By Valerie Milano
Las Vegas, NV (The Hollywood Times) 9/17/23 – Dr. Pauline Crawford thinks there’s just too much arguing going on in today’s’ world.
“I am very passionate about men and women being in authentic harmony together,” Crawford said in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Times during the 4th annual International Business Forum of Las Vegas, which wrapped up its three-day run-on Sunday.
Crawford’s latest book, “The Power of Authentic Harmony,” addresses that point by teaching people how to have more meaningful conversations.
“I am a behavioralist and a conversationalist, and I help people have amazing conversations in which they learn about each other,” she said. “They don’t fight, they come to it with no judgement, and they actually find all sorts of things out about each other. I call it magical conversation.”
Crawford, the Chief Vision Officer for corporate Heart International, was a keynote speaker at the conference, bringing her message of harmony to business leaders from all over the globe. It is a message about which Crawford is passionate indeed. She says achieving that harmony can make for better business.
“It’s very much about making sure we have corporate leaders, business leaders, women, men really getting to grips with some of the issues we have today, not fighting for equality, but in a sense of true, actual harmony,” she said.
So, with a world that is so divided and polarized, honoring the concept of team while at the same time recognizing individuality and uniqueness is the real challenge.
“People say we shouldn’t focus on differences, we’re all the same team, same organization,” Crawford said. “Well, of course we are, but it is our uniqueness that makes us fabulous. So, I would say we’re equal but different.”
Crawford said that the notion that men and women in the business world are all the same is total nonsense. By honoring uniqueness by getting to know those other unique things about somebody else, we facilitate two very important journeys – learning about ourselves and learning about how we can relate to others who are different that you.
“Your superpower is finding out how you can relate to someone that is different from you,” she said, explaining that in this context, the concept of difference is not just limited to gender, but extends to our world cultures.
It also affects our perception of power. Depending on how we look at the word, power can be control and power can be electricity, she said.
“Power is an energy source, and as Einstein said, we cannot destroy energy, we can only transform it,” Crawford said.
“If the power structure is based in male rule, which is very strong, very dynamic, very disciplined, very yes or no, then we need to adapt ourselves,” she said. “But if we look at how others see power, power is love, power is tuning in, the power of a circle of people who are totally in harmony is hugely powerful.”
It is this second concept of harmonious power that Crawford teaches and speaks about at conferences around the globe. And it is her goal, she said, to transform the concept of power from that of control to the idea of being in harmony and finding peace in the pursuit of a common goal.
“If you can imagine everybody being in harmony around the world. And tuning hearts to hearts, that is incredibly powerful,” she said. “I want to shift the power from controlling power, which, unfortunately becomes greed and corruption, and everything we don’t want, to this tuning-in energy.”
A tall challenge, indeed, but one Crawford is all in to achieve.
“In the corporate world, we have to persuade those who only see power as control, to switching over to this tuning-in power, and understanding that when people tune in to each other, they actually work better, they produce more, they’re more creative… and guess what? They are more likely to serve their customers better.”
Crawford believes this is achievable and with it will come a new synergy among businesspeople. She has developed the idea of their being two different archetypes of men and women.
Ang the men, Crawford said there are ruler types who are the yes-or-no, bullet-point type of people, and the thinker/feelers, philosophers who ask the why questions.
And then you have women who are very logical, – Crawford calls the “the magicians” – who are the idea people, and the women who are more sovereign, total nurturers who are constantly looking out for the other person with whom they are working.
“When you look at these four energies, you have to find a way to make these energies work together like a very fine engine,” Crawford said. “You do need the rulers’ making decisions, the magicians coming up with ideas, the sovereigns who are checking off the bullet points, and the philosophers, who are looking after everyone, keeping the team on track and working together.
“When you look at it that way, it provides a lot of ‘wins’ for the boss, who may any one of those characters,” she said, adding that no matter who it is, they need to see the advantages of this new synergy mix.
The downside, Crawford said, is you risk a very lopsided leadership paradigm that can result in a host of negative outcomes, including harassments problems and employee dissatisfaction, which can lead to unhappy customers.
“The whole thing mixes together when you look at the value of people,” she said. “It’s about tuning into our emotional center as well as our mind’s center … It’s a new mix for a new world.”
Crawford has another avenue for spreading her message as the president of the Rotary Club of Global Impact, which has members in the United States, Canada, South America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, India, Philippines, Malaysia, and Bangladesh.
“More than half our members are female which is still unusual in Rotary clubs,” Crawford said, who added that Rotary International gives millions of dollars in service to humanitarian and local service projects.
“My mission is to enlighten young adults to be entrepreneurial and value each other.” she said. Crawford and her fellow Rotarians currently are working with young adults in Ghana.
“I do see myself as, and act as, a global citizen,” she said “The issues of dissonance and marginalization are everywhere. I focus on starting a new language mastery with my Gender Dynamics Intelligence approach.”
