The more I learned about IWDA and its work, the more I understood that I had a heck of a lot of my own unconscious bias about other cultures, other religions, and the role of women in other countries. 0000004712 00000 n Organisations like IWDA, led by women, working with women, have been changing the world we live in every single day for many, many years. A BIG thank you to Natalie for joining us on the podcast and uncovering the benefits of introducing feminist leadership principles in the workplace. 0000029782 00000 n In the long run it is the complex interplay of different capacities, feminine and masculine, that protects the humanity of human beings.~ Margaret Mead, Join us as a Women of World as we embark on a 9-month program beginning June, 2022Embode Ltd. All rights reserved. feminist And of course this is the point: this is why we must seize this moment and bring Feminist Leadership to the fore, enrol more men into the charge, then drive change for everyone. On the other hand, women leaders, quite simply, are leaders who happen to be women; but if they dont apply a feminist lens to their leadership, if they dont recognise issues of inequality that are inherent within their own universe, if they dont use their leadership to try and achieve change: then they are just leaders who reinforce the status quo. But getting women into leadership is only one way that real change happens.
Think about what that does to the perception of a young child.women can be my heroes. It saddens me that women who have benefited from the work of those who came before them feel they cant embrace the ongoing work of driving towards gender equality, or use the phrase feminist, which is simply about advocating for women to be treated as equal human beings. We do separately want to really recognise and acknowledge the value and the attributes that women bring into leadership. Following the release of the movie Wonder Woman, an amazing thing happened: both little girls and little boys were dressing up in costumes of their favourite new superhero: Wonder Woman!! feminist beyonce femaleness femininity apologetic chosen respected longer want What are you hoping to get out of it? H[6 There are certainly some promising signs that this may be evolving, that Feminist Leadership is finally being recognised as a NECESSARY force for change, and to be frank, it is about time.
0000005731 00000 n
We ended with acknowledging, that the way forward was to recognise and integrate our feminine and masculine aspects, available to each of us in our leadership irrespective of our gender. My background is in working on gender and women's rights projects which began through volunteering in a rape crisis centre, many moons ago. 3865036. 30 31
But there are still not enough of us at enough tables, there is still a significant wage gap, there are still huge challenges for people women and men - wanting to combine parenthood and career, and we are a poorer society for it. With its initial focus on movie stars and Hollywood, there is absolutely a risk that the Me Too / TimesUp movement could be subject to this criticism, and we need to make sure that this kind of backlash doesnt prevent real change from occurring on the back of this movement. It was our view that to have a truly robust justice system, one that understood the whole community, we needed much better representation of women across the legal profession. Male dominated cultures will struggle to change, even when there is objective data that diversity in voices and approach leads to different and better decision-making and outcomes. And how do we know when it is projected onto us in our roles? Those women who came before us ensured that we have the right to vote, the right to education, the right to control our reproductive destiny, and without those achievements, we would not even be at the table. academia feminist sexism surviving strategies leadership %PDF-1.7
%
The way power is projected certainly plays a role in perpetuating gender inequalities from white privilege to the objectification of women. Finally, for those organisations that are trying to make a social and positive change in the world, I think feminist leadership practice can help you really live and breathe the change you're trying to make. Feminist leadership really is all about examining how power operates within an organisation. Its so brilliant to have a fellow Brightonian join us on the podcast. And that's how this programme came about. 0000011660 00000 n
6NmTd-\o~!Tm+`U_6*uV- 
Deanne spoke to a room of feminist leaders and IWDA networks about feminist leadership and how it can drive change for everyone. To me, a Feminist Leader wants to achieve social transformation: they want to achieve gender equality so that women are treated as human beings with equal rights and equal opportunities to men. We're surrounded by carrying responsibilities with children being homeschooled or other caring responsibilities. And womens AFL: when I watch a game on TV, it brings tears to my eyes to see young boys wanting autographs from female players: it is just not that hard to make that change happen! And when we talk of small business we can also talk about my other passion, the screen sector, which is actually made up of mostly small businesses. Often what we're really talking about when we speak about feminist leadership is that that while it is crucially important to get women into boardrooms and management positions to progress gender equality, feminist leadership as a concept is about a lot more than just recruiting more women into leadership positions. What a fascinating point in history for us to be joining together to celebrate Feminist Leadership and to ask ourselves just what is next: where is this all going? Unconscious bias is holding us all back, by preventing women from accessing opportunities, and by putting unrealistic and harmful expectations on men.
At IWDA, we acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. Certainly, there are many sections of the Australian business community where womens leadership is starting to be embraced but, frankly, apart from some notable examples, there is little Feminist Leadership. something an individual is responsible for. As an example, Global Sisters is a fabulous organisation that our Foundation has been supporting for the last couple of years. I talked before about the values of an organisation, so making an organisation more values driven and really living those values. We are an established agile software company and Digital Asset Management (DAM) specialist.
nh; )7+ 0000001332 00000 n
m`ZF}?)l3yDRo"/ tNK|lhs54)^CCn5d53:tpOlq>w%$gH 
I started to see a lot less Feminist Leadership when I became much more immersed in the media and business sectors. 0000002510 00000 n
Secondly, it would be all women who've worked in the UK women sector. We are talking about full on societal change here, not just creating better career opportunities for a few. 0000006726 00000 n
anu Finding policy settings that can support these women to support themselves is critical. If you're not able to analyse these distinctions, then again, it's a bit of a sticking plaster but it's not achieving real change. We talk of getting policy settings right for innovation and entrepreneurship, but often we are doing so through a male or unreconstructed gaze, with our focus on which company is going to be the next technology unicorn, ignoring that some of the biggest innovation is going on at the grassroots level. What we hope to do with the course is provide an opportunity to reflect on on what that leadership culture is in your organisation and whether or not you might want to do things a little bit differently later. I've mentioned concepts like power sharing, but accountability is also important. I was watching the Golden Globe Awards telecast which was a very big moment for the MeToo movement, with some incredible speeches and calls to arms, including the now infamous Oprah for President speech. And most important of all, how do we utilise projected power to serve the purpose of our work, missions and organisations? We looked at them from both feminine and masculine angles touching upon those parts that made us feel the most uncomfortable. One of the principles you cover in your course is how to build cultures of care, starting from the principle of self-care for leaders. 83P`H29C#JPD(VKTI b
(13o1Z5!5gH+ib+A--r`+)-/)" Jv&Y"?W "%Xl%1Q?!rAES? So starting to explore how relevant some of those values and principles are. So knowing what you want to achieve from the outset is really important. Shes also one of the most influential women in media in Australia, and a globally recognised leader, strategist and communicator. And they could be huge. 
Importantly, feminist leadership is something that can be practised by anyone, no matter who they are. HtVK#9y >:3iWTD%=_|5r}e-XGB%YeE"ut:6DA!k]#_^]L]f6:v];nt#kB}GnQXe+kJe8L+ye#Bs>t#yi}>&ee#duu 0`dUQ%W
9_p3l,Z;$9'9]%NIv iIBGEE?br|eaRlpPcl{k3 !8>(FEPFTQ6n-2m5IAt2v}*pWeg{iEn/?qZL^TiGk f}J4W}!cT We are facing the onslaught of the fourth industrial revolution,with disruptive technologies that will change our society at every single level. It is broadly defined as: A style of leadership with characteristics commonly associated with social constructs of femininity. We need as much talent and diversity at the Table as we can get, the challenges are not going to get any easier. Those are things that can really transform the way that you look at your workforce and include the people in it. Natalie started her career in campaigning for NUS and Oxfam. We want to move slightly away from that individualistic view and responsibility towards self care towards to something that we all collectively within an organisation are responsible for and that the organisation itself invests in a way that really means something rather than as in a tokenistic way. Yet, by denying the strength of projected power on ourselves, we might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. The organisation provides business education, business coaching, microfinance, marketing and sales support and technology access for a period of up to 3 years. So we decided to do it ourselves. Lockdown is a very strange time and alongside the rest of the UK, I'm a bit bored!
Your new initiative is named We are Feminist Leaders. We talk about our target audience as emerging leaders. Things like collaboration and building alliances, and also building cultures of care. But: we also know that having that work understood, acknowledged, appreciated, or amplified by mainstream organisations is an ongoing challenge. or check out more about We Are Feminist Leaders and their upcoming programmes on their. Deanne Weir is a long term friend and supporter of IWDA. routledge
So if that chimes with what you're trying to achieve already and you're really willing to look quite deep into the structures and culture of your organisation and commit to making change, I think feminist leadership could be something that you would find useful. 
That's what prompted the development of We Are Feminist Leaders because we were really disappointed that the leadership models that we were being taught didn't have any sort of power analysis. So by saying you should be caring for yourself, what it means is that a company is kind of off the hook a little bit with their staff. What is Feminist Leadership, you ask? There's loads! Why is talking about feminism and feminist leadership principles important to you? 
This moves beyond gender into the sphere of power and privilege. We're all in such different working circumstances, increasingly isolated by working from home where our work and home lives have bled into one huge mass. feminist leadership principles actionaid ten basics awareness self These are women for whom regular paid employment may not be suitable due to their personal circumstances, whether as refugees, or due to health issues or other constraints. I.e. feminist Feminist Leadership is about speaking up and continually advocating for change. It is an ongoing process of learning and unlearning, both individually and together with others. What is the worst that could happen? 
