Now that I’ve received the very first printed copy of We-Mind vs. Me-Mind: A New Vision for Sucess in Leadership and Life, I feel it’s real. The book is out! Here is a synposis:
We all have a We-Mind and a Me-Mind. One of the two leads, the other follows. Most (but not all) women tend to lead with their We-Mind, hence be more we-minded and most (but not all) men are more me-minded. The degree to how we- or me-minded we are is unique to each one of us.
As the name suggests, the We-Mind has as its primary focus the well-being of the group, even if that is at its own expense. The Me-Mind has its own well-being at heart and may be ready to pursue this at the expense of others.
Many of the ‘flaws’ women are told they need to overcome in order to be successful, are in fact we-minded life strategies. These are misunderstood and not valued. Much more than gender, the issue is how we use our mind.
People who are dominantly we-minded are more likely to struggle with what I call an inner glass ceiling. That is the topic of my next book. Here, I already briefly explain why that is the case.
In this book I show how the We-Mind and the Me-Mind have different strategies for goal-setting, problem-solving, conducting business, communication, approaching leadership, conflict and other areas of life.
I argue that:
- as a society we value the me-minded characteristics and take the we-minded ones for granted, or even look down on them. That is not only the root cause of the infamous glass ceiling. It’s also why we keep trying to turn we-minded people into me-minded ones and (subconsciously) block them from contributing their true value.
- people who are primarily we-minded do not feel at home in a me-minded world. Most of our professional fields are Me-minded. This, for example, explains why so many We-minded people struggle with impostorism.
- many we-minded ways of being are wrongly considered to be pitfalls in our modern, professional world. The insights in this book will help driven people who feel held back by an invisible force break free and unlock their full potential. As a result, the stalling number of women in leadership may start rising.
- to make sure that more women reach the decision-making level and stay there, we need to make those places more we-minded. Indirectly and slowly this is starting to happen. The framework of this book provides more clarity for how to go about it.
- more we-minded leadership is good for the planet. We need to redefine success.
The book ends with some examples of we-minded ways of doing business and leading countries. The reader is invited to help reset the balance in this wrongly weighted world.