Critical Review/Summary:
Welcoming the Feminine Dimensions of Leadership
The article, “Welcoming the Feminine Dimensions of Leadership,” by Judy Sorum Brown, gives us some insight as to what we may be missing in leadership from both a feminine and masculine perspective. Brown suggests that both feminine and masculine traits are just as important as each other. In fact, they are complements of one another, and therefore need to be tended carefully in organizations.
Brown starts the article by defining some terms she uses throughout the article to ensure the reader does not take what she is saying in a different context. When Brown uses the term feminine, she does not mean gender, she is actually referring to “a quality within us all.” When she uses the term leadership, she is not talking about “a particular role or high position, but as a human capacity and action widely available although not always evident.” In fact, Brown goes so far to say that there really are not “perceivable differences between the leadership of men and that of women.” What she means here is that everyone leads differently; it does not matter if you are a man or a woman.
Then Brown discusses how many organizations tend to dismiss and even discourage feminine characteristics that both men and women exhibit in their businesses. Because of this, Brown suggests that the organization is lacking a very important aspect of what feminine characteristics can bring to the company. Sadly, of course, this trickles down into employees’ personal lives. Brown says, “as people realize that only part of them is welcome in organizational life, men and women cease to welcome that other dimension within themselves.” Eventually this could lead to men, women, and companies missing “cultural and emotional dynamics, creative potential, and aesthetics,” which Brown appears to deem as feminine traits.
According to Brown, the following is a list of guiding processes to help imbed the feminine presence in organizations:
• Check-in and check-out
• Dialogue
• Open space processes
• Creative processes
• Appreciative inquiry
• World café
• Clearness committee
• Storytelling
• Scenario work
Brown then invites the reader to think about how to incorporate these items into our own leadership styles. She suggests that we write down female characteristics next to their male counterpart. Brown believes that although the traits we may come up with are at odds with one another, they really compliment each another. Personally, I am not convinced by that, but I do agree that they all reside within both men and women; to what degree depends on the person, irregardless of whether they are male or female.
To get a feel for the word pairs that Brown refers to, I have listed a few below (feminine on the left, and masculine on the right):
• Welcome and boundaries
• Partnership and competition
• Inquiry and advocacy
• Appreciation and judging
• Nurturing and challenging
In conclusion, I think Brown says it best when she states, “Leadership work is just
that – holding both sides and valuing both.” In addition, in order to do this “we should pay attention to our own experiences and learn from those communities of practice that inform our work.” In my own words, the moral of the story is that we need to fill the gaps in our leadership styles with the traits that we are personally missing. If we exhibit more feminine characteristics, we should try to utilize some masculine traits, and vice versa.
Although I like how Brown presents her thoughts, I believe that she should have added more examples of feminine and masculine traits. Furthermore, she could have shown through actual stories how leaders rely too much on feminine or masculine traits, and how the outcome was negative in some way. I think these little touches would have made for a more concise and interesting article.
Welcoming the Feminine Dimensions of Leadership
The article, “Welcoming the Feminine Dimensions of Leadership,” by Judy Sorum Brown, gives us some insight as to what we may be missing in leadership from both a feminine and masculine perspective. Brown suggests that both feminine and masculine traits are just as important as each other. In fact, they are complements of one another, and therefore need to be tended carefully in organizations.
Brown starts the article by defining some terms she uses throughout the article to ensure the reader does not take what she is saying in a different context. When Brown uses the term feminine, she does not mean gender, she is actually referring to “a quality within us all.” When she uses the term leadership, she is not talking about “a particular role or high position, but as a human capacity and action widely available although not always evident.” In fact, Brown goes so far to say that there really are not “perceivable differences between the leadership of men and that of women.” What she means here is that everyone leads differently; it does not matter if you are a man or a woman.
Then Brown discusses how many organizations tend to dismiss and even discourage feminine characteristics that both men and women exhibit in their businesses. Because of this, Brown suggests that the organization is lacking a very important aspect of what feminine characteristics can bring to the company. Sadly, of course, this trickles down into employees’ personal lives. Brown says, “as people realize that only part of them is welcome in organizational life, men and women cease to welcome that other dimension within themselves.” Eventually this could lead to men, women, and companies missing “cultural and emotional dynamics, creative potential, and aesthetics,” which Brown appears to deem as feminine traits.
According to Brown, the following is a list of guiding processes to help imbed the feminine presence in organizations:
• Check-in and check-out
• Dialogue
• Open space processes
• Creative processes
• Appreciative inquiry
• World café
• Clearness committee
• Storytelling
• Scenario work
Brown then invites the reader to think about how to incorporate these items into our own leadership styles. She suggests that we write down female characteristics next to their male counterpart. Brown believes that although the traits we may come up with are at odds with one another, they really compliment each another. Personally, I am not convinced by that, but I do agree that they all reside within both men and women; to what degree depends on the person, irregardless of whether they are male or female.
To get a feel for the word pairs that Brown refers to, I have listed a few below (feminine on the left, and masculine on the right):
• Welcome and boundaries
• Partnership and competition
• Inquiry and advocacy
• Appreciation and judging
• Nurturing and challenging
In conclusion, I think Brown says it best when she states, “Leadership work is just
that – holding both sides and valuing both.” In addition, in order to do this “we should pay attention to our own experiences and learn from those communities of practice that inform our work.” In my own words, the moral of the story is that we need to fill the gaps in our leadership styles with the traits that we are personally missing. If we exhibit more feminine characteristics, we should try to utilize some masculine traits, and vice versa.
Although I like how Brown presents her thoughts, I believe that she should have added more examples of feminine and masculine traits. Furthermore, she could have shown through actual stories how leaders rely too much on feminine or masculine traits, and how the outcome was negative in some way. I think these little touches would have made for a more concise and interesting article.
Comments