Thursday, December 8, 2011

What about male leadership?

There is no doubt that not only women are ascending to power, but men are losing that power. There are many articles and essays on that, especially in United States and the reality is that a new paradigm is being created.

However, I was in a retreat on Leadership. My co-facilitator is an old friend, and one of her topics was female leadership. It was then I had an interesting realization.

First of all, she commented at some point that what is happening now is that women are increasing their status, but it shouldn't be that men lose theirs. It was then, I have started to look at the male leadership issue with different eyes.

Another point came from myself: leadership will be different performed, according to the person, his/her culture, the moment they are living, etc. So, why not to be a male leader?

First, let me clarify: female or male leadership does not have anything to do with gender, as we have seen women who were typically male leaders, and men who were female leaders. But, of course, it is easier for a man to be a male leader than a woman.

Male leadership stands for creation and creativity, zeal, enthusiasm, courage, energy, power, greatness, honor and all the things you have watched in old movies or read in books of such a times. Nowadays, what we see, is a travesty of that leadership where creativity destroyed nature, courage killed other people, power became a tool for self-serving, greatness turned into arrogance and, the worse probably, honor was lost forever.

To recover that kind of leadership will be a hard task, but my realization is that female leadership won't work without is counterpart - and possibly in the past, they were together providing the best from humankind to humankind.

It will require a new version of a man, a softer and firmer version, but I think it is really possible. It will require to see the world in a different perspective where violence does not have a place in a new society.

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