What if it is Cultural Bias not Imposter Syndrome?

Recently, a theory about women and imposter syndrome has been brought into my world. The idea is women are not experiencing imposter syndrome but are actually dealing with cultural bias.  Workplace culture has been defined by men over the decades and women have been told they need to “fit” into that definition in order to be successful which can conflict with our natural energy.

This theory has been in my mind ever since and I have shared the concept with some of my colleagues both female and male.  Interestingly, many people are finding wisdom in the idea as it has opened up minds to a new way of thinking. 

The male dominated business culture has been the definition of success.  Feminine energy has been told to mold itself into this masculine energy world or they won’t succeed. This can lead to a crisis of conscience in some people. We are told to embrace this masculine energy in business while keeping our feminine appearance or a demure approach.  Act like a man while not being too pushy or confident.  So many mixed messages to manage while driving toward successful results.

Feminine energy tends to focus on collaboration, intuitiveness, openness, creativity and nurturing. While masculine energy leans toward logical, confident, assertive, and strong.  Neither one is better. Neither defines success. They are just different styles to approaching the world. 

The business world continues to be more focused on masculine energy as a success model. Many books, articles, conferences and webcasts have been written asserting this as an “ideal” standard. It is what we have known for years and we can’t argue that it has success. 

Is it really the only best approach?  What if we opened up our thought process and looked at success drivers from more diverse perspectives and approaches?  What if we looked to collaboration, nurturing and intuitiveness as a guide for our business decisions? It is not weak. It is just different.

As I speak with more women, there is an ongoing effort to use our feminine energy more freely in the business world. So, today we celebrate International Women’s Day. In the spirit of the day, I hope the discussion of cultural bias opens up in the world and brings new ideas and concepts about how to define our approach to success.