Peggy Pattison Unlimited

In 2006, why are there still only 14.5% of women (S&P 500, Catalyst) on corporate Boards of America and a scant 10% of women in top government positions?  Why are young, talented business women leaving corporations and starting their own businesses at the rate of over 2 times faster than their male counterparts?    Fifty-two percent of the talent pools (women) enter corporations and many leave citing “quality of life issues,” why?

 If you look at blogs posted on the internet, you’ll see women discounting the strides made by women CEO’s in some of our companies such as PepsiCo, ADM, and Kraft, to cite a few………….why?  

 Here’s the answer said simply and directly:  Women are rejecting the system itself because it is abusive, devaluing and based on aggression.  

 If you look at the front cover of Fortune, October 16, 2006, you see a graphic visual of  outstanding women who broke through the glass ceiling within the framework of the Masculine Model….one has to look closely to determine if they are really men or women because they are portrayed as Mt. Rushmore like-figures in their stern, black business uniforms, called suits.   To the CEO women, good for them and let’s take nothing away from their success.  Having worked in corporations for over 20 years, I understand how truly superior their skills and knowledge had to be in order to succeed in the male model.  Bill Lamond, author of Born to Lead, describes this model as militaristic…a lot like going to war and fighting battles to succeed!

As noted in Fortune’s July 24, 2006, article by Betsy Morris …. “Sorry, Jack….Welch’s Rules for Winning Don’t Work Any More, women are rejecting the Machiavellian leadership style of this business icon who led the charge of “slash, cut, eliminate” to rid organizations of what he called corporate “fat.”. 

I say, “Sorry, Jack not only are conscious women rejecting the Masculine Leadership model but so are Gen X’s and Gen Y’s; in fact, we raised these generations in a nurturing, caring parenting model (feminine model) led by child expert, Dr. Benjamin Spock!  

Unfortunately, corporations aren’t getting it yet because they still have enough of the Traditional generation and Baby Boomers to mask their looming problem.  

And now focusing on government, we see how the Masculine Model of Leadership places us much closer to Nuclear Holocaust!   Even Ted Turner is publicly speaking about the need of women to step up and save the planet!

The suffragists of the early nineteenth century and waves of feminists in search of equality in the 1960’s (and before) are much admired and credited for the social, political, and economic reforms gained. To make advances within the framework of the existing Leadership Model of Aggression and Conquest, these brave women used male language and strategies necessary at that time………..”fight for rights” was the battle war call…………and the public media went wild!  As a young woman in the 1960’s, and a naïve college professor, I recall rejecting the model …..I had no interest in “loud protests” or “storming” Washington, DC.    Many other women felt the same way and even mounted their own aggressive public demonstrations!  It appeared as a noisy revolution.

I always like to say, “It’s all good” and we learned and grew as people and a nation.  However, we’re now more a global world in business and government.  The old model of aggressive leadership and conquest doesn’t work!

For world peace and business productivity……………………

The Feminine Model for performance:     Skills + Knowledge + Collaboration

Business Week, Working Woman, Across the Board, Detroit Free Press, in 1995 and 1996 reported on the research of Dr. Lawrence Pfaff who statistically validated the superior leadership and management skills of women.  Pfaff said, “Female leaders were rated significantly higher than their male counterparts in performance standards and behaviors.   This difference extends beyond the softer skills such as communication, feedback and empowerment to such areas as decisiveness, planning and setting standards.”   Dr. Pfaff’s study conducted originally in 1993 and revalidated in 1998 included 2,482 leaders from 459 organizations across 19 states.

Bill Lamond, Born to Lead, December, 2006, Alpha Books, calls women’s style of leadership, The Feminine Principle, the Foundation of Genius:  “The Feminine Principle model has the spirit of our humanity at its most generous and humane built right into it.   It starts from the very point of view that humanity is trying so desperately to achieve.   Its core reality is that human beings are essentially social, interdependent, and more alike than not.  Practically speaking, The Feminine Principle model is stable enough to hold the aspirations of all human being because it acknowledges relationship with every human being.   It is also flexible enough to expand, change, and grow in ways that are essential if we are to create a world in which everyone would be happy to live.   Women have a genius for expanding “family” to include in-laws, children, neighbors, and friends, regardless of their foibles and shortcomings.”

What Does the United Nations have to say about women leadership?

            “The key missing ingredient for the solution of the world’s problems

            is to unleash the voice and the power of women.”

We’re gratified to hear such business icons as Ted Turner champions the superior skills of women to lead world peace.   We also applaud Dr. Lawrence Pfaff’s research and documentation from 1993.   We embrace Bill Lamond’s, Born to Lead portrayal of the genius of the Feminine Principle, the United Nations’ call for the voice and  power of women to save the world, and finally women like Linda K. Bolliger, Founder and CEO of Boardroom Bound™ who works tirelessly to develop women for leadership roles on corporate boards.  We also celebrate the hundreds of other powerful women’s groups of influence such as Loula Loi-Alafoyiannis, Founder/President, EAWC (Euro-American Women’s Council, NY and Cypress ,Greece), Barbara Kasoff, and Terry Neese, Co-founders, W.I.P.P. (Women Influencing Public Policy),  Carol E. Kuc, President, NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners, Susan Phillips Bari, President, WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, Women’s Leadership Exchange, and many others bringing attention and resources to the recognition of the leadership influence of women worldwide.

It’s time for all of us to bring attention to a quiet but “fearless evolution” using the Feminine Model of Collaboration.  We must raise the consciousness of both men and women and take the natural and relationship leader skills of women to a higher level of influence where it matters so much—business and government..  We need to redefine the use of the negative, aggressive connotation of the word power to:

P – Purpose…Uniting the voice of women in peace

O—Opening many more top positions in business and government to the influence

 of women

W—World Peace using  Feminine Principles

E—Extraordinary leadership skills of women

R—Rewarding…and celebrating the accomplishments of women

Please join us in our fearless evolution of conscious, collaborative leadership!

____________________

Peggy Pattison, Author, National Speaker, Founder and CEO, of Women Power Unlimited®, a non-profit, bipartisan, invitation organization dedicated to World Peace through Feminine Principles…  www.WomanPowerUnlimited.com and www.PeggyPattison.com.