International Women’s Day – My journey as a female leader.

Each year, International Women’s Day highlights the importance of women having a voice and the power to make change.

This year, on 8 March, International Women’s Day celebrates the tremendous efforts made by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future through the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of women as leaders within the workplace.

I am a strong believer that women and the feminine energy they bring, betters not just the workplace, but life situations as well. Feminine energy is the yin to the yang of masculine energy due to its association with stillness, intuition, creativity, feeling and sensing. This counterbalances the assertive, goal orientated, dominant traits of masculine energy, which are fundamentally focused on activity, vision and power.

To be clear, I am not talking specifically about gender stereotypes. I am talking about the energies within all of us, regardless of whether they are male or female, and how allowing ourselves the permission to be who we really are and to embrace our inherent strengths and qualities is what is truly important. My belief is that feminine energy adds a great deal of value and cohesiveness to any work environment.

There can be no doubt that when I first found my footing within the marketing sector of business, it was a ‘man’s world’. I was in a male dominated industry at the time and as a young woman, I found work to be intimidating. I felt like I could not be true to my authentic self and had to be more like a man to succeed.

It took years of confidence building and un-programming when I started Intandem Communications nearly 20 years ago to work out what I needed to do to be successful, both as a person and as a female business leader. Before running my own business, working in a ‘man’s world’ proved difficult when I felt my authenticity and drive challenged as a women, but actually, it is this that has got me to where I am now and continues to drive me forward today.

Where I am today is a positive place to be as a woman. I find myself surrounded by my team of young women whom I love working alongside and who mesh the inner workings of Intandem together cohesively and successfully. Throughout my career, I have also enjoyed coaching many aspiring women who have since grown to become lucrative leaders, employees and mothers. Providing other young women with the knowledge and experience gained from my climb up the corporate ladder is as inspiring as it is rewarding. Intandem Communications, an unintentional all-female team, creates a positive environment which clients find comfortable, strategic and motivating and have chosen to work with us on their marketing and PR for those reasons.

It must also be highlighted that well-being should be a priority for everyone within a work environment. Not just for women in the workplace, but crucially for all involved in the stressful day-to-day running of a business, especially in these unprecedented times. Each week, our team enjoys yoga sessions over Zoom to ensure we spend time away from the screen and prioritise revitalising our minds and bodies, something which I had to learn the importance of the hard way.

We commemorate International Women’s Day this year with a celebration of women in leadership roles, but I would argue that we cannot forget that a successful workplace needs a balance of both women and men. Being one’s true self can come only from authenticity and it is vital that both men and women are authentic within their work environment. It is the right, authentic person that contributes to the overall success of a business, not their sex.