"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come."
~ Victor Hugo
Since attending the 54th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN/CSW) gatherings during the first week of March, I've continued conversations with several women on some of the topics that arose as priorities there. (Read my first CSW post here.)
Along with the many global issues on the priority list -- climate change, HIV/AIDS, violence against women and girls, economic development and women's entrepreneurship, the rights of Indigenous Cultures and women, among others -- there was also an emphasis on 'conscious leadership' that reflects and includes the wisdom and voice of the Feminine.
This isn't so much a new idea, as an idea whose time has come.
At the UN/CSW, women's leadership was evident everywhere -- women coming from all over the world to convene, share reports, discuss issues, raise ideas, and receive and share inspiration to take back into various 'on the ground' efforts. One workshop/circle focused specifically on conscious leadership, and a concurrent forum focused on spirit/faith-centered leadership.
I know from my work in organizational consulting and writing that the idea of conscious leadership, as with conscious business, gained ground over the late 90s and the first 10 years of the new millennium. And yet it was often defined and explored within the context of existing systems and worldviews.
More recent discussions, explorations, and experiments look to a more wholistic basis, weaving in what we've learned and experienced over the last 15 years, and what needs are calling to us now.
Conscious leadership as it is evolving requires that we come from wholeness, so it includes and reflects the perspectives and capacities of the Feminine as well as the Masculine, in action as well as 'talk'. Conscious leaders cultivate and express a wholeheartedness and a whole-seeing, and capacities for compassion, deep listening, inclusiveness, collaboration, and also a fierce protectiveness.
Truly conscious leadership also requires the introspection that inspires wise action that reflects not just an awareness of, but a commitment to, a life-and-dignity respecting effect on and good of the whole. And there's more.
What differentiates this evolution of conscious leadership is not that the ideas are new -- in many cases, they're age-old, as we look to and remember the ways of the wisdom traditions. What's different is the commitment to, and the great need for, an embodiment and expression of the ideas beyond the 'unusual leader', the exception to the rule. We're at a doorway now where we're invited to make the exception the new norm.
In a recent interview for the Institute of Noetic Science's 'Sacred Awakening Series', the Choktaw elder, Sequoyah Trueblood, said this, "Those people heading up businesses and governments – they’re going to have to be people who can do some of the things that we’ve talked about – that have a good relationship with Mother Earth, that can be quiet, sit still and listen, and eliminate judgments."
And that requires a shift in worldview, as Mr. Trueblood noted, "So, it has to do with honoring the feminine, working from the circle, and getting this idea out of our minds that we own everything."
We're at a challenging juncture, and yet one rich with exciting opportunities to go beyond our previous limited views and expressions into a whole new -- and more whole -- experiment, with a new generation of conscious leaders inspiring the way.
Much more to come on this topic as we cultivate, explore, and experiment together. For more inspiration, listen to the new generation of SophiaLogues, an emerging series of audio dialogues on the emerging Feminine and conscious leadership.
Blessings,
Jamie
* PHOTO taken at the 54th UN CSW forum on Women in the Global Economy in a Time of Crisis.
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