This piece is the second of a multi-part Future of Cyclical Work essay series written by a number of different authors exploring the intersection of cycle literacy and organizational design.
Most female leaders are navigating two parallel worlds: the 24-hour rhythm that shapes modern work (fast, consistent, solar), and the 28-day rhythm that shapes their bodies (seasonal, shifting, lunar).
These two systems run on completely different clocks and that mismatch quietly influences communication, decision-making, emotional resilience, confidence, and leadership transitions.
For decades, women have been asked to lead inside structures that were built around linear time and constant output. These systems created enormous progress, and they still matter. But they weren’t designed with women’s natural rhythms in mind.
Because female leadership isn’t linear by nature. It is cyclical - intuitive, seasonal, regenerative.
And this doesn’t mean replacing one model with another. It means honoring both the stable, focused linear energy that drove innovation for centuries, and the cyclical intelligence that can now make our systems more sustainable and future-ready.
So the real question becomes: What happens when women stop trying to fit into the linear system and start shaping it with their own rhythm?
This is a question I’ve been exploring firsthand over the past five years as Co-founder and CEO of WeGoZero, a company inspired daily by natural cycles. In the following, I’ll share what I’ve learned with and from a growing community of people curious about leading and working differently.
Let's go deeper.
The Power of Cyclicality - The Inner Seasons
What we call the inner seasons describe the natural phases menstruating women move through each month. It’s a balanced system of outward and inward focus, action and rest, growth and release - much like the cycles we see in nature every year.
As we’ve adapted to linear work systems, many of us have lost touch with this cyclical intelligence. Reconnecting to it doesn’t mean abandoning structure - it means remembering rhythm.
Explore the inner seasons with me below.
Menstruation/ Inner Winter: Visioning & Strategic Withdrawal
My experience
Real-world business application
A small story
Mantra for Inner Winter
"I withdraw to see clearly."
Initiation Ritual (for women and men)
Follicular/ Inner Spring: Experimentation & Initiation
My experience
Real-world business application
A small story
I tried new outreach ideas with zero pressure. It felt fun - effortless. The worst that could happen? Nothing. The best? I win a new client.
Mantra for Inner Spring
“I begin softly, knowing growth will come.”
Initiation Ritual (for women and men)
Choose one small experiment for the week. Try one new idea. Start one tiny project. Do it lightly.
Ovulation/ Inner Summer: Visibility & Embodied Influence
Summer is the moment of full expression - confidence, presence, communication, and outward leadership. It is not performance; it is embodiment.
My experience
In inner summer, I feel magnetic. Grounded. Fully here. I pitch, present, collaborate and I enjoy every second of it.
Real-world business application
Step forward. Speak up. Initiate collaboration. This is the phase for visibility and influence.
A small story
I walked on stage recently and owned the room in a way I’ve never felt before. I wasn’t performing. I was anchored. Fully myself. Unshakeable.
Mantra for Inner Summer
“I lead with confidence and joy.”
Initiation Ritual (for women and men)
Schedule one brave act of visibility. A presentation, a pitch, a difficult conversation - something that lets your competence shine.
Luteal/ Inner Autumn: Refinement & Truth-Telling
Autumn sharpens focus, heightens discernment, and strengthens boundaries. It’s the season for editing, completing, and telling the truth.
My experience
Autumn feels wild and intense but it is the most honest phase. I refine, evaluate, say no, and prepare for winter.
Real-world business application
Say no more often. Set clear boundaries. Finish what matters and release what doesn’t. Autumn is the backbone of sustainable leadership.
A small story
I let go of a colleague whose values weren’t aligned with the company. It was difficult, but it created space for someone who truly fits. Autumn makes truth unavoidable.
Mantra for Inner Autumn
“I refine, release, and return to truth.”
Initiation Ritual (for women and men)
Do one act of clean closure. Finish something, say no to something, or let go of something that drains you.
While the inner seasons are rooted in the lived experience of menstruating women, they are not exclusive to them. They offer a source of knowledge, remembering, and inspiration for anyone interested in regenerating how we live, work, and care for our planet. Cyclical intelligence may be embodied most visibly in women’s bodies, but its wisdom is universal.
Whether you are a male senior leader, a woman at the beginning of her career, post-menopause, or a student, the inner seasons provide a powerful framework for understanding rhythm, energy, and sustainable leadership. Here, female leadership does not only mean holding a formal leadership role - it means leading your life in alignment with your own cyclicality, taking responsibility for your wellbeing, and shaping your work and decisions from that place. For you and for our natural surroundings.
These Phases Are Not Limitations - They Are Leadership Intelligence
When embraced, the inner seasons form a full-spectrum leadership system: strategic withdrawal + experimentation + visibility + refinement. Dark and light, valued equally.
This is the cadence of sustainable leadership.
Designing Teams Around Women’s Natural Rhythms
Inclusive workplace design can integrate cyclical awareness in subtle, powerful ways:
- flexible focus weeks for deep internal work or visibility
- project cycles mapped to natural pacing
- meeting design that respects energy patterns
- team rituals for slowing down, reflecting, and resetting
- boundaries that protect deep work and recovery
- creating environments where people can openly discuss energy levels, including menstrual cycles, without stigma or self-censorship.
This isn’t “special treatment.” It’s intelligent team design - the same way companies already adapt to quarterly rhythms, agile sprints, or seasonality in their markets.
When teams understand the inner seasons of female leadership, collaboration becomes smoother and emotional resilience becomes a shared responsibility, not an individual struggle.
From Linear to Circular: Applying Cyclical Intelligence to Organizations and Businesses
Circular economy principles mirror the logic of cyclical work:
- renew rather than extract
- pace rather than push
- design for longevity
- build systems that regenerate, not deplete.
This is the future of work: leadership that mirrors nature itself.
Female leadership models this inherently. It’s not a deviation from the norm - it’s a blueprint for the next era of business.
Burnout is not an inevitability. It’s a sign of systems out of sync with nature.
If we want workplaces that are sustainable, innovative, and resilient, we must bring cyclicality back into leadership, team culture, and organizational design.
Talking about bringing cyclicality back suggests that this way of living once existed - and it did.
Before industrialization, electric light, and standardized work time, many cultures organized life around natural rhythms, particularly the moon. Lunar calendars shaped agriculture, rest, and social life, and women’s cycles often aligned with moonlight - a synchrony still observed in low–artificial-light environments (Cutler, 1980; Wehr, 2017).
As time became standardized and productivity decoupled from nature, cyclical intelligence was pushed aside, especially in relation to women’s bodies and leadership. So bringing cyclicality back is not about creating something new, but remembering and reintegrating a form of embodied knowledge that modern systems left behind.
When women are grounded in their bodies - physically, emotionally, and hormonally - their leadership becomes steadier, clearer, and more resilient. This is the essence of cyclical work: leadership that moves with life, not against it - and in doing so, offers a more sustainable, and regenerative future for all.
About the Author
Stefanie Behrendt is the Co-founder and CEO of WeGoZero, supporting organizations in shifting from linear to circular ways of working by integrating zero-waste principles into daily operations. From this intersection, her newsletter Cyclical Work: Moon inspired emerged, where she redefines what it means to work and lead as a woman - exploring how reconnecting with natural and menstrual rhythms can reshape leadership, wellbeing, and the future of sustainable, regenerative business.
References
Cutler, W. B. (1980). The effects of lunar cycles on human reproduction. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7405975/
Wehr, T. A. (2017). Moonlight, menstruation, and modern life. Current Biology
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe1358