The Essential Feminine Company - Empowering Women to Create Successful Businesses and Lives

Writing to you on the topic of Confidence during this very special week of the 100^th Anniversary of International Women’s Day has made me think of how the meaning of the work confidence has changed over the years for women.  When we go back to what confidence would have meant to our sisters (the Suffragettes) who were paving the way for our vote and freedom of voice – they had little confidence in their ability to be heard or taken seriously in a system that saw them as invisible. 

Today we are not invisible.  Today we have 85% of the purchasing power in the US and we make up over 52% of the small businesses and are heads of household in 51% of the American households.  Today in Egypt and One Million Women March is scheduled to take place.  Reem Shahin, a member of the Million Woman March movement says, “We are not convinced by the amendments of the constitution as they don’t give women the right to run for presidential elections, and there are still no equal rights”.  This quote amazes me as we are now beginning to see many issues that our women faced in the 1920’s become prevalent issues to our sisters in the Middle East.  I wish them well.

Tomorrow we will be celebrating International Women’s Day with our friends at the Global Dialogue Center.  We at The Essential Feminine™ Company strongly believe that it is when we ourselves and our sisters allow confidence to develop in all areas of our lives, we will reach freedom.  Confidence is a birthright built on our ability to voice what we feel and our ability to express  our inner wisdom and  knowledge.  Please join Debbe Kennedy and me along with other wonderful hosts and facilitators in conversation with Frances Hesselbein as we discuss “LEADERSHIP by Example 2011 | WOMEN in the Lead: Our Significant Roles as WOMEN in a Global Economy” https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000011799/Registration.aspx?pageName=pb23p9cvqs97g2lh  or go to http://tinyurl.com/2a99638 |

Also join us at The Essential Feminine Living Room, March 23^rd 12 – 1:15 PM PDST for our complimentary webinar/teleseminar exploring “ Awakening To Powerful Feminine Confidence:  Designing A Life of Optimum Success”.  The Living Room is a conversation and networking opportunity that brings women together world-wide.  REGISTER NOW…https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/411759432

Maureen Simon

 

 

Maureen J. Simon

Founder and Creative Director

The Essential Feminine Companyâ„¢

maureen@theessentialfeminine.com

http://womeninfluencingnow.wordpress.com

www.theessentialfeminine.com

We are often overwhelmed by the world around us and wonder how we as individuals could make a difference.  Our world isn’t the way we would like it to be; what can we do?  I believe that the only true way to change the world around us is to change our inner world as it is reflected in what we attract from the outer world.  As women we are fortunate to have powerful natural attributes and talents that can help us source success.  We need to become aware of our attributes and give them the value they deserve in our lives so that they grow. 

Think about the inner resources that we naturally hold such as a deep understanding of the whole, a natural ability for care and compassion, and a deep innate wisdom to be able to see through the outer surface of things.  If we find ways to integrate these into our lives in a way that enhances our personal power and our ability to pull from our own resources and depth our lives would become more successful (from the inside out).

The way that we do this is by creating a deep and meaningful inner life.  When we come to realize that quiet contemplation is equal and more important than active doing, success and happiness takes on a new meaning.

How do we create our inner world so that it can be reflected in our outer world?  Creating a daily practice is one way to create a strong connection between your outer world (desires and intentions) and your inner world (your contemplation, deep reflection and where you are “informed”).  Some create a daily practice through claiming quiet time in the morning to re-group, set intentions and gather themselves together before facing the busy day.  This allows for an opportunity to start the day with clarity and intention.  It’s also useful to clear time in the evening before closing your eyes from the day’s busyness to set intentions for the next day or even for a good night’s sleep.  It’s not so important what the specific practice is as long as it aligns with your values and beliefs and feeds your soul, providing you with a chance for renewal and conscious choice about your life.  Life is rich if we embrace it with an open mind and an open heart.  It’s our choice as to how we fill our waking hours.  Make some choices about how you would like to create your inner and outer life alignment going forward.  Join us for more discussion on this exciting topic on August 25th at The Essential Feminine Living Room.  We will be joined by Camille Maurine, an internationally renowned creator of the transformational Moving Theater process and author of Meditation Secrets for Women and Meditation 24/7.  Please register for this complimentary webinar at:   https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/987535361

You may have noticed this month we’ve been focusing on Feminine Abundance.  I’ve been noticing that women build wealth and abundance in a unique way that incorporates the attributes they naturally hold.  Remember, we are highly relational and continually looking after the whole.  We cautiously take risks but still hold protection for the nest egg we build and the families we support.  Remembering that abundance is not just based in money, we must also take into account the richness of the relationships and care that are a natural part of our abundance.  As we create and build relationships we create a rich web of support that allows us to manifest and create at a very high level in our day to day lives. 

Our main challenge is to set clear intentions that allow us to hold to a specific set of possibilities.  Staying focused on outcomes –  which is a very linear gift for the masculine – is one of our greatest opportunities.  The feminine is emotionally expressive and highly capable of working with emotions and releasing resistance.  This is a great asset that we can use in our journey to build great abundance.  The asset is: as we express our emotions and learn to clear blocks we can remove obstacles and authentically build great wealth of all kinds.

Remember to track your success and allow yourself to receive your desired outcomes, visions and dreams.  Trust that this can be done with ease and grace.  Allow for your contribution and life’s meaning to be revealed.  Once you are clear on where you are headed, don’t push and drive but as the feminine does so well ALLOW.  The greatest is yet to come.

We will be exploring Feminine Abundance much more deeply at The Essential Feminine Living Room on July 28^th at 12 noon (12 noon to 1:15 PST) and hope you will join us.  Register now to insure your seat.  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/896207192

In their recent response to The Atlantic cover story “The End Of Men”, by Hanna Rosin, Marie Wilson and Linda Basch state that what is happening today is not the demise of men “but rather, the beginning of a transformation of traditional roles that will benefit men, women, families, communities – everyone.”  They point out that “women and men bring complementary and equally important approaches to risk-taking and decision-making and studies show a correlation between management diversity and economic returns.”

It is in the complementary and equally important approaches where change and growth must be made.  All too often in the past society has devalued our best qualities, those that are natural to women.  Our feminine gifts are attributes such as: relationship building, peacemaking, language, creative thinking, and more.  

In their recent response to The Atlantic cover story “The End Of Men”, by Hanna Rosin, Marie Wilson and Linda Basch state that what is happening today is not the demise of men “but rather, the beginning of a transformation of traditional roles that will benefit men, women, families, communities – everyone.”  They point out that “women and men bring complementary and equally important approaches to risk-taking and decision-making and studies show a correlation between management diversity and economic returns.”

It is in the complementary and equally important approaches where change and growth must be made.  All too often in the past society has devalued our best qualities, those that are natural to women.  Our feminine gifts are attributes such as: relationship building, peacemaking, language, creative thinking, and more. 

By exploring these gifts and applying them to your day-to-day life, you will see positive changes in your own life and the world around you.  You will be able to adapt to the innovations and changes that are necessary for the future.  As women are equally valued for their contributions, we will be able to overcome the limitations and inequalities imposed on us by a masculine dominated economic, political and cultural society.

As a start, let yourself have the freedom to imagine new possibilities in the areas of career, finances, fitness, well-being, friendship and love.  Say “yes” to an opportunity that arises.  And practice being utterly fascinated with your own answers to these questions:

• What innate talents do I possess?
• What are my greatest gifts?
• What do I enjoy doing so much that I lose track of time while I’m doing it?
• What are the guiding principles of my life—what is my polestar?

Join us in The Essential Feminine Living Room the fourth Wednesday of every month at noon for an hour long complimentary chat with women world-wide.  Our topic this month will be Feminine Abundance.  Register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/896207192

Among the natural attributes of women are collaboration and team building.  (And, we hold many more.)  Our ability to use these gifs has been recognized by such groups as CARE, Heifer International and The Hunger Project.  (See notes below.)  These groups have invested their resources and total faith in women to rebuild their communities as they know that women will use their opportunities to feed their families and strengthen their communities.

Relationship building, networking and community building are some of women’s finest gifts.  Therefore, The Essential Feminine Company™ is opening its “Living Room” as a place for women to get together once a month to share ideas and suggestions about various topics.  This is a free event happening at noon (Pacific Time) on March 24 and continuing on the fourth Wednesday of the months following.  You will need to register for the event at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/448858688

We will begin our Living Room discussion with the topic, “Inviting The New, The Different and The Good Into Our Lives”.  After the initial theme has been presented we will be opening the lines for announcements, wishes, desires, and general networking. Please contact us at info@theessentialfeminine.com if you have something you would like to share during the second half hour.  We need at least forty-eight hours prior to each Living Room event for your comment or need to be considered.

We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to join women from around the globe and help us create a community of women who want to create their lives from their true selves and thus make a difference.

Maureen Simon

Note: Yesterday (March 8) “was International Women’s Day celebrating the progress women have made in their struggles for equality and development and also focusing on what remains to be done to ensure there is equality for all. The theme this year is “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All.””

Note from The Hunger Project:  “(THP) firmly believes that empowering women to be key change agents is an essential element to achieving the end of hunger and poverty. Wherever we work, our programs aim to support women, build their capacity and ensure their voice is heard and influence felt, both in their own communities and more widely.”  To read more: http://www.thp.org/learn_more/publications/newsletters/february_2010

Note from Heifer International:  Women Working Wonders; Since they received goats from Heifer, the members of Zambia’s Evergreen Women’s Club have been able to provide life-saving milk for their children, grow valuable crops to support their families and help their neighbors support themselves.  To read more: http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.201594/?msource=kwg538

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Rachel Ball (a lawyer at the Human Rights Law Resource Centre (www.hrlrc.org.au) where seventy percent of the centre’s board are women) caught my attention recently.  It was reporting on a recent action by the French National Assembly approving a bill requiring listed companies to ensure that by 2015 50% of their board positions would be filled by women.  Her statistics for Australia state that women hold 8.3 percent of board director positions of ASX 200 companies and chair just 2 percent of boards.”  She goes on to say that, “Anyone who thinks that prevailing practice in board recruitment is merit based is kidding themselves.  Women make up more than 50 percent of the population, 45 percent of the workforce and are more highly educated than men.  There is no good reason why they should be so vastly under-represented in leadership positions.

Far from being merit-based, the status quo is discrimination dressed up as impartiality.  The elusiveness of meaningful equality can be partly attributed to the more insidious forms of discrimination that are entrenched in our institutions and social structures…”

She points out that “…Quotas are not the operational and financial burdens that they are often made out to be.  In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true.  Numerous studies have shown that companies with a higher proportion of women on their boards out perform their more male-dominated competitors.  Greater gender equality in the workforce also improves national productivity.  Equality and efficiency are mutually reinforcing.”

These findings are not surprising to me as they match with the research I have been doing into feminine attributes.  As women, we are predisposed towards qualities of leadership that are different from the usual masculine oriented leadership so predominant in business and politics today.  These qualities include collaboration, team building, creative thinking, intuition and peacemaking.  Because of the cultural environment we grew up in, these attributes have been devalued in our lives and often go unappreciated and undeveloped.  This is a disservice to ourselves and to the world we live in. 

We are now living in a world that is unbalanced and needs the qualities and gifts we, as women, can bring to it.  Not only will developing our attributes help us to live more satisfying lives but these attributes will help the world get into balance as well. 

Last year despite the economic crisis we were experiencing the 5^th annual Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society was held in Deauville, France in October.  They called it Women’s Forum – Think again, think ahead! It is time for action, change and hope.  In December 2009, a review by * Julia Harrison, Managing Partner of FD Blueprint (FD Blueprint is a leading EU public affairs company) and Member Founding Committee of Women’s Forum (Belgium).came out in the European Business Review which you may have missed. 

The contents of her article and the Forum are worth noting.  While the economic crisis of last year threatened holding the conference, a factor in favor of holding forum, according to Ms. Harrison, was “…the recognition that women’s role in all aspects of society and the economy is now more relevant than ever.”  She goes on to state, “Although recent studies have not been able to show categorically that companies perform better if women are present in substantial numbers at board level, they do show that the quality and soundness of decision making improves dramatically in diverse senior teams and that many aspects of performance improve.”

In conclusion her article stated, “What clearly emerged from the Women’s Forum in 2009 is the insight that with global economic crisis come global issues that are so complex and intertwined, no one party can hand off responsibility to another.  Business, professionals, academics, innovators, entrepreneurs, governments and public bodies alike have to care and have to take up these challenges practically. We need to find different models for social and economic progress or face repercussions and continued cyclical economic time bombs.  The Women’s Forum put women at the centre of this challenge and the heart of the solution. Time well spent.”

In order for us to meet this challenge, we women must understand and rely on our feminine attributes; attributes that include: collaboration, relationship building, verbal agility and intuition.  These are the gifts we have that will discover the “different models for social and economic progress” that are so needed in today’s world and in the world of the future.  Notice in your life when you are using these gifts and when you could rely on them even more.  Cultivate them and let them blossom.  As they grow, your life and business will grow.  You will be empowering your relationships and empowering your success.  You will truly become women influencing now.

 

“There is no reason to let go of old ways of being and explore newness if the old ways still work.”

Dannen Parry

 I had the distinct pleasure of doing a number of trainings with Dannen on the subject of “Peace Making Between Men and Women”.  He taught me a great deal that still lives on in me today.  Dannen’s philosophy was clear and simple.  We hang on to our old ways until they become painful or are no longer of service.  It is only at that time that we release the old ways and move on. 

This is important to us as women today.  We have lived within a society that has emphasized the masculine perspective and masculine attributes (logical, intellectual, rational, objective, individualistic, unemotional, dominating).  We have neglected to explore feminine attributes (people skills, language abilities, a drive to network, contextual thinking, concern for the whole, etc.) and to value them.  We, as women, and our society are suffering because of the resulting imbalance.  We need to discover within ourselves our natural strengths, honor these strengths and bring them forth into for forefront of our lives for healing to take place.  In this process, we must also look at how we support our “old ways” of thinking and acting.  Are they behaviors that no longer serve us and thus, can be released so we can move on. 

 As women, we can develop a Feminine Perspective when moving towards success and better serve ourselves and our world.

Say good-bye to 2009 and transform your 2010. In a year that has seemed to emphasize failure, financial stress and doing things the hard way, we have an opportunity to make a change. Our time is now to create powerful, influential success with ease and from a Feminine Perspective. Women hold natural talents and gifts that are particularly essential in business, relationship building and politics today; gifts, such as being relational and caring, holding advanced communication skills and being able to actively see the whole in the environments in which they live. We can use these gifts in creating a blueprint for 2010 which will transform our lives and the lives of those around us.

There is no greater time in the history of the world where these feminine traits and attributes have been more needed. If we take a moment to look outside ourselves, we can’t help but see the imbalance in our world. Over a hundred years ago, Baha’u’llah (Founder of the Bahia Faith), wrote, “The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already shifting – force is losing its weight and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy. Hence, the new age will be an age less masculine, and more permeated with the feminine ideals — or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced.” Are we ready to create that new age? Are we ready to bring forth the feminine attributes that can transform our world?

To me, it would not be a successful world if women elbowed men out and stepped in to the limelight of our world’s leadership. But as Baha’u’llah mentions in the quote above, we will all benefit from a world where the masculine and feminine elements are more evenly balanced. These changes will not happen without us; women stepping up, claiming our feminine attributes and learning to use them to create balance within ourselves first.

Begin 2010 by taking steps to understand how you can use your feminine gifts in business, relationships, and leadership. Join us in a three month individual consulting program to launch your New Year with maximum success. Find out more by emailing info@theessentialfeminine.com

In a recent New York Times article on Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile, we can observe the growth of a leader.  On her election in 2006, she faced student demonstrations across her country, a new chaotic public transportation system and the “impression that she was not in control”.  She will be ending her term as one of Chile’s most popular leaders.  “Polls this month show her public approval to be above 70 percent, and in recent weeks she has recorded the highest levels since Chile went from dictatorship to democracy in 1990.” 

”At the start, she said, the political establishment tried to portray her as weak and disrespectful of the office of the president.  She did things that were not presidential in the eyes of the Chilean establishment,” said Ms. Lagos, the pollster. “It is very difficult to go back. She lowered the presidency closer to the people.”

“It was an important challenge in the first few years,” Ms. Bachelet, 58, said in a recent interview, noting the way other powerful women had urged her to toughen up and “scream and insult” to be respected. “I took a gamble,” she added, “to exercise leadership without losing my feminine nature.”

Becoming leaders takes courage and determination and most of all a willingness to step forward.  It cannot and will not be done for us.  Though, each of us must take that step for ourselves, we need not do it alone.  Hopefully we too can and will do it by manifesting our feminine natures. We need to rely on them for they are our strengths.

 Maureen Simon