5 reasons prevent women from developing their potential

According to the Federal Statistical Office, almost a third of women worked in German management levels in 2022. In the EU-wide ranking of the 27 member states, this was a shameful 21st place.

In the past ten years, the proportion of female managers in this country has hardly developed. Why?

Because the pursuit of power is still a male domain, even in Germany. Around the world, individual states’ aspirations for power have reached proportions that have the potential to develop into theaters of war with nuclear weapons. Their names: Putin, Netanyahu, Ali Khamenei, Kim Jong Um and others. They threaten, throw bombs and send men to the front. As “cannon fodder” in the name of fascism, nationalism, or a religious worldview. Behind power lies violence. And it has many faces, regardless of what terms we subsume it under.

Women, on the other hand, are not aware of their own power, or do not allow themselves to strive for power, and are sometimes even afraid of it. Either because they are socially excluded, fear for their jobs, or even have to fear for their lives. This is why socially influenced role attributions have such a strong and lasting effect. This phenomenon does not happen by chance, but is based on several factors that run through women’s lives like a thread of permanent disempowerment:

The curse of history

The development of female power by women in Germany was and is still partly hindered by an internalized prohibition against grasping for power. Power is a term that has negative connotations because there is a German past to it. And positive role models are missing. The ban on women’s power is enforced with subtle, soft violence – in offices, production halls, partnerships or institutions. The ban is based on transgenerational transmissions that have their origins in the history of women and their German homeland. Adaptation and obedience are passed on from one generation to the next; according to Sigmund Freud, violence (from victim and perpetrator) is unconsciously passed on to descendants. As a result, women’s self-worth cannot develop as it should, and the development of power, like women’s self-worth, remains in its infancy.

Martina Lackner is a psychologist, psychological psychotherapist and author. In her articles and food for thought, she regularly takes a position on current career and socio-political issues. Lackner is the owner of the PR agency Cross M.

The importance of the family of origin

Speaking of children’s shoes: The family of origin plays a key role in women’s development of power. For example, the developing power of an adolescent is hindered by the dominant father and/or mother, who compete with their daughters. Dysfunctional or functional family constellations determine the power development of girls – and continue to have a massive impact on thinking, behavior and actions when dealing with partners, colleagues and superiors even in adulthood.

When hormones take over

Young girls are looking for orientation and identification in order to build an identity as future women. Soon, controlled by hormones and million-year-old “programs,” they look for men with whom they can reproduce or who are the male role models of their childhood – but as a rule not men who will support them in their professional development. When deciding on a partner and then starting a family, many women therefore lose power over their own lives. Their power development is overshadowed by the hormonally controlled desire to reproduce. Everything they have acquired up to that point in terms of self-worth, competence and qualifications becomes fragile at this point.

The balancing act between partnership, motherhood and career

The hormones during pregnancy also influence a woman’s emotional life, as well as afterwards as a mother. If the choice of partner was influenced by the patriarchal role model from childhood, the traditional distribution of roles usually lives on in the partner. This choice of partner once again restricts women’s scope of power and development: women’s careers are tolerated, but limits are placed on them. Women also experience these limits in companies, where subtle structural violence slows down female careers – and motherhood is used as an opportunity to exit this system. Anyone who manages to reach top management with the help of the quota and perseverance finds it difficult to fully develop their own power and develop further in the patriarchal system. Leadership programs for women, which are intended to further strengthen women’s equality and bring them into leadership positions, are paid lip service in some companies. A double standard that is emerging here.

What psychological reasons underlie this undesirable development?

Blind spots: Women find it difficult to develop a keen view of their surroundings. The clear perception of your counterpart (partner, boss, colleagues) is usually only possible after knowledge.

Helplessness: Women can do little to counter soft violence or powerfully dominant men because they have never been taught how to deal with power adequately.

Individual fight: Women do not use their existing power enough and do not use it in a powerful collective. Female networks are more like stages of self-expression and places of exchange than practical support.

Angst: Women adapt because they are afraid of falling out of role and of the resulting consequences. Fear is a main motive for remaining in the regiment of role attributions.

Dependency: The dependence on the patriarchal system continues because women believe that their male counterparts are responsible for equal treatment and equality. But equal treatment begins with women themselves – by putting themselves on the same level as men in terms of their self-worth, developing their own power and thus becoming equals.

It is a misconception to think that power can only be achieved through status and hierarchy. True power comes from within. Women have to develop their inner power because they have little opportunity to do so through status and level! If they succeed in doing this through a growing awareness of this and appropriate strategies, then this is the lever with which gender relations in offices, production halls, families or institutions can really develop towards parity.

If we as a global community want to strive for lasting peace, women must reach for power to counter the violent dominance of autocrats and dictators: A HEALTHY POWER that does not sacrifice people in order to get land, resources, or even more power. It’s about balancing power interests and thus curbing violence. And this requires women who, based on their basic emotional, hormonal and psychological constitution, support democratic systems and strive to maintain them, while their male counterparts act according to archaic principles: aggression, violence, manipulation, and abuse of power.