Leadership report

Sophie Faure is a business manager, and author of the book « Manager à l'école de Confucius", published by Editions d'Organisation, 2003.

« I recently attended a seminar entitled « Women Serenity Leadership ». I went with no particular expectations my curiosity piqued, but a bit sceptical.

I was sceptical because although I believe in the pertinence of a subject such as the leadership of women, and belong to several women's networks, I always fear the treatment may be superficial.

The title did awaken my curiosity and interest. Why on earth associate wo-men's leadership and serenity? Why not simply leadership and serenity ?

Well, the authentic efficacy of those three days of in-depth semi-coaching unanimously convinced all of the small group of women present there.

It all goes back to a conviction borne from the experience of Viviane Amar, coach to many leading businesswomen. We are at a turning point in the history of women in business. Although women now make up 46% of the economically productive population, their position remains very ambiguous there may be an appreciation of their « feminine » qualities as keys to success, but their penetration of the highest levels of management is rare.

It was a matter of conceiving a path that would support them in the development of their leadership ; not so much that they be formed by the mould of power, but that they find a style that fits themselves. « They have a particular potential that they leave slumbering : the potential of intuition and of interior strength, which a process of the construction of the self, a social and professional identity, can liberate and consolidate. It is only thus that they can find their rightful place, » says Viviane.

This first angle of approach based upon the interiority of potential, and of a leadership style other than that of power, is of particular interest. It led the orientation of the entire seminar to construct itself around indepth work on the self, and the unity of the individual.

The core is that a virtuous circle must be put in motion that enables a more serene leadership through a combination of key elements:

A Confident Assertiveness through the awareness of what distances us and what brings us closer to ourselves, and therefore, equally to the other.

Emotional Maturity and the distance it enables us to keep between unresolved problems experienced and their potential repercussions on the managerial function.

Attentive Fairness. in words, gestures, actions, and self-perception and perception of the other : this is preventive to entering into reductive stereotyping, or dead-end relationships it enables one to find one's right place.

Leadership being considered as the result of an interior maturing process which expresses itself externally efficiently, naturally and effortlessly, work on the self therefore becomes essential. That is why Viviane chose to propose « a personal voyage through our history and our culture, the great styles of management and universal motivations. The discovery of what makes us uniquely who we are bestows the capacity to meet others, and ultimately, to lead them.»

Work on the self is firstly a question of defining oneself as a person, a woman, and a leader. One must learn to detach oneself from the perceptions of others, in order to develop one's own perception of oneself. An understanding of sweeping motivational dynamics must be come to and an understanding of those reflected within ourselves which may carry us forward or may hold us back. As regards the work of being anchored in one's values, that develops emotional intelligence.

We had, therefore, to accept to en-gage ourselves in a very attractive process, that was nonetheless essential, as it is the construction of the identity base which enables im-provement of one's receptiveness to the other, and one's relation to differentness. The other becomes no longer « The Stranger », with all the potentials of conflict that that notion may imply. The encounter is therefore freed to develop its full potential. Fazila recognised it ; as a woman of Algerian origin and a bu-siness head, she did not want to let go of her « differences ». But on the other hand she was aware that she overly asserted them to the point of counter-productive effect. « It is more a question of knowing how to engage, and managing to remain different, when having a struggle which takes place on a base of other values. I used to keep totally silent - I did not feel that difference to be a positive attribute. Now, I do. I am perfectly at ease with it and use it as an added-value.» This lucid awareness, without vindictiveness, « Enables us to act with full awareness - to react better,» adds Tina.

But for the work on the self to bring about greater emotional maturity, consideration of the person must comprise the totality of her life - past, present and future - as a physical and psychological unity.

The woman of today is the inheritor of the woman of yesterday. We are cultural beings. For all, to varying degrees, the weight of the past, the influences of social constructions and education are alive and present, particularly in crisis periods. The group of participants is particularly representative: Tina is of Iranian-Ame-rican-French origin, working for a British firm ; Gertie, a Belgian, works in a male-dominated finance group ; MariCarmen, Chilean, works for a US hotel chain; Ke Wen comes from a Franco-Chinese background ; Fazila is of Algerian origin with French nationality; Viviane is Canadian, of Moroccan origin; I am of French origin but very much influenced by Asia. The experience of each individual resonated amongst the others of the group.

The managerial woman is not different from that of the private woman. «It is important to be aware of that unity of being, » Fazila, representative of a certain type of modern woman, tells us. She is not only a woman, a wife, and a mother, she is also an elected official for economic development at a town near Paris, a Professor at Versailles University, and advisor for industrial development in Algeria. « I wanted to be able to fulfil each role 100%. My mind was, therefore, constantly occupied and torn apart. I told myself that if I did not change my way of working, I would explode. » The feeling is not a prerogative of women, given the evolution of society, but such is expressed frequently by women ; it smacks of perfectionism. Tina comments : « We are perhaps a little naive to want everything, " but said in a tone that suggested she was certain that that was not her case, while being aware of the price to be paid.

Company life leads to neglect of the body, overloads the mind and the left-brain. With the rhythms imposed, it is difficult to keep a distance, or find the necessary time for vital moments to draw breath a conflict-producing situation. Work on the self, then, required the har-monising of the mind, the body, and respiration. We had Yoga breaks. Viviane finds the practice useful in her profession : « Serenity is acquired by working on one's emotional intelligence, and through the freeing of the right-brain. The work on breathing and visualisation during Yoga cultivates a healthy distance in the exercise of leadership. » These periods were essential, despite our attempts to sometimes deny their efficiency, and receptivity to them varied. Gertie went through the motions, but without conviction. Fazila wondered if it wasn't « a waste of time. ». Ke Wen, a master of Qi Gong, understood their importance, and was ready for more.

Thus, based upon the foregoing indepth work, of a surprising efficiency, we went on to the next stage: the strategic dimension. That is : how to pass from internal strength and anchoring, supported by serenity, to an organisational and cultural behaviour of change. We therefore went on to this concluding part of the seminar examining classic manners and tools of leading changes. This put the three-day course back into a more over all perspective with a key word that remained a constant : Fairness.

The quality of the work on the self doubtless contributed to the quality of the seminar. The accent was on the ability to differentiate. These types of seminars frequently revolve around cognitive imperatives and the mastery of tools essential to the promotion of the woman : « understand power games », « penetrate the glass ceiling » « be recognised and promoted ».

But the words "career » and « performance » were not used once during the seminar. Were the participating women without a sense of ambition, or of results? No, it is simply that they had chosen another type of efficiency : that of internal strength, that can be enabled only through an-choring and self-confidence.

Seen from that angle, if the approach via the glass ceiling has a reason for being, that of a legitimate aspiration to shared power, or, at minimum, rewarded in a fair and just manner, appears to me as partial, as it consists merely of external trappings; it would be better if it were completed by the interior dimension, and a clarification of the very nature of the path followed. Efficiency must be interiorised, and not merely externalised. « Before, I was strong and inflexible. It was tiring and took a lot of energy,» comments Fazila. Adding, with a laugh, « Now, my interior factory is completely ecoefficient. The glass ceiling ? With equilibrium - and equilibrium comes from interior strength - you can go through all the ceilings you want without even trying. Interior strength dominates, it is not imposed ! »

We began with three key notions: leadership, serenity, and woman. If we subtract the word "woman", the themes transcend the genders. If we now place ourselves on the side of those who regulate or manage, it appears to us interesting to use these methods with regard to an efficiency of serene leadership, to apply them to wider populations, independently of any reference to the female dimension.

Work on emotional maturity, concern for the physical and psychological unity of a person, cannot but contribute to the health of an enterprise and its partners. Those who are stressed, and those who no longer have a family life, will doubtless consider themselves as no less efficient.

Such undertakings demand skill and professionalism. « This kind of thing must be distilled in small doses; an invitation to experimentation, the desire, the choice of path, and the rhythm. There is a time for everything, and for each, » sums up Fazila.