A more hopeful path forward

In 2000, Harvard researchers published an influential paper suggesting women respond differently to stress than men. Instead of ‘fight or flight’ it refers to ‘tend and befriend’.

Rather than fighting or fleeing in times of stress, women nurture and form tighter relationships which offer some protection. Female leaders tend to express more participative, collaborative, and transformational leadership under stress.

Like me, have you been finding your resilience is slowly being chipped away? Are you having to work harder at managing your stress levels and do you notice your responses to stress?

A new year is a time to reflect and reset.

As I go into 2022 with cautious optimism, I’ve been thinking about how I leverage my female strengths in leadership.

How can I ‘tend and befriend’ in these times of stress? How can I nurture the connections and relationships which offer protection and collaboration, and result in transformation? I’ll be making that intentional in support of my business and leadership goals - and I'll be making sure this is integrated in my whole of life approach.

Could these reflections support you in your leadership, or a leader you work with?

Insight from Entirety coaching will continue to highlight barriers and challenges faced by female leaders – awareness and understanding are critical to change.

As we move into 2022, I will also highlight a more hopeful path. I will start to shine a light on gender difference and how we can leverage it to create positive change for female leaders and the organisations they work for.