BRANDS LED BY WOMEN
The power of the feminine principal
When I was in college, I studied the archetype of the Great Mother who—and which— might be defined as less of an archetype in the common parlance of today’s voice, and more of a deep, collective unconscious patterning in a psychic space of creativity.
S H E:
T H E M A K E R
More particularly, the Great Mother is a deep mind principle and form of soulful recognition, genetically-embedded—a storytelling construct—to one of the most profound metaphors of all of humankind’s perception of the world: the extraordinary nature of creativity—the magical making of new beings.
That is, now—and for the last 1000s of years—it is the deepest symbolism of imagination and origination: surely, in the very etymology, which shows as, according to Phil Harper’s studies: “moder, from Old English modor, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr—also of Old Saxon modar, Old Frisian moder, Old Norse moðir, Danish moder, Dutch moeder, Old High German muoter, German Mutter), from PIE *mater- “mother” (source also of Latin māter, Old Irish mathir, Lithuanian motė, Sanskrit matar-, Greek mētēr, Old Church Slavonic mati), “[b]ased ultimately on the baby-talk form *mā-.”
M A
M A T E R I A L
M A
M A T R I X
I’ve been working with three (new) clients, all women, whose names shall be held in reserve, for now — but it’s interesting to contemplate the character of the feminine, when it comes to their leadership.
One might look towards a cartography of the creatrix—in her varying manifestations—
studying variations that speak to creativity and destructivity as a cyclical
retelling and expression,
they are:
Wikipedia summarizes this impression—
which speaks to the prismatic character of Her:
Kali,
the terrible Mother (sickness, dismemberment, death, extinction); and the Gorgon.
The witches,
negative change, as in a fairy-tale witch; also: the Furies.
Lilith,
the negative Anima (ecstasy, madness, impotence, stupor); and Circe.
Isis,
the good Mother (fruit, birth, rebirth, immortality); also: Demeter and Ishtar (Inanna).
Mary
(spiritual transformation);
also: Kwan-Yin (Avalokiteśvara).
Sophia,
the positive Anima (wisdom, vision, inspiration, ecstasy),
the Muse; also: Maat.
There is a balance—even in feminine organizations—between the masculine principles of management, and the intuitive instinct of the reactive response. Beyond that, there are more leaders, over time —
each founded by, and led by,
women that I’ve worked in partnership with.
Emerald.
Second Nature.
Siren Song.
Walmart.com.
Saint Laurent.
I am grateful for a long history in working with staggeringly creative women—both on my team, as well as with dozens and dozens of female brand leaders—which crosses from food and beverages, restaurants and food services, hospitality, and technology. And that means—these brands, my core brand-side leadership was innovated by women—
always emboldened by
brand fire: passionate and committed leadership.
Balance and courage.
I’m looking for heart, and searching for the character of the balance between the intuitive and feminine instinct of connection to their leading. Sometimes, it’s maternal; sometimes, it’s the softer touch, other times it’s brutally direct, slamming powerful and intensely driven.
B A L A N C E
–––––
What does that mean?
FROM THE LATIN, THE BILANX, THE SCALE
A woman leader will be looking for balance, to family and the personal, busyness and the enterprise.
A woman will seek the answer—focused on a direct path to answer and resolution.
–––––
A woman will have heart.
What does that mean?
FROM THE LATIN, COR, THE HEART OF INNER STRENGTH
C O U R A G E
Right now, I’ve got more women [than men] that I’m working with — both to teams, and to clients — that lets me ask the question about leadership and the feminine imperative.
I think about experiences, to that, working with other, more historical relationships, leaders in a broad divergence of other categories of leadership creativity—
amazing women:
Claudia Cividino,
Dawn A. Clark,
Sandra Collins,
Mary Jesse,
Sherry Lansing,
Laura Lendrum,
Lottie Oakley, Dawn Mello,
Annemarie Schimmel,
Sharon Rothstein,
Geraldine Stutz,
Diane Von Fürstenberg,
Shirin Von Wulffen.
Bold, brilliant, remarkable. And more to the now of:
courage, passion, drive, balance.
I could use more of each, myself.
Women lead in a different way—
deeper, heartful, community-embracing,
nurturing and naturally inclined.
I stand as student.
Tim | GirvinOsean
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INNOVATION TEAM STRATEGIES | BrandQuest® and the CloudMind
Four decades of looking for goddesses, I found some.
These are in the library at Osean.
