Despite what business school and overarching paradigm of “best practice” when it comes to business strategy, there are ways to find a union between the traditional masculine way of doing things and marrying it with very powerful aspects of the feminine in business. Today we’re going to briefly explore alternative strategies, tactics, and even timelines that can make an impact on your business strategy, with a more feminine approach.
A more feminine approach to one’s business model - especially for women who are founders and entrepreneurs - can create a very strong, sustainable, and reliable foundation. Why? The feminine is an energy that is in tune with the rhythms of nature - a menstrual cycle is a monthly lunar rhythm, and it is also a seasonal cycle. As we become more in tune with nature’s rhythm and its cycles, and then align them with our business strategy, we can begin to create a foundation that does not rely upon burnout and a perpetual growth mindset for success. We can begin to redefine what true success is - the same as in nature - life that is vibrant, robust and cyclical.
This discussion will be focussing on the Wheel of The Year as a guide to align our work nature’s seasonal wisdom and themes. If you live in a place that experiences the seasons quite noticeably, this can be an even more powerful tool for your work and creative force. If you do not, it is still a valuable way to learn to operate in a more cyclical fashion - one that gives space and time for rest and growth.
If you are not familiar with The Wheel of The Year, you can read more about it here. For now, we will dive directly into the creation process using Nature’s wisdom as our guide. Note that all dates are based in the Northern Hemisphere, but can be flipped for those in the Southern Hemisphere.
Below you will be offered practical tasks to engage in during the seasonal festival days. These suggestions can help you to connect more deeply with the world around you and increasingly attune your business to the powerful force of alignment. As with all suggestions, do what feels resonant and leave the rest. The pace of your business may need to adapt and flow at a faster or slower rhythm to thrive, just like different aspects of nature.
An important note These are not hard and fast rules, they are guidelines. There are many different ways to work with the Wheel of the Year and the seasons. You can always work with the seasons each month, moving through Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter. It need not be just the year, although this practice can also be potent.
1. Business Strategy & Tactics at Samhain
Samhain is the last harvest of the year and is sometimes considered the start of the New Year in the Wheel of the Year. As with all endings, a preparation for a new beginning can begin. Additionally, when we have an ending, it is a beautiful time to reflect, and give gratitude for what was. A particularly opportune time to engage in a practice of reflection in your business is during the time of Samhain (October 31st & November 1st in the Gregorian calendar or as the Sun enters 15 degrees in Scorpio as Solar Samhain).
It is also a great time to review completed projects that have been wrapped throughout the year, develop best practices for the next chapter, and close up any loose ends, contracts or even let go of staff that may no longer be in alignment. Tap into this potent energy as a catalyst for both endings and beginnings. Simultaneously, prepare yourself to rest and turn inward, as well as plant seeds for what is to come.
Aligned Activities: Complete projects, end contracts, revise the past year, create a best practice learning, prepare for the next season ahead, clean up loose ends, and “clear” anything that feels stagnant within your business (including projects, products, services or even staff that are no longer in alignment with the business).
2. Business Strategy & Tactics at Yule
Yule is the darkest time of the year, and so it unsurprisingly calls in the energy of rest. While your business can’t necessarily take a full break (if it can, enjoy!), it is important that you find time to make your schedule lighter, create space for yourself, and spend some time in the darkness. For in this darkness, the seeds of creation can germinate.
If you’re ever feeling very stuck in your business and its strategy, it might be time to spend some time in stillness. It is from this place that the creative spark can be seen — even if it is very dim for the moment.
As you enter Yule or Winter Solstice (usually falling between December 20th - 23rd), it also marks the transition from the darkest period of the year to the anticipation of the returning light.
While you’re in the mode of rest, it is a potent time to sketch the initial ideas, set intentions for the upcoming year, and begin laying the foundation for the next product, service, or offering. It might also be a time to start mapping out what resources will be needed for those ideas to spring to life.
Aligned activities: Rest, revise your vision & mission, set intentions, prepare new ideas, and resource planning for upcoming products, services, or offerings.
3. Business Strategy & Tactics at Imbolc / Imbolg
Imbolc / Imbolg arrives on February 1st in the Gregorian calendar or Solar Imbolc, when the sun reaches 15 degrees Aquarius. Imbolc signifies the early days of Spring, a joyful celebration of the forthcoming fertility. It is considered “the quickening” and so that energy can be woven beautifully as we awaken from the winter slumber. Let the essence of this season inspire you as you embrace the creative energy and begin developing an action plan and taking the first steps to activate it.
Consider this phase as the time where the gears are put in place - perhaps now is the time you begin funding the project, starting interviews with new potential team members, begin customer interviews for next phases of development or develop strategies for the remaining year related to how you will be seen in the world (marketing, for example). It is a wonderful time to put into practice all the new ideas, systems and ways of working after having had a period of rest and space to gain clarity.
Aligned activities: Implementation of the building blocks, putting into practice new ideas or ways of working, beginning to activate the creative ideas that may have come through.
4. Business Strategy & Tactics at Ostara
At Ostara or Spring Equinox (which falls between March 19th - 22nd) we begin to see the blooming take shape. Life is becoming more and more abundant, there is a rebirth. Allow this time to ignite your own fire, as you begin to creatively delve into putting more life into projects that are ready to take flight - begin staffing, continuing to fund, and build out the next phase of the company.
Ultimately, Ostara is a great time for launching! This season presents a wonderful opportunity to launch new products and services, rebrand old services into the new, or create new campaigns to retell an old story in a new way. Embrace the spirit of growth and renewal, as you infuse your creations with the essence of the blossoming world around you.
Aligned activities: Launch, put resources into new projects or products, re-design or re-brand old products or services.
5. Business Strategy & Tactics at Beltane
We now welcome the arrival of summer with Beltane, the potent Fire Festival of fertility (which falls on May 1st in the Gregorian calendar or in the Solar calendar, when the Sun reaches 15 degrees in Taurus). While tending to the growing seeds we've planted, we celebrate the blooming and expansion. We find ourselves in an energy of fertilization and gestation, eagerly awaiting the impending birth.
It's an exciting time when your initial efforts may start yielding results, bringing forth revenue from the new products or offerings you have introduced to the market. This progress allows you to continue embracing the abundance and fertility of this time: you may find it a good time to invest further in advertising, new systems, features, packaging, expanding into new markets, production, or any other avenues that resonate with you. It is during this time that the pace of your business may be picking up, and so more energy will be used to hold the creativity that is flowing.
Aligned activities: Investing, scaling, creating, developing with cadence, and generally growing in all areas of the business that are showing signs of potential.
6. Business Strategy & Tactics at Litha
As your growth-oriented activities steadily ascend, they culminate in the radiant energy of Litha/Midsummer or Summer Solstice (falling around June 19th - 22nd). At the peak of Summer, the sun shines its brightest, marking the longest day of the year. Litha invites us to celebrate the abundance of life in its fullest expression, while also gently reminding us that the wheel continues to turn, initiating the cycle of transformation.
During this potent season, creative energy and the energy of “being seen” reach its zenith, inviting us to embrace a time of self-expression. During this time, your business may be asked to be seen more wholly, or maybe you as a founder. Prepare at this time to speak more prominently about what it is you’re doing in the world, how you are here to help. Consider engaging a PR team, or expanding your efforts in being in the limelight of the sun. A great time prepare for early fall conferences, or speaking engagements, as well as tradeshows and fairs that come in the next phase.
Aligned activities: Network, socialize, visit events, organize events, go to fairs, engage with PR and marketing efforts in a greater way, prepare for the next half of the year and revise budgets, as well as check in with where you have been, be present where your heart tells you your energy should flow.
7. Business Strategy & Tactics at Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh (which falls on August 1st in the Gregorian calendar, or, when the Sun reaches 15 degrees in Leo), marks the celebration of the first Harvest Festival, centered around bountiful grain and the sentiment of gratitude and abundance. It is a time to take stock of where you are at this time, reward yourself and the team where due, and celebrate wins from the past year. Truly take time to admire all of the “seeds” you have planted, as you enjoy the abundance all around you.
Perhaps you can gather with your team or clients, cherishing the alliances that have accompanied you on this journey throughout the year. Coming together and celebrating with others is a beautiful way to intentionally live and express gratitude in your life.
Aligned activities: Connect to the abundance of the season, organize gatherings, celebrate with your team / clients, consider giving rewards, bonuses and extra holidays at this time, celebrate wins, share your success stories and continue to shine under the Leo sun.
8. Business Strategy & Tactics at Mabon
At Mabon or the Fall Equinox (which arrives between September 21st - 24th) we are in the midst of the waning of the year. As we continue giving gratitude for the bounty of the second harvest, it is also a time to prepare for the darker times to come. In modern times, Mabon is sometimes recognized as the Witches' Thanksgiving, a time of gathering and celebration and so too, the descent into a more restful season.
During this season, as you cross a threshold, it is a potent time to reflect on the progress made throughout the year. At this time, check-in with benchmarks, and how goals for the year are shaping up. Make steps to move towards the end of the year in a way that marks a completion with abundance and grace (just like you would prepare for the winter with your last harvest).
Take a moment to assess what has gone well, but too, consider any areas that may need to be coming to an end, or relationships that might need to come to a close. Begin embarking on legal processes and journeys to help those manifest before the end of the year.
Aligned activities: Analyse performance results, evaluate the previous year’s business tactics, and prepare to optimize for the remainder of the year and start the closing process for those tasks, systems or products/projects that are ready to find an ending.
While this was a brief example, there is so much more to dive into on this time. Should you wish to learn more about the Wheel of The Year and also connect with like-minded, inspiring female entrepreneurs that create from a more meaningful place, you are welcome to join the waitlist for the next intake of The Feminine Code Business School.
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