Leadership Is Not Masculine or Feminine—It’s Both

Living and working between cultures; African and Diaspora-ancestral and institutional, I often find myself reflecting on a quiet but profound imbalance in our development systems: the disconnection between masculine and feminine energy.

For too long, development has been shaped by an overactive masculine energy centered on structure, speed, performance, and control. These are necessary forces, yes, but they become incomplete and even harmful when disconnected from their feminine counterpart: intuition, healing, care, receptivity, and connection to land.

Let me be clear: this is not about one energy replacing the other. It’s not about feminism in its most misunderstood form. This is about balance. About values. About returning to the original harmony found in African Indigenous knowledge systems.