The book Elder Women’s Wisdom: A Reclaimed Paradigm of Leadership offers maturing women what The Feminist Mystique provided for under-fulfilled women: naming a phenomenon that had no name. In this case, the book contributors name the “invisibility” of aging women to reclaim women’s wisdom as essential and sacred for individuals and communities. Readers will understand how to use circle techniques to embrace their leadership in the golden era of their lives.
As an elder aspiring to be wise, I found my journey through Elder Women’s Wisdom: A Reclaimed Paradigm of Leadership captivating and life affirming. Through the lens of a Leadership Kaleidoscope™, I reflected on the seven leadership threads of my life story and was able to capture my inner wisdom and understand how to weave together my experiences into my personal Leadership Loom™. Not only did I understand and appreciate myself more, I made more transparent why and how I practice leadership, as well as how I can better serve as an example of elder leadership and how my legacy can guide future generations. Now, I seek a circle to speak my life story to strengthen the warp and weft of my tapestry and perhaps to enhance its color. This is a unique and powerful book that I highly recommend for all women who seek a more meaningful eldering process. Truly exceptional.
Elder Women’s Wisdom: A Reclaimed Paradigm of Leadership offers a long-overdue follow-up to Belenky et al.’s transformative Women’s Ways of Knowing, published in 1986. Equally overdue, is scholarship on the experiences of older women in leadership. While Women’s Studies courses often examine how individuals adapt to male-centered leadership models, they less frequently provide female-centered or diverse models for students to emulate. This text addresses these gaps and provides valuable insights at a critical juncture, offering inspiration for feminist scholars, organizational researchers, and students at all levels.
The Circle Way Governance Council is grateful that this radically different book on academic leadership is embedding circle as the foundational group process for students to engage in diverse, cross-discipline, and cross-generational learning. This bold and interactive pedagogy invokes women’s wisdom at its root source.
Elder Women’s Wisdom: A Reclaimed Paradigm of Leadership examines seven leadership ‘signatures’ and weaves an iterative, layered model of women’s ways of wisdom that honours the voices of elders.
Sacred Source
