When explaining feminist leadership, sometimes it’s easier to say what it’s not. It’s not about female leaders. It’s not about feminine leadership. It’s not about gender, it is not about block politics.
It is about power.
The central point in feminist leadership is understanding power. How does it operate? Who has it? How did they get it? How do you wield it? Through analysing and deconstructing power structures, we become more aware of how power operates, because there is more to modern leadership than titles and authority. Leadership is not only power to and power over, though these are the most obvious ones we often see and structure around. There is also power from and power with – and even power under which is often overlooked. When we become aware not only of the powers we can see, but also invisible power within our organisations, teams and relations, we can engage more actively in inclusion and diversity work and pursue equality through specific actions. We can empower our teams and become more resilient organisations.
Understanding power alone, however, is not all it takes. In societies like Denmark, where we can (almost) all agree on the importance of equality, sometimes there is a gap between our shared values and our actions. In other words, our perception of what we do doesn’t always match what we actually do. This is called the value-action gap, and critical feminist leadership forces us to analyse power in relation to our values, our external context and our actual practices. These are the four main aspects we explore and juxtapose in order to improve leadership practices, hold leadership accountable and improve teams and organisations.
Whether you want to scratch the surface or are ready for the deep plunge, feminist leadership offers another perspective on the leadership we need in a polycrisis world. Are you ready for it?
By Simone Due Rasmussen
