Not everyone in the organisation wants to wield power. Many people prefer to be passive, to take instruction, to keep their opinions to themselves. They allow others to make decisions for them, even decisions that are about them, or that affect them very closely. These people tend to work at their tasks content to be far removed from the centres of power in the organisation.

A feminist leader must acknowledge the power of others even if they are on the periphery of the power structures, or even actively power averse. At the same time, feminist leaders should also know and display their own vulnerability, to dispel the myth that leaders are always powerful and that power only lies with those that have been given positions of leadership.

We’d love to hear from you. Leave your definition of a feminist leader in the comments below.

Thank You

The Roles of Feminism

In our last blog Feminist Leadership we describe our definition of Feminism and what that means in 2019. But understanding the roles of feminism seem just as relevant, as feminist start to own the spaces of leadership.

Leadership means providing others with clear direction, establishing standards of behaviour for others and motivating and empowering individual people. It also means creating and developing cohesive teams that have clear goals and objectives.

Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust Director, Kathleen Dey

To do this a person should be able to delegate work appropriately and fairly, share relevant information, hold people accountable, clarify roles and responsibilities, involve teams in decisions and actions, and motivate and empower others, recognising and rewarding their contributions while trusting them to perform too.

But what lies beyond this written definition of leadership? I asked some staff members to share their thoughts with me to see how they view feminist leadership. Here are some of the things they said:

A feminist leader is someone that is for women, who leads women to believe in themselves, strong in the knowledge that that they are equal to men in status, respect, rights and achievements. And also equal to one another.
A feminist leader is someone who is deeply perceptive, who sees beyond people’s individual strengths and weaknesses, beyond their social roles to who they really are and brings that out. It’s all about meeting people where they are.
This person leads from the back of the room and pays a lot of attention to power and the power disparities in the room.
A feminist leader displays emotional intelligence and always tries to be aware of the balance between power and love. Even if she does not always succeed.
A person whose learning is always growing, and who expands the learning of any team they work in to make sure that everyone in that team develops regardless of their background, is a feminist leader.
A feminist leader is able to cultivate a sense of sisterhood even within a very diverse group.

Not everyone in the organisation wants to wield power. Many people prefer to be passive, to take instruction, to keep their opinions to themselves. They allow others to make decisions for them, even decisions that are about them, or that affect them very closely. These people tend to work at their tasks content to be far removed from the centres of power in the organisation.

A feminist leader must acknowledge the power of others even if they are on the periphery of the power structures, or even actively power averse. At the same time, feminist leaders should also know and display their own vulnerability, to dispel the myth that leaders are always powerful and that power only lies with those that have been given positions of leadership.

We’d love to hear from you. Leave your definition of a feminist leader in the comments below.

Thank You

The Roles of Feminism

In our last blog Feminist Leadership we describe our definition of Feminism and what that means in 2019. But understanding the roles of feminism seem just as relevant, as feminist start to own the spaces of leadership.

Leadership means providing others with clear direction, establishing standards of behaviour for others and motivating and empowering individual people. It also means creating and developing cohesive teams that have clear goals and objectives.

Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust Director, Kathleen Dey

To do this a person should be able to delegate work appropriately and fairly, share relevant information, hold people accountable, clarify roles and responsibilities, involve teams in decisions and actions, and motivate and empower others, recognising and rewarding their contributions while trusting them to perform too.

But what lies beyond this written definition of leadership? I asked some staff members to share their thoughts with me to see how they view feminist leadership. Here are some of the things they said:

A feminist leader is someone that is for women, who leads women to believe in themselves, strong in the knowledge that that they are equal to men in status, respect, rights and achievements. And also equal to one another.
A feminist leader is someone who is deeply perceptive, who sees beyond people’s individual strengths and weaknesses, beyond their social roles to who they really are and brings that out. It’s all about meeting people where they are.
This person leads from the back of the room and pays a lot of attention to power and the power disparities in the room.
A feminist leader displays emotional intelligence and always tries to be aware of the balance between power and love. Even if she does not always succeed.
A person whose learning is always growing, and who expands the learning of any team they work in to make sure that everyone in that team develops regardless of their background, is a feminist leader.
A feminist leader is able to cultivate a sense of sisterhood even within a very diverse group.

Not everyone in the organisation wants to wield power. Many people prefer to be passive, to take instruction, to keep their opinions to themselves. They allow others to make decisions for them, even decisions that are about them, or that affect them very closely. These people tend to work at their tasks content to be far removed from the centres of power in the organisation.

A feminist leader must acknowledge the power of others even if they are on the periphery of the power structures, or even actively power averse. At the same time, feminist leaders should also know and display their own vulnerability, to dispel the myth that leaders are always powerful and that power only lies with those that have been given positions of leadership.

We’d love to hear from you. Leave your definition of a feminist leader in the comments below.

Thank You