The New Green Economy

We are moving into a new time that requires new leadership skills. In my last Enlightened Business radio show I talked about Feminine Leadership, what it is, why it’s different and how it compliments masculine leadership. The quest to mimic nature by business has one key piece that is very different from any other shift in business practices that have happened in the past 15-20 years.

Sustainable leadership uses Sustainable Intelligence to address pressing business issues with planet in mind, using natures values, laws and processes to bring resilience and innovation to the organization.

The “Prime Directive” of nature is that she always creates the conditions that support life! Always! This is what business must also do and to be effective at that you must care. This is heart work. It’s not soft and it’s not optional. We need to care about the planet and all the life that is on it. We need to care about each other and ourselves. If we do not want to have our species disappear, then we also need to care about Life.

At its core sustainability is all about relationships; internal to the company and external to the company. Understanding those relationships and being able to respond to the subtle nuances in each of them is something that women are particularly good at. Men need to learn this too and not just abdicate this strength to women, but the model remains feminine.

Sustainable leaders are not afraid of being ‘soft’ or of having emotions. Their skills include Emotional Intelligence and their ability to resonate is a strength. This means that male leaders have a skill at connecting and that female leaders are able to engage in behavior males use to rank each other. Sustainable leaders are multi lingual.