Lead Like a Viking: Balance the Power of Masculine & Feminine

When many people think of Vikings they think of masculine qualities. But from shield maidens, valkyries, and more, Viking society has very strong examples of feminine strength and power. In Viking society, strength and bravery above all were valued and so they needed both feminine and masculine strength to be at their full power. Much like we do as leaders in modern society. In fact, most of our problems in modern society are a result of unbalanced leaders. Since we are a patriarchy we value masculine power above feminine power and this makes us all weaker.

All humans have access to both, feminine and masculine energy. Whether you view it as sacred energies, right brain vs. left brain, or something else, one of the biggest problems of a patriarchal society, is it robs people of all genders of finding their authentic expression of both masculine and feminine energies. It prioritizes one over the other and through social conditioning causes individuals to suppress parts of themselves and in turn, robs them of their full power.

Viking society was also patriarchal but in a different way. While the sphere of influence for women was mostly domestic they did have equal rights to own land, initiate divorce proceedings, serve as clergy, and run businesses. Rights many of the women in other cultures in the world at the time, did not gain for centuries. One difference, in Viking culture the sun was feminine and the moon was masculine. We have adopted the Roman view that the sun is masculine and the moon feminine. Vikings realized the source of all creation was female. This is true for all creativity, our creativity comes from our sacred feminine.

There were limits to female power in Viking times, women couldn't avenge crimes against themselves like men could. Women couldn't for example kill the man that sexually assaulted them but their husband or father could. This isn't that different from how sexual assault is often viewed today, men are told to think of their daughters, mothers, or sisters, but never just to think of a woman as a fellow human. She is always an object whose worth is seen in relation to a man's and is the basis of most patriarchal societies.

Even within the religious beliefs of Pagan Vikings, the valkyries were female and would judge who made it to Valhalla and who didn't. In our modern patriarchial society we often don't see the feminine power of discernment highlighted but this is one all of us need to access more of. In modern society we have more information and data than ever, but very little discernment or judgment on how to use it best. We lose the power of wise discernment by denying the feminine power within ourselves.

In its light, masculine/left brain power is logical, analytical, disciplined, and driven. In it's shadow its aggressive, controlling, and competitive. The term "toxic masculinity" normally is used to describe this shadow.

In its light, the feminine/right brain power is intuitive, collaborative, empathetic, and can discern the information produced from the masculine. In its shadow it can be co-dependent, victimized, and insecure.

In a society that doesn't value both energies in their full power, we often see the shadows of both arise. As a leader, we may have been socially conditioned to use masculine traits as signs of power. This doesn't allow us to tap into our feminine power. We need both in balance to be at our full strength as a leader. We need to generate the information in the masculine and have the discernment of our feminine to make the best decision. We need the creativity of the feminine to innovate and create and need the drive of the masculine to accomplish and execute. Our teams need the disciplined goal-setting approach of the masculine and the empathetic approach of the feminine.

As modern leaders, our challenge is to take the power from both our masculine and feminine sides (all individuals regardless of gender have access to both energies) and be the bravest, boldest, most balanced leaders we can be.

So how do we do this? Here are some steps to help:

1. Be conscious. Take an assessment of how tapped into both your masculine and feminine you are. It's not as simple as a woman I'm this and a man I'm that. We all have been conditioned by a patriarchal society so it's impacted us all in different ways. A number of women I have coached were surprised at how out of touch they were with their feminine power. They were conditioned to be masculine to be a leader. If you have a hard time collaborating or find yourself hyper-competitive you may need to work on your feminine. If you have a hard time setting goals and sticking to them you may need to work on your masculinity. Self-awareness is the first step.
2. Identify if you have behaviors that are in the shadow of either, you may need to heal that side first. Try different healing modalities like reiki, breathwork, meditation, and others. Personally, as a reiki practitioner, I have seen clients who were shut off from one side of themselves start to open and heal the other part of themself and come into balanced strength.
3. Tap into your sacred feminine energy. Set aside time to be creative. Find a creative outlet. Write, paint, cook without a recipe, freestyle dance, sing, whatever it is, make sure it lights a spark in you. That spark is your feminine power coming to life. Work on building relationships with your team and customers. Instead of focusing on the task alone, spend some time connecting with others. Many people get burned out when they focus on just the masculine part of themselves. Creating and connecting help us re-energize ourselves and keep us in balance.
4. Tap into your sacred masculine energy. Right a task list and get to work doing it. Use power poses like Superman and make yourself bigger (this will help with confidence and will help to do right before you have to present or do a job interview). Set some specific and measurable goals for yourself and hold yourself accountable to them.
5. Stop perpetuating the myth within yourself and others that only masculine traits are leadership traits. We are all strongest when we can fully embody both energies in balance.