Now that the election is over, how do you move forward when everyday politics resume? Whether you’re negotiating as part of a future governing coalition or in opposition, it’s all about influence. Factors such as the size of your party, the chemistry with your cooperation partners, and the distribution of positions between parties and internally can be quite stressful processes. If you’re part of a negotiation team, it’s not just about countless meetings. No, it’s about phone calls, Messenger threads, and emails where everything needs to be ironed out.
Feminine Power
In politics, we have what I like to call masculine power structures. What are they? They’re the ones you encounter almost everywhere in society. These have been built up over centuries and are something we adapt to when we enter the workforce or, not least, when we land in politics. They are structures of money, power, and status. To reach your goal, or to get from point A to point B, we need to develop a strategy and work hard. It can yield results. But if our goal is high, perhaps to create peace on earth or end bullying, well, it’s not enough to just think strategically.
When I talk about feminine power, it’s something else entirely. First of all, it comes from within and has most to do with yourself. It’s about being in touch with ourselves, the Universe, and those we communicate directly with. It’s about using our intuition and wisdom to get results. We shouldn’t just achieve something; we should realize ourselves by doing something that truly matters to many others besides ourselves. Your path in politics is completely unique because you are unlike anyone else you meet there. No one else has exactly your experience and expertise. To have real influence, you must also see who you are in order to contribute in the best possible way and succeed.
The Path to Influence in Politics
Whether your path to influence now goes through building the party, the local chapter, or negotiating a cooperation in opposition or securing the positions you need to get your point across, you can choose feminine power. Then you are able to be in the present moment without stressing about the outcome. You manage to be centered in the process. You don’t wait for a better election result but make the most of the cards you’ve been dealt. And there are many ways to get results, even if your influence seems to be weakened. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. You are already whole and lack nothing.
We always think there’s something else we’re going to do in the future when everything is perfect. When we’ve become big enough to make a difference. When the others we don’t want to cooperate with have become smaller. Or when we ourselves have gotten more time.
Negotiations
Perhaps you get stressed by negotiation processes? It’s about talking to the right people at the right time. Setting demands but not going too far so that you lose positions you might have gotten if you hadn’t been too greedy. Here it’s important to have set a good intention beforehand and also to have a plan B if plan A doesn’t work. What’s also important, however, is to be able to live with uncertainty. In order not to be driven from one position to another by power games, it is possible to practice being okay with uncertainty and insecurity.
Instead, we can ask ourselves what opportunities this uncertainty provides. Not knowing what’s going to happen might not be comfortable, but we also don’t know what’s ultimately best. Is it worth swallowing that camel and continuing the negotiations? Or is it better to have a more independent position? It’s hard to follow your intuition when everything is just about power. When we become insecure in negotiations, it comes from somewhere. And that place is always inside ourselves. It’s the ego that raises its head and says hello.
The Intention to Make a Difference
Make room for the emotions that negotiations bring out in you. It’s not about turning off your brain, but it’s about living with the need for certainty and security. Don’t let that be what drives you. But let the intention to make a significant difference for the best of the community or the country be that. Then you will ultimately always get good results, even when the future may seem dark. Then you move on a path of innocence, receptivity, and openness. That’s how you change politics and the world, not by letting yourself be driven from one position to another by power games. Then you don’t let yourself be ruled by fear.
