It was a fun coming of age movie, with fabulous outfits, amazing New York and Paris scenes and great drama, but the movie The Devil Wears Prada highlights how not to be a feminine based boss.
Miranda Priestly, the devil and a iconic fashion magazine editor, had climbed (clawed?) her way to the top of her career, stepping on anyone else along the way.
I had a boss or two like her in my early 20s. Did you too? I can name bosses that would try to keep me small, or manipulate me to be productive in some ways and demure in others. I also had many female bosses that were kind, paved the way for my leadership and wanted to see me win. They showed me the way.
But, Miranda Priestly is not an example of the kind of leadership role model that wins in the long run. Even in the movie, she ends up in the middle of a (another) failed marriage and a disconnected relationship with her twin daughters. It’s the age old “well, you can be the boss of a fabulous company, but you can’t be in a healthy relationship with your partner or kids.”
These types of characters in leadership positions subconsciously tell us that we can’t have it all.
At the time of writing this, The Devil Wears Prada is about 18 years old and feminine leadership has changed in some ways. But, the problem that still lingers is that we sometimes subconsciously believe that we have to be “tough as nails” to be a leader, (The Proposal also fits this dynamic), and we can’t have everything we desire and be a driven career woman. Even if we try.
The old story says that we have to choose one thing to focus on, that we have to decide on our priorities. Honestly, it feels like a patriarchal construct designed to keep us small and unhappy, doesn’t it?
It’s up to us as feminine leaders to rewrite the playbook. We actually can have it all. In my opinion we just have to make space, time and room for a new way of being. We can have the healthy relationship with our loved ones and be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. We can be in the best health of our lives and be a running a successful business. We are entitled to having it all. And, we can lean on help along the way too.
In the title I used the word “sacred.” That’s because I believe that if we are passionately running a mission not only are we (as humans) sacred beings expressing a soul calling, but the whole mission we lead is sacred. It’s something we are divinely meant to be doing.
And, for it to be sacred and feminine, a whole new world opens up around creativity. (Read my article: The Sacred Feminine & Business for more on how this works. Article linked below.)
Miranda Priestly is an entertaining character to watch. I can only imagine how much fun Meryl Streep had playing her. But, in reality, she would be considered abusive. It’s time to change the narrative on what’s acceptable in the workplace around feminine leadership.
With love, until next time.
Katherine xx
READ: Letters from Katherine
LISTEN: The She's Sacred Show
FOLLOW: Katherine on Instagram
Comments