Working as a woman in a masculine environment

A woman in our collective recently shared about her experience working in a very masculine environment, and the ways that this challenges her to bring herself fully to her job. 

Whoa.  This is a HUGE issue, and something that most women experience at some point in their lives, if not constantly, depending on 

their context.  

First of all,  recognize the COURAGE that it takes to show up in contexts like these.  If you are anything like me, you probably find yourself in situations like this on a regular basis. Please take a moment to honor and give thanks for  your courage, for the ways that you are willing to show up in a masculine world.  This is massive. 

Second, there are so many angles through which to look at this issue, and it is impossible to address them all in an email.  I want to focus on one, for now. 

There are so many explicit and subtle ways that you have probably learned that success requires you to work in straight lines, to be efficient, decisive, practical.  

There are certainly times that these qualities are very useful, and often necessary. 

However, women’s thinking often is not so linear.  Like our bodies, like the body of the earth, we live in cycles, spirals, circles.  If your mind works anything like mine, you might think about something many times, looking at it from different perspectives and opening many possibilities. 

In a linear world, it is really easy to feel like you are crazy when you think this way. Why can’t you just come to a decision? Why are you ‘overthinking’ this? 

Non-linear thinking is not flawed. It is simply another way of approaching things.In fact, it is a superpower.It might seem less efficient or less productive than linear thinking, but actually it is necessary for balance and opens ways of working that are really healthy and very needed in this time. 

In a culture that prioritizes results, it is really easy to feel misunderstood when your thinking moves in intuitive leaps or circles. Too often women do not voice our ideas because we think we will be disregarded if our ideas do not fit into a bullet-point structure.  

Let this message be a reminder to you: your way of thinking is not only valid, but invaluable.