Nearly half of those surveyed in a PRRI research project “completely” or “mostly” agreed that “society as a whole has become too soft and feminine.”
When I think of feminine attributes, I think of flexibility, kindness, altruism, receptiveness, nurturing, empathy, and compassion. I hope survey respondents weren’t thinking of those attributes. Maybe what they had in mind were unflattering stereotypes like weakness, docile, overly concerned with appearance, etc.
From where I sit, the world and workplaces need more flexibility, kindness, altruism, receptiveness, nurturing, empathy, and compassion—leaders who lead with their hearts and manage with their heads.
18 ways to make a positive difference
Think what positive results would happen if we all worked at places where there was:
- More acceptance and less judgment.
- More difference and less conformity.
- More fearlessness and less caution.
- More vulnerability and less bombast.
- More confidence and less tentativeness.
- More kindness and less incivility.
- More speaking up and less being a good girl.
- More goodness and less evil.
- More generosity and less mean-spiritedness.
- More collaboration and less competition.
- More understanding and less hyperbole.
- More being and less doing.
- More love and less hate.
- More mindfulness and less reactiveness.
- More genuine and less artificial.
- More openness and less bias.
- More praise and less hurtful criticism.
- More empathy and less apathy.
Making this list come alive at work, at home, etc., means that we be the change we want to see. We have to:
- Stop wishing people and situations were more like we want them to be and accept them as they are.
- Be intellectually curious and make an effort to understand how others think and feel. We don’t have to accept their position, only acknowledge their right to have it.
- Love ourselves so we can love others.
- Be mindful of the stories we tell ourselves because those narratives take on a life of their own.
- Exercise our kindness “muscle” and do something kind at least once a day.
- Be present. Hold ourselves accountable for paying attention and being aware.
- Refrain from judging those who think differently than we do. Look at life like a Baskin-Robbins store that serves up at least 31 different flavors of difference.
It is a pleasant feeling to be the first to walk on sands which the tide has just left. It is like being the first to visit a new land. It produces a freshness of sensation something akin to that of early morning, or of spring. It is like entering upon a new stage of life, having a new world before us from which to receive, and upon which to make impressions. ~Henry James Slack, activist
Ready to make your corner of the world a more caring place?
Image credit before quote added: Pixabay
