D-Empress - Contributed

Everywhere I turn, I hear this is the year for women in leadership! From politics, to business, to arts, word has it that the time has come when women are gaining ground in the leadership stakes.

Does this mean that the women who have always been there are now being publicly acknowledged for their contributions? Or is there a tangible increase in the number of women exerting influence in our daily lives and evolution?

South Africa's political track record is cause for much debate these days. With an impending election, due April this year, the campaigning is at its height.

Women and the ANC

Since 1994 (the year of the first democratic election in South Africa), the African National Congress (ANC) has increased women's representation in parliament from 27 to 42 per cent. South Africa has also had two female deputy presidents: Phumzile Mlbambo-Ngcuka and Baleka Mbete-Kgositsile.

Recently, the wife of Nelson Mandela (former South African president), Graéa Machel, was an influential humanist voice in the Zimbabwe negotiations towards a coalition government. Her voice was assertive, empathetic and caring; a feminine touch to the soft diplomacy stance taken by former president Thabo Mbeki and other African leaders. Machel added a heartfelt dimension to the plight of the people that many had uttered but somehow, her message rang louder.

So what is it that women bring to the table? Could it be our celebrated female intuition laced with a little love? Perhaps it's knowing that working from the heart in fact strengthens the bond to your word and your intention?

We grew up hearing that the heart has no place in business, and that the most effective businesswomen had to act like men to crack the glass ceiling of the gender divide. The last decade has shown that a people-first approach to business is more likely to nurture loyalty, trust and ultimately increase productivity. So, maybe it's no surprise that 2009 is being heralded as the year that women will rightfully take their place as leaders in the new world order?

As the world is being recalibrated, we sense the palpable need to do everything we've been doing differently. So, the question is, are women leveraging their God-given advantage with clear purpose and in-depth understanding of the potential we have to change our world for the greater good of humanity? We are often credited with being closer to the mystical powers of intuition, but do we really know how to access it and use it well on a sustained basis?

Higher heights

Fact is, women have always been leaders in their personal spheres. If the world is waking up and taking note, that's great! Now, the call for enhanced leadership of the feminine kind is all pervasive. It's time to sharpen up by tuning into the world more often through the heart and less systematically through the brain. In this way, our love-logic will holistically channel new healing energy into the world and enable both male and female shaped intuitive, heartfelt leadership to higher heights.

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