchy rigidly expects you to turn up to a physical location, and work 9 – 5 for five days a week. Getting promoted up the ranks involves a degree of selfish cut-throat ambition. The greater the role or task, the more levels of management are required where more ‘playing the game’ to masculine rules is required, for rapid growth, sharp financial goals, and all things short term. It is about top down diktats and control.
I take my hat off to anyone with allegedly ‘feminine’ traits like caring, co-operation or a ‘family first’ approach who succeeds in a system like that. I really do.
Luckily the internet is changing all this. With each new platform, it is allowing us to organise ourselves in a different way. Whilst individuals can achieve more by themselves, small groups collaborating with each other in a virtual sense can achieve massively more every day.
We just don’t need hierarchies, big businesses or governments to change the world any more. We can do it ourselves, from a laptop at home, in our own time, with our families and friends around us.
We can finally maximise our collective talent. It doesn’t need to be a compromise or optional any more.
Even Warren Buffet, the 82-year-old billionaire investor, predicts this too. The United States would survive recession and the economy would thrive because women’s talents were finally being utilised.
“Fifty per cent of the talent… we’ve pushed off in the corner for almost 200 years,” he said. “I see how far we’ve come using only half the talent… and now we’re getting to the point that we are using 100%. It makes me optimistic, but we still have a way to go”.
I often laugh at big companies’ arguments about wanting more diversity in the boardroom today. If only they meant diversity of thought rather than diversity of gender! It isn’t just more women in the boardroom that we want. We need a new system and infrastructure. The recruitment or development policies aren’t the problem. Maintaining big pyramids of machismo is the problem. It’s the whole system that’s the issue.
Successful organisations realise this, and are now smashing down hierarchies to become more virtual and collaborative, less controlling and much more people-focussed. They are also becoming much more transparent, and aim for societal goals rather than financial ones. They are little by little becoming more and more ‘feminine’. And to be honest, that is what all organisations need to do to survive.
My provocation, and my experience, is that those with these so-called ‘feminine’ traits are far better equipped to move forward in this new age. And I, for one, think this is a good thing. I am looking forward to enjoying a nicer planet that will last much longer.
I will probably pass on the sex change, but I am working on improving my feminine traits. That way there may still be a use for me in the future.
I can’t wait to hear about what you think about this post. Do you see it this way? What are your experiences today? What are your views on the future? Please ‘Speak Your Mind’ in the comments section below.
Marc
Buy Me a Coffee
Did you love this article? If so please consider buying me a coffee.
Take The 50 Coffee Adventure
A Fun, Light and Easy Way to Build Connections
Or search your local Amazon store for "The 50 Coffee Adventure".
At last Marc, someone has seen the light. For so long I have worked with women trying to be like men in the boardroom not really seeing that it is ok to be sensitive and caring. What a happier place work will be if we can be more collaborative and caring. I keep getting told I need to grow some xxxxx but I am going to forward your post to him,
We will indeed one day rule the world!!
Sue
I hope he enjoys it!
Sue,
It is now time for you ladies to take control. We men simply don’t have good enough leadership skills for the needs of today.
Two year ago, I was the Managing Partner of a small construction business, naturally because I was skilled craftsman I assumed that I would be the best person to lead and manage the firm. Sadly I developed a depressive mental illness which prevented me from dealing with important matters. My wife who had worked as receptionist in our business took over as Managing Partner and the firm has performed much better. She can lead, motivate and manage workers and effortlessly deal with difficult issues. Customer Service improvements were massive and I admit it – women make better managers than men.
My wife is the perfect business leader and a perfect boss too. If only she had managed the business from the start.
Here we go again some more male bashing. We don’t need to have the world run by women or men. We need men and women running the world together. Notice that the bible says that a man should take himself a wife and the two of them will twain together as one flesh. Not two fleshes but one flesh.
This is why the lord created men with certain strengths women don’t have and women with certain strengths men don’t have so we would need each other. The strengths of the males will compensate for the weaknesses of the female and the strengths of the female will compensate for the weaknesses of the males. The the two become one.
Great post Marc! Really excited to see some men chime in about this topic, and in particular the connection to business going forward.
Was so aptly timed as well, as I just released this article our site today! Seems to be the theme of the week!(http://b32athletics.com.au/2013/07/24/free-to-be-feminine/)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Look forward to reading more of your stuff!
Joelle
Hi Joelle. Thanks for sharing the post. I enjoyed it. I love what you do by the way. I have been exploring functional medicine in depth recently. Some real feminine common sense there. The approach to healthcare is a classic example of how our old masculine systems are really holding us back from what it actually possible. Keep doing what you are doing.
Joelle,
It is now time for you ladies to take control. We men simply don’t have good enough leadership skills for the needs of today.
Two year ago, I was the Managing Partner of a small construction business, naturally because I was skilled craftsman I assumed that I would be the best person to lead and manage the firm. Sadly I developed a depressive mental illness which prevented me from dealing with important matters. My wife who had worked as receptionist in our business took over as Managing Partner and the firm has performed much better. She can lead, motivate and manage workers and effortlessly deal with difficult issues. Customer Service improvements were massive and I admit it – women make better managers than men.
My wife is the perfect business leader and a perfect boss too. If only she had managed the business from the start.
“Women are traditionally the carers, the collaborators, the peacemakers, the givers, the communicators. Such feminine skills and qualities are precisely the strengths we all need today to face the global challenges of the future: the environment, globalization, preventative and ongoing health care, and feeding an increasing population.” I wholeheartedly agree, Marc. What a happier world we would have if we were all caring and peaceful. I’m with you on this!
Good to hear Lisa. The world needs you…
Lisa one of the reasons women are laging behind men in leadership positions is that people like you keep braging as well as misrepresenting the facts. You claim that women are the traditional peacemakers and caretakers of the world. By exhalting your gender you are in essence saying the female gender is better than the male gender. Thus you are putting down the male gender then you wonder why men resist putting your gender in power.Women have got to stop comming off as thinking they are susperior.
There have been many males who have been peace makers and great care takers. don’t try to give all the credit to females by saying women are the traditional peacemakers and care takers of the world.Males are reluctant to promote women for fear of losing their jobs to the susperior females they promoted.No one male or female will promote some one who is susperior to themselves so women should stop publishing studies that claim women are susperior to men in leadership traits as I have seen published on the net.Just google women and leadership and there you read study after study all claiming women have susperior leadership skills.this is counter productive.
Alexis Parks is making the same mistake. She has written a book entittled “Hard wired” In which she makes the very boastful claim that only women are hardwired with the ten traits necessary for great leadership. thus she is saying to the male mind that there has never been a great male leader.How could there be since males lack the ten necessary traits to be a great leader. How do you think this is going to make men feel?Is this going to encourage males to promote women?Absolutely Not!!
Then while claiming women want parity with males in leadership she has an organization called http://www.56%.org in which she wants 56% of the world’s leaders at all levels to be women.Is that the females’s idea of equality and parity is when women are the majority of the world’s leaders. I suspose she thinks even the leader of the boy’s scouts should be a women.
Women need to promote the truth which is that it is diversity that women bring to the table not their susperiority that leads to greater productivity.When women come off sounding as if they think they are susperior that they create and rightfuly so male resistance.
My advice to you is to stop proclaiming that peacemakers and care takers are feminne traits.In fact lets stop labeling traits as belonging to either gender. Men will resist developing their so called feminne side. After all real men do not want to become women in men’s bodies.
also when people who think they are susperior come into power they will always either exterminate or subjugate those they think are inferior. Therefor if men get the notion that women think they are susperior they must for their survival resist helping women gain power so be very careful in what you say that you don’t give the impression that your gender is superior.
Deep Think
This is gold and makes a lot of sense
Lisa,
It is now time for you ladies to take control. We men simply don’t have good enough leadership skills for the needs of today.
Two year ago, I was the Managing Partner of a small construction business, naturally because I was skilled craftsman I assumed that I would be the best person to lead and manage the firm. Sadly I developed a depressive mental illness which prevented me from dealing with important matters. My wife who had worked as receptionist in our business took over as Managing Partner and the firm has performed much better. She can lead, motivate and manage workers and effortlessly deal with difficult issues. Customer Service improvements were massive and I admit it – women make better managers than men.
My wife is the perfect business leader and a perfect boss too. If only she had managed the business from the start.
So…what you’re saying is you’d like to volunteer to make me a sandwich?
I would prefer to offer you something with a little less complex carbohydrate
What a horrible idea!
Why do we insist on labeling traits as either feminne or masquline ? Who decided that empathy should be a feminmne trait and agression a masquline trait? Why can’t we just say that both alleged feminme and masquline traits are human traits. And have you noticed that that all the best traits are labeled feminne ?Why is that?
who decided that?
But if we believe that the best traits are the ones we have labeled as feminne than the quickest way to ensure these traits won’t be encouraged is to label them feminne. Why? Because men don’t want to become women in men’s bodies. Wouldn’t it be wiser to simply stop the labeling so that men can be encouraged to develp the finer traits withouth thinking they are becoming feminne? To get males to develop the best traits simply call them human and stop the labeling.
The worst women managers are aggressive and try to copy men. My wife who was not power crazed took control of my construction business when the need arose. Her managerial skills outperformed mine by several orders.
Women make better managers when they enhance their femininity, while men develop managerial skills through experience.
The modern androgynous feminist movement is currently holding women back.
Just because your wife turned out to be a better manager than you, doesn’t mean she represents all women. Truth is she did good and you sucked at your job. Just because my wife isn’t a better manager than me, I can’t conclude women are NOT good managers.