HEALING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

When I look at the tremendous progress in the last few decades to raise the issue of gender diversity in our work place, in our societies, I feel grateful for the women who took up that cause and fought courageously to raise the visibility and impact of women internationally. As I look back, I realize that the focus has been on numbers: more women in position of power, more women in decision-making circles, more women in the armed forces, more gender advisers in the work force. It originally aimed at equal rights, equal capacity, equal strength.

Today, there is still a lot to be done in ensuring equality and tracking numbers. That work needs to go on. However, beyond numbers and equality lies the issue of quality and specificity. Isn’t it time for gender diversity 2.0?

A woman may not need to step into an assertive role to feel effective and become successful. She does not need to compete with men and become more of a “man” then men themselves to be recognized as equal. No, she needs to be in integrity with her own insights, her own feminine power, to truly demonstrate the depth of her strength, and equally contribute to the world.

It is not necessarily an issue of men and women, as it has more to do with listening to our inner wisdom, our compassionate side. Tapping into energy and ensuring that we connect with this part of ourselves will unleash unlimited strength available to us all as a society.

Women may have an easier time tapping into their intuition openly and relying solely on their inner wisdom or to have the courage to look at a situation with compassion and love. It is not necessarily the case, though. The point is that this is a source of true power that women have a responsibility to exercise and integrate into our daily work place and decision-making circles, as a source of power that will open up the world to creative ideas and inspiration.

This is a world where people will seek to empower themselves and those around them, rather than influence others through their own views and decisions. This is a world where feminine power will have found its place in its own right.

The world has much to learn from feminine power. Strong women in leadership positions have often borrowed from the masculine world from a place of firm determination and will to succeed, from their intelligence and organized plan to exercise power. Yet what makes a woman powerful lies in her ability to listen to her true self and call upon her feminine wisdom. Women do not need to step into assertive roles, organize, plan to be effective. They need to remain in touch with their inner realm, their insights and their sense of compassion to be truly powerful.

Men like women need to resort to their feminine side – their intuition – and cultivate their inner world. This type of energy is often overlooked and it will not be easy to overcome the world’s bias for the intellect. The future of human kind and the fate of the world depends on our ability to tap into our inner guidance, listen to the needs around us, view the world with compassion, and look for ways to reach out and build on what unites us rather than insist on our differences. What separates us will kill us.

Once we learn and allow ourselves to integrate this source of leadership into our decision-making, the world will become more open to new ideas. It will tap into a new source of energy that will empower humans to overcome our global challenges.