The essence of masculine (Yang) energy

Individualism - anything that gives rise to an individualistic perspective is of the masculine (Yang) energy. If circumstances call for you to take a stand, voice an opinion, lead the way, self-promote, differentiate, gain an advantage, compete, win, dissent they call for your Yang energy. Similarly, personal branding and winning a job promotion are other examples. Diversity programs if they focus on differences explore Yang energy, if they focus on commonalities they are more Yin (feminine).

Action orientation – masculine (Yang) energy is active. If you have deadlines, targets, delivery dates, just in time orders, response times, queues you are exploring your masculine. DOING is masculine in essence whereas BEING is feminine. Action plans, taking massive action, just do it campaigns all represent the masculine.

Quantitative – key performance indicators (KPI’s) and things of a quantitative nature are masculine. Transactional and financial type industries have a dominant masculine essence, eg accounting, law, banking,  finance, stockbroking, real estate, property services, etc. 
Where an industry is of a quantitative nature they also call upon strong masculine energy from the individuals employed to work in them.

Leadership – to be a leader implies taking a stand, leading the way, inspiring action, promulgating the vision. The inherent nature of leadership is to stand up or stand apart from others. In this sense it is individualistic. Sure you need to inspire others to follow your lead and that is where the feminine comes into play. Our patriarchal archetypes of leadership are drawn from sport, war, politics, religion and business. Organisational structures with a figurehead represent this as does “the big chair.”

 

Success – the ends justifies the means. Matters of style are subjugated behind effectiveness. If you get the job done you will be forgiven many a transgression in how you deliver. Clearly it doesn’t always work out like this but it is a guide.

Progress – the mantra of the masculine is to make progress. If you are not moving forward you are moving backward. Curiously in many sporting endeavours moving backwards, has become an in vogue, counter intuitive strategy. I’m not sure what Sun Tzu says about it but retreating before an attack is likely to contain an element of surprise. Our economic indicators of success are heavily skewed to growth. Even a recession is defined as two successive periods of negative growth, not contraction but negative growth.

The essence of feminine (Yin) energy

Collective – rather than standing apart, the feminine seeks a return to the collective, the tribe. It is about reconciling and travelling together. It is a communal aspect. This sense of community extends to mother earth so issues of sustainability are prominent.

Sustainability – the feminine (Yin) energy is not about the perpetual movement forward. It is about balance, restoration, rejuvenation, and “the pause between the notes”. Think of a rock climber. He climbs upward and pauses to secure his position by inserting a peg. Progress forward is only subjected to a falling back of one or two steps. The feminine balances advance with retreat just as nature’s four seasons.

Space – a quintessential aspect of the feminine is the creating and holding of space. Space may be represented in a business context by a think tank, blank canvas, open agenda, question time, silent pause to consider a motion, deliberation of the jury. None of these concepts are new, they are just not as widely considered as they might be.

Stillness – in a fast paced society the state of being (and allowing) reduces the stresses and pressures imposed on us and that we impose on ourselves and others. Meditative practice, reflection and walks in nature are practical things we can do to practice stillness. It is quite ironic to think of stillness as a practice.  

Empowerment – the leadership model embraced by the feminine (Yin) energy is situational leadership rather than positional leadership. Positional leadership confers power, authority and control. Power and authority are delegated. In the feminine aspect we (the collective) are all empowered to lead. It is erroneous to believe you can empower someone. You can only empower yourself. You can, however, create an environment (read “the space”) or a culture that is conducive for people feeling empowered enough to step up into their masculine power. I use the term masculine power in the sense of being an individual not exerting their will.