Written by: Veronica Sanchez De Darivas, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Conscious leadership is a relatively new concept, but there has been increasing interest in it in recent years. I personally came across this concept a few years ago, when researching for courses on leadership and I have to say that I really love this approach.
But what is Conscious Leadership? It is an approach to leadership that emphasizes self-awareness, authenticity, empathy, and purpose. Conscious leadership requires a high level of self-awareness, which involves understanding our own values, strengths and weaknesses. It also involves being mindful and present in the moment, and cultivating an ability to listen deeply to others.
Conscious leadership is a holistic way of linking personal growth, social responsibility, and work success. Conscious leaders are all about creating a more sustainable world, where leaders truly understand that their decisions and actions have a huge impact on the people, communities, and environments around them.
What are the benefits of Conscious Leadership?
Let’s see how this approach can benefit your business, workplace, and personal life:
Enhanced communication skills: Conscious leaders communicate in an open, honest, and empathetic way. This approach allows to build trust and understanding between people working in any kind of environment and creates a positive culture where people feel heard and valued.
Increased Productivity: Conscious leaders are set to inspire and motivate people, they are able to provide a sense of purpose and a collective vision for the future. People then feel part of a team and this paves the way to improvements in productivity and better results.
Innovation: Conscious leaders are open to new ideas and perspectives, which leads to more transformative and creative solutions to problems and difficult situations.
Work-Life Balance: Conscious leaders understand the importance of work-life balance and put the well-being of people first.
Social Influence: Conscious leaders encourage ethical decisions and sustainability in all areas of their work, from environmental aspects to production, safety and more. Social influence allows people to become more responsible at work and even in their personal life.
Becoming a conscious leader
Conscious Leadership is needed in the world right now because global issues call for a different way of doing business and living life, we want leaders who bring a social, holistic and collaborative manner and response to the construction of a new world. Becoming a conscious leader involves developing a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Here are some steps you can take to become a more conscious leader:
Self-reflection: Take time to reflect on your personal values, beliefs, strengths, and areas of improvement. Identifying these areas will give you a view to plan your personal development journey.
Mindfulness: Practice being present and aware in the moment. The power of now is real as it gives you inner understanding of current situations and solutions when in need of them. Meditation, journaling or breathing exercises will help you in the process of becoming more present.
Empathy and compassion: Develop your ability to understand and relate to others. Listen actively and seek to understand the perspectives and experiences of those around you. These qualities are not a weakness, in fact, they make a leader stronger because human relations get enhanced and trust takes centre stage.
Vision: Develop a clear vision for what you want in terms of people’s performance and communicate it well. This vision should be aligned with your personal values and goals, as loyalty to your true self is key in becoming a conscious leader.
Coherence: Act with integrity, ethically and with honesty. Remember that you are committed to your values and principles. Coherence implies alignment of the mind, heart and body; from this approach your decisions and relationships will become more powerful.
Passion: Love what you do. If you are not happy with your current situation, change it, look for courage within you and act from a place of self-worth and appreciation.
Gratitude: Be grateful for the opportunities that come your way and show others that you appreciate them, their work and efforts.
Learning: Continually look for ways to learn and grow, both personally and professionally. This can be done through reading, attending workshops or conferences, and listening to feedback from others. Remember to take feedback in a positive way.
Service: Lead with a focus on serving others and making a positive impact on the world. Creating a positive influence in your immediate environment will unleash a ripple effect of goodness that will also impact you personally.
Conscious Leader Journaling Prompts
These prompts will set you in the direction of becoming a conscious leader. Please, take pen and paper, preferably a journal or a notebook, but before writing calm your mind by doing the following breathing exercise:
Close your eyes, place your hands on your heart or chest area, inhale and exhale a bit deeper and slower than normal, focus on your heart when doing this. Stay inhaling and exhaling with your attention on your heart for about 5 minutes, then open your eyes and start answering the following questions.
What are my core values?
As a leader, what is important to me?
What do I want to achieve personally?
What do I want to achieve professionally?
What is preventing me from being an inspiring conscious leader?
Based on the last question, what are the things I need to address and improve to become a conscious leader? Prioritise.
Write down your plan to become a conscious leader.
In my view, Conscious Leadership is a blueprint of beneficial change, a path to help the creation of a better world, one that vibrates higher, where we cooperate with one another, where we truly see each other.
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” ‒John C. Maxwell
“Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” ‒ Simon Sinek
I invite you to check out my most recent journals here.
Veronica Sanchez De Darivas, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Veronica Sanchez De Darivas shares tools on how to manage stress, negative emotions and build resilience and on how to use high vibration words. Veronica is a Spanish grammar and literature teacher. During the last twelve years, she has dedicated herself to spirituality and is a Certified Instructor for the Cyclopea Method of Internal Activation of the Pineal Gland, a method created in South America 33 years ago by the spiritual leader Fresia Castro. Veronica is the first instructor in the world teaching this life changing method in English. Veronica is a Spiritual Life Coach and a HeartMath Certified Coach as well. Veronica is also an author. She has been writing for many years for online magazines and blogs in Spanish and English. Veronica is both a Chilean and an Australian citizen now living in the UK. Her mission is the expansion of consciousness.
