Conscious Leadership

Open yourself up to reading and exposing yourself to leadership content and there’s an entire world that opens itself up which is almost an overwhelm of information. It is such a bottomless pit that the sheer thought of sifting through, is a task in itself. How do you then find what you are looking for and what is relevant for you?

When you read Adam Grant and hear Simon Sinek speak about leadership, you are inspired and you want to embody these philosophies into your own style of being a leader and you make a mental note somewhere about what you want to hold on to and what you will imbibe.

In my many years of exploring leadership, I had never been as intrigued or as inspired as when I came across conscious leadership. It is a whole realm unto itself and it has such an elevated way of being perceived that it is something I was drawn to understanding deeper.

Let’s begin with understanding consciousness – the state of being aware of and responsive to one’s surroundings, also described as a person’s awareness or perception of something. At the simplest, it is the sentience or awareness of what is external and what is internal and using that awareness to stay elevated.

To explore what conscious leadership means, we need to delve deeper into the types of consciousness

There are five types of consciousness:

• Conscious – sensing, perceiving, and choosing
• Preconscious – memories that we can access
• Unconscious – memories that we cannot access
• Non-conscious – bodily functions without sensation
• Subconscious – “inner child,” self image formed in early childhood

There are four levels of consciousness:

• To me – victim consciousness
• By me – responsibility consciousness
• Through me – surrender consciousness
• As me – oneness consciousness

Incorporating just these and bringing awareness to where we are operating from in itself can be a game changer and incorporating that into our leadership styles, can go a long way.

Awareness. Authenticity. Empathy. Purpose. The new age mantras emerging as a part of the wave of conscious leadership. There are so many allusions to servant leadership and mindful leadership which also lend themselves into this concept of being a conscious leader.

Here’s a quote that stood out for me for its simplicity and for encapsulating what entails conscious leadership. “Conscious leadership refers to guiding others with full awareness of the self and cultivating growth in organisations by supporting the people in them. Instead of an ego-centric ‘me’ attitude, a conscious leader embodies all aspects of an inclusive ‘we’ approach,” – conscious leadership coach Kelly Campbell.

As we explore this world of consciousness, let’s understand that there are no hard measures and there is no tangible way to stack up the numbers. It is more around the softer aspects of leadership and articulation and how to connect the organisational purpose and the strategy for growth in a sustainable way.

This is just the beginning of this conscious leadership series. We will delve further into this in the next column. Until then, happy consciousness everyone!

The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.

Shreya Krishnan

Vice President - Marketing and Communications at Aon India Insurance Brokers

Shreya is a CSR Specialist and Corporate Grooming Consultant. Her interests lie in Activism, Dance, Theatre, Poetry, Blogging, Modelling, Acting. She considers herself an Earth Warrior and is an Event Anchor and Trainer. She is a Pageant Winner and public speaker.