When the female vision remains untapped, both women and organizations suffer. Women are unable to translate their best observations into action. What they see remains locked within them, and their connections with others can feel shallow and inauthentic as a result. What should be a source of power becomes a source of isolation and frustration. Without the female vision, organizations also lose power. They undermine the full potential of their talent base. They diminish the capacity of their people to make balanced decisions. They undermine creativity and reduce the potential for real collaboration. They remain one dimensional in a multidimensional world.

In order for this to change, women must take the initiative. They can’t wait for organizations to start valuing what women see. Women themselves must build a market for what they offer by teaching their companies to recognize the power and value of the female vision. In this way they can create the change they seek.

This post was excerpted from The Female Vision, published by Berrett-Kohler Publishers, June 2010.

Sally Helgesen is the author of five books, including the classic best-seller, The Female Advantage, celebrating its 20th year in print, and The Web of Inclusion, described by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books on leadership ever published. She is an international speaker and groundbreaking thinker on leadership and organizations.

Julie Johnson, a graduate of the Harvard Business School, is considered to be one of America’s most experienced and well respected coaches. She has coached hundreds of senior executives in blue chip companies and has worked with many of the most successful women in the Fortune 500. Her work has been published in the Harvard Business Review as well as in the noted book, Coaching for Leadership.