Musings: How to Emphasize the Positive without Ignoring the Elephant in the Room

by | Jun 3, 2015 | bottom line value of gender diversity, gender inclusive, Inclusive culture, Inclusive leadership, Leadership, Masculine Feminine Difference, unconcscious bias, unconscious mind sets, value of difference | 0 comments

A colleague suggested that we might attract more people, particularly men, to our cause if we emphasize, not gender diversity, but the business benefits of gender inclusion. Another author and facilitator reminded me that we get better results by focusing on what we want rather than on the “problem” we are trying to solve. Help me apply these two insights. If we invite people to a workshop about organizational culture and results, do we indicate up front, or once they are in the room, that the drivers we focus on are inclusive leadership and gender diversity? I want to focus on the desired outcome (businesses that thrive because of gender diversity) and not the “problem” (unconscious gender bias). How do we effectively address unconscious bias?

Balanced Leadership: Masculine and Feminine Leadership Strengths

by | Sep 19, 2013 | balance of masculine and feminine, Balance of masculine feminine, bottom line value of gender diversity, business case for gender diversity, feminine strengths, gender diversity in leadership, masculine strengths, upside of gender diversity | 0 comments

Fritjof Capra wrote in 1975 about the importance of valuing and balancing masculine and feminine ways. This year John Gerzema published The Athena Doctrine, demonstrating that business today needs leaders who balance both feminine and masculine forms of leadership. Gender diversity is good for the bottom line because it enables businesses to have a balance of both masculine and feminine strengths.