I had so much fun creating this video, I wanted to share it with you all.

And then it got me thinking….

What do you believe? And why?

I’d love to hear all about it. So much so that I’ve decided to do a little something.

Creative Change Competition

Post a few short statements in the comments box below outlining what matters most to you and why, and you’ll be entered into a draw to win a free 30 minute ‘Creative Change’ Coaching Session with me (value £125).

All you’ve got to do is let us know:

What drives and motivates you?

What gets you inspired?

What kind of change would you like to see in the world?

And why?

You’ve got until Friday April 5th.

I reckon we’ve got a whole community of movers and shakers out there, and I want to be the first to know.

Respect

Download recording HERE

Listen to the recording of my live interview with Susie Heath from Untangled fm, where we talk about:

~ The imbalances we are experiencing in the working world today.  What are we missing and how do we reclaim that as women?

~ A hollistic model of success, which integrates the masculine and feminine polarities.  Why is incorporating the feminine into our decision-making process so vital and how can it allow us to have more fun?!

~ Why integrating femininity and fun is the only rational route to long-term success.

~ A process to guide you through connecting with all the different parts of yourselves, and a decision-making tool that will allow you to make more holistically aligned decisions from this point on.

~ The 4 keys that YOU need to begin building a more fun, feminine and financially successful life.

~ Understanding how our capacity as women to make a stand for this way of being and thinking has the potential to impact not only own lives, but also the broader world as a whole.

Download the Recording HERE

Or visit Untangled fm at -

http://untangledfm.com/index.php/replays/the-essence

Over the last month I met a number of women entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and philanthropists, all of whom were building careers, businesses and projects centered around helping other people and making a difference in their lives.

Yet, I noticed something fascinating.  It seemed that the more a woman wanted to contribute to the world, the more she seemed to be struggling financially.

Its a problem we see the world over.  People ‘doing good’ who earn less. When I left my investment banking job and moved into the world of ethical finance – to an investment fund looking to make both social and financial returns – I was met with the same incredulous response time and time again – ‘Is it really possible to make money and do good in the world?’

Making Money and Doing Good

Apart from the obvious paradox this question implies (if we’re not making money from ‘doing good’, then what are we making money from – doing ‘bad’?), I want to show you how much in today’s economy, this belief has become an outdated one. The truth is that, whilst for much of the twentieth century, knowledge (and power) was concentrated in the hands of the few, the reality of today’s socio-economic system is different.  People from all walks of life are waking up to the desire to not only improve the quality of their own lives, but also the knowledge of how to seek out the information and expertise that will allow them to do so.  Simultaneously, there has been an explosion of new systems and structures – from the internet and social media, through to information and service-based businesses – which allows for the packaging and selling of valuable information and its distribution all over the world. It is a true ‘new’ economy, of the likes we have never seen before.  If you have a specific need or problem, the chances are that someone, somewhere in the world has figured out an answer, and that there is a way for you to access it. Its an exciting time.

The Money ‘Hex’

In working with this budding breed of ‘new paradigm’ entrepreneurs – supporting them to package and sell the information and services they have accumulated over the course of their lives and careers, and then build business models to effectively communicate that across the global marketplace – there is one problem that I see time and time again.  It is a threshold across which every successful new paradigm entrepreneur must cross, and it relates to their own relationship with money.

It is estimated that the field of information and service-based businesses, is one of the fastest growing industries in the world.  From six-figure lifestyle businesses, to Inc 500|5000 companies, there are plenty of entrepreneurs shattering the myth that making money isn’t compatible with doing good.  Yet many of us still carry a wound inside of ourselves that relates to the question of making money.  Its origins are varied and complex, but in short, we too often confuse how we feel about ourselves (am I good enough? do I deserve?) with an understanding of what it means to offer something of value to another, and receive something in return.

The basis of an economic transaction is a good (and is that not what we call them – goods and services?)  We offer a service, or something of value to someone, and we receive renumeration in return. In any relationship there must be a balance or flow, otherwise the relationship breaks down.  So too in a transaction – if it is not balanced and even, then before long it will break down.  If you want to be of service in the world and offer what you do, you must be appropriately renumerated for it – otherwise you won’t be able to do it for very long.

Is this you…?

If you are a women entrepreneur that is struggling financially, I would urge you to look closely at Tolstoy’s quote, and examine at what level – in order for you to really and truly impact the community that you desire to serve – you must first and foremost heal your own relationship with money.  If you are giving something of value, then proper flow can only be established when something is given back in return. Any other approach does not lead to a full and thriving career helping others – it leads to rapid depletion, and worse than that - it hinders the flow of information exchange on the global marketplace. Without mastering this issue, people in need will not have access to what they need and want. No relationship can survive on an unequal footing – and nowhere more so than a transaction-based one where the value of the exchange is plain for all to see.

If this is you, and you would like to learn about how you can join the ranks of new paradigm entrepreneurs successfully making a living positively impacting the world, then please email Charlotte at info@newfemininefinance.com to find out more.

Until next time!

No matter what part of the world you live in, it is clear that the current systems and structures are changing. Long established patterns of thinking and being are breaking down – with massive repercussions for the systems that were built upon them.

In Europe right now we are witnessing huge tremors in the fabric of a Union that was on a certain trajectory for the past few decades, and now seems destined for another.  The global financial system continues to defy expectations and move in new and unusual ways.  As analysts try to predict the future, many of us are left scratching our heads, and wondering – what will come next?

A quick recourse to Innovation Theory reveals the opportunity that this change might bring.  In the ‘Design of Business’, Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management, breaks down innovation into three distinct stages:

1. Elaboration of a ‘Central Mystery‘ – a problem to be solved;

2. Discovery of a ‘Heuristic‘ – a loose rule of thumb, that narrows down the field of enquiry;

3. Creation of an ‘Algorithm‘ – an explicit step-by-step guiding to solving the problem, that guarantees success.

In Martin’s mind, this three step process of a gradual narrowing of the ‘knowledge funnel’ has been used in the discovery of nearly every major innovation – from gravity to multinational corporate success.

The challenges facing us today….

So where does all this leave us with the challenges we face today?  Applying Martin’s logic to the tremors we are witnessing in global systems and structures , it would appear as if – for the first time in a long time – the established ‘algorithms’ of how to run and execute a state / economy / financial system etc, are beginning to falter.   Long-held ideas and beliefs about how things should be run in order to guarantee specific outcomes seem under question.  The shakes and tremors we are experiencing feel like a call to return to the ‘Knowledge Funnel’, to step out of the existing algorithms, and head back into a creative space.  In pondering the central mystery of what a successful future looks like, it appears time for us to innovate.

A note on the feminine…

In returning to the central problem, Martin’s model shows us clearly that the next stage in uncovering a solution is not to jump to another algorithm – the logical, rational, linear process so representative of a ‘masculine’ way of doing things, but rather to search for the loose, inchoate structure of the next level understanding – our heuristic. Here we find ourselves gently drifting into the realm of the ‘feminine’.

So what do I mean by this? Setting gender differences aside, and returning solely to the archetypal constructs of masculine and feminine, the feminine represents the ‘unseen’ elements of the known universe.  The masculine energy is that of expansion – the universe that we can see around us; and the feminine the unseen forces such as contraction – gravity for example.  Bringing this down to the level of human experience, the feminine represents being as opposed to doing, inner experience as opposed to outer. It represents feeling, creativity, spirituality, the space of our ‘invisible’ human experiences, which have a powerful logic of their own.

Psychologists specializing in creativity, give us plenty of insight of how this feminine process works.  Anton Ehrenzweig (in ‘The Hidden Order of Art’) talks about how during the creative process, we make meaning out of chaos.  We bring together material that has not yet been organized, and structure it in a new and logical way.  In order to this, we must – he says – drop out of the conscious, rational mind that governs so much of our waking life, and instead make recourse to a different type of vision.  One that is able to see in the dark, and find order in the chaos.  This vision he calls our ‘primary’ faculty, and is the eye of the feminine mind.   It is the ‘being’ quality within us that is able to sit with uncertainty, that feels its way through chaotic territory, and is able to hold competing and conflicting theories all at once.

So where does all this leave us..?

If you accept that the changes we are seeing in the world reflect a need to return to Martin’s ‘innovation funnel’, and revisit our core assumptions in the worlds of business, politics, society and culture – then Innovation Theory gives us a powerful insight into the next stage of our evolution.  Not only can we reframe the disruptions to the current system as simply an opportunity to return to the creative drawing board – as opposed to a finite breakdown and apocalyptic Doomsday – but also, we see in it a need to return to those invisible feminine processes that constitute an essential component of the first stage of the innovation journey.

For all the change and uncertainty this disruption might bring, what better outcome could there be than a return to the heart of the feminine process – to the joy, magic and passion that is most nourishing to the human spirit?    In a world that has begun to exhaust itself with the ceaseless pursuit of execution, and quantifiable output, what better solution than a return to creativity, and its mystical portal into the unknown?

So – to the potential of 2012, and all that it might bring.

In love and service -

I’m often asked what I mean when I talk about the ‘New Economy’.  Even more I’m asked how it is that I teach creativity workshops (yes, we paint and we dance!) when I’m a business coach.

So today I thought I’d break down the various components of what I see as the New Economy, and talk a little about why I believe these elements being so supportive of the feminine.

The Key Components of the New Economy

• Information and knowledge based – we are selling ideas and services
• Internet based – the most effective marketing tools for selling ideas and services
• Personal brand based – it is as much about ‘us’ and the journey we’ve taken as it is about our ideas for x, y, or z.

1. The knowledge economy

Ok, so why is this a ‘feminine’ economy?  Well, if you listen to any of the great creativity theorists – take Clarissa Pinkola Estes – she speaks of the feminine as the ‘medial’ realm. This is land of the unseen, of that knowledge and wisdom that is known to us instinctively, that we intuitively see even though it is dark.  Another way of looking at the archetypal constructs of masculine and feminine, is that the masculine is the force of expansion in the universe, hence everything that we ‘see’, and the feminine is the contraction, such as the invisible forces of gravity.

And what is more invisible than the realm of ideas?  As a business coach working in this area, it also so striking how knowledge based businesses differ from conventional product based businesses.  Information businesses require a different type of explanation, a different type of understanding.  We are packaging goods and services that are invisible to the naked eye.  It rests to us to spin a yarn about what we do, bringing it to life through our words and our conscious articulation – otherwise it might be passed over altogether, and never be seen.

2. Internet-based businesses

Well, I don’t have to spend too long on this one.  Internet = flexible.  It means home (if that’s what you choose). It means a rainforest, a mountain, a jungle – or whatever you really want.  At long last!  A way for women to incorporate their family, home-lives, with caring for the physical and emotional bodies and running a successful business or career.  A former mentor of mine recently had a baby and went out to Ecuador, where she is currently living and working, babe in arms.  That might not be to everyone’s choosing, but it just shows us what is now possible….

3. The age of the personal brand

This is probably the most interesting and sensitive area of the new economy.  At one level it is about bringing the personal (who we are, and how we feel) into the professional – and what is more feminine than that?  At another level, a personal brand can mean bringing forth the deepest and most complex aspects of a person’s being, enabling them to make a powerful stand for whatever they believe in, modelling whatever growth and development they have accomplished – and so for me, the question is just –  how deep do you want to go?  I have my own personal theory of evolution, as do all coaches, mentors and teachers – but in business, by far the most effective personal brands I see are those that incorporate not only the surface aspects of a woman’s life, but also the the battles she has fought and the depths she has mined.  Call it soul, spirit, or whatever source of wisdom you choose to believe in, being a powerful personal brand in today’s economy means mining the depth of who you are, and bringing that forth in a way that is compelling and of value to those around you.

In short..

So there we have it, a whistle stop tour of the new economy and a look at what makes it ideally suited to women – and all those seeking to incorporate the feminine into their work-life.

For our next instalment we’ll be looking at the question of how you can begin creating just such a business in the new economy.  We’ll be looking at why needing to know who you are, what you stand for and what your ideas are just as important as learning the ropes in terms of the systems and structures needed to create a thriving business.  So stay tuned!

Until next time….