Look inside before looking outside to face challenges

Solutions proposed for gender equality are often generic clichés, vague and empty. The recent visit from a “corporate Sufi” to the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey, or KAGİDER, however, brought great inspiration to dozens of powerful Turkish businesswomen who were asked to gather the power within them to start tackling greater problems.

According to Azim Jamal, an inspirational speaker and self-acclaimed “corporate Sufi,” every human being has a unique power within them, but it is a great challenge to locate this power and many people go a lifetime without ever finding it. A corporate Sufi applies timeless Sufi principles to the modern corporate world, examining the uncommon connection between an age-old philosophy for living and working in the 21st century.

“Externally, many human beings exert power, but this is ego, it is not real power,” Jamal said, speaking at the KAGİDERBiz headquarters last week. According to Jamal, real power comes from within. “It is a light that when found can shine and empower other people, where as external power merely overpowers people,” he said

Jamal defines this inner power as a birthday gift, one that many go through a lifetime without opening. “People get distracted, they do what people tell them to do and lose their authenticity and mold themselves into something that they are not.”

Jamal said it is the people who maintain their authenticity and are comfortable with who they are that make a real difference in this world. “Look at Oprah Winfrey for example, she never hid her troubled past, she is overweight but comfortable in her own skin. She found the light within herself and by reflecting it on the outside and on others she has become one of the most powerful women in the world,” Jamal said.

Jamal said he accepts that society presents many hurdles, especially for women, but he is a believer that these hurdles can gradually be overcome when women start to ask themselves, “Do I allow that to happen to me?”

The Daily News reporter present at the meeting challenged this question, pointing out that there is a large percentage of women, especially in Turkey, who do not have the courage to question the authority over them, and there is a large percentage of women who believe it is right that they are treated as subordinates to men.

Jamal acknowledged that this was a wide-spread and global issue and one that a handful of individuals cannot change single-handedly, but he pointed out that it alls starts with the individual. He said this was because the focus on a small influence can have a ripple effect and end up creating a bigger influence.

“Women bring a lot to society, by leaving them behind societies try to go forward with half of their resources,” Jamal said.

Jamal proposed that women ask themselves, “What can I do to be a role model?” He said the more role models there were the more potential there was to make changes to society as a whole. “This outlook is geared towards making solutions, because once you start seeing the potential change within, you start to look at changing the world around you,” he said.

When Jamal asked the floor what they thought was their greatest challenge as women in Turkish society, KAGİDER Chairwoman Gülseren Onanç said it was polarization. “Turkish women are increasingly becoming polarized, there are so many that believe that it is not their right to assert themselves in society, it is really sad,” she said.

Another woman in the audience, who did not give her name, said it was frustrating to see such little change for women over the years. “You still go on business trips and introduce yourself as the owner of your company and a man asks you, ‘Who is your boss?’” she said.

Many women in the audience also highlighted the problem of time management as businesswomen in Turkey, saying it is increasingly becoming difficult in this demanding age to run a business and a family and put time aside for yourself. “These types of pressures placed on women make them extremely masculine,” said Tulin Özbek, another businesswoman at the meeting.

In response, Jamal said all these obstacles are a part of the process to create change. “Struggles and challenges are our biggest gift, they allow us to progress,” he said, adding that what is important is to not stand still and dwell on the problem, but instead embrace it.

A key part of Jamal’s belief toward progress is that people practice a positive one-hour in their day where they read something positive, do some exercises and meditate in order to connect with themselves. “People also say to me that we don’t have this time, but I say go to bed an hour later, or wake up an hour earlier, because this is the most precious time,” Jamal said.

The women at KAGİDER received Jamal’s presentation extremely positively, saying they would try to implement some of his suggestions in their daily lives; however, many commented that these types of presentations would be more effective with the presence of men. Onanç said men were invited to the event but only a couple showed up.

Jamal said the more women who find their inner light, strength and power, the more men will shift in their perspectives and start to move away from their patriarchal approach to women and work. He said this could happen hand-in-hand and would overall betterment of the world.