Lead Like a Viking: Balance the Power of Masculine & Feminine
Erica El Hilali, MBA, AAP, ACBP
Author of Soul Capitalist: How to Take Back Your Power and Change the World
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.
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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:
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1 年Well shared Erica El Hilali, MBA, AAP, ACBP ?? 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.