CONSCIOUS LEADERSHIP

“Leadership is influence.” John C. Maxwell

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” General Colin Powell

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.” Herbert Swope

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams

 

Insight of the day:

As you will see in the video that follows, true leadership stems from a conscious state of mind…it is an attitude that is closely linked with the inside-out understanding of human experience, exactly what the 3 Principles offer! Just ask yourself: “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” The greatest leaders in the world today care about being happy and take their happiness and that of the people around them very seriously. We all have a conscious leader inside of us that seeks to find expression and we could all become one. Conscious leaders are not born, they are made! As it stands at the moment, they make only for 2% of the population…and that is related to the fact that people have relied on their rational mind too much in order to deal with perceived threats or lack (there is scientific theory behind this linked to the way the amygdala part of the brain works instinctively and developmentally in a reactive way). Yet, that is slowly changing…

 

Reflection journal:

After reading the qualities of conscious leaders, and seeing the YouTube video, you can start by recognizing whether you are above or below the line. Then continue with exploring the leader in you and the leader in people around you.

Let’s make it practical. Take one challenge you are currently facing in your life – be it personal or professional – and reflect on how you could deal with it differently, as a leader. It can be anything (even a bad habit), as long as it is something you have been overthinking, considering very important and you have not found a way to resolve it yet.

Tips: First, stop obsessing about it, overanalyzing it or talking about it too much. Agree to leave it to the side for a period of time (e.g. for 1 week) and refuse to think about it. If you like, make an appointment with yourself to review the situation in a week’s time. Secondly, stop criticizing yourself, other people or life/God for what happened, i.e. the reason why you are facing this challenge. The best questions in the world start with “What…” and NOT with “Why…”, because the latter propel us to a victim mindset. Recognize the part that is your business, other people’s business or God’s business and make a conscious choice to stay in your business only. Accept the situation for what it is, as though you chose it. Then, enter a wondering and curious state of mind, like you know nothing about the issue at hand and would like to receive fresh ideas. Trust that through a relaxed and open mind you will receive insights and creative ideas as to what is the best way to handle the issue at hand. Be relaxed, attentive and intentional about listening to your inner wisdom in order to be best informed. Meanwhile, spend the reserves of time and energy that you would normally put in overthinking that issue, in having fun and being present/happy. See where that takes you. Lastly, and above all, please don’t take this exercise seriously!!! Just try it out and have fun!

Statistics show that our intelligence is much higher while being relaxed. From a quiet mind, all three intelligent quotients are higher: our IQ, our EQ an our BQ. More than anything, the intelligence of life works through us when we are calm, because we are connected to it. That’s why internationally acclaimed gurus say that “busy is the new stupid”, referring to busy as the overanalyzing mind and resulting reactive behaviors, that keep us limited to only 4% of our potential.