Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. —Jack Welch
We talk about conscious leadership a lot at the conscious professional. Of course we do! It’s what we are all about. That being said, although we talk a lot about it and why it is important, we don’t always qualify what it means to be one. What behaviours should one implement in order to pursue a more conscious leadership style? What actions will see your team regard you as a conscious leader? How does being a conscious leader benefit both your wellbeing and the wellbeing of your employees and colleagues?
Well, here is an article that should help clear things up a bit. Here is a quick list of some of the behaviours and habits that can make a big difference in your transition to a conscious leadership model.
1. Self-Awareness
This may be the most important point. If not the most important, it is certainly the foundation upon which to build your other conscious leadership implementations. Cultivating self-awareness is paramount to effective leadership. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses not only allows you to monitor yourself better, but demonstrating that you know your own assets and faults communicates that all who work for you should cultivate the same self-awareness.
Also, learning to be critical of yourself, without beating yourself up about what you do and don’ like about yourself doesn’t make you ‘down on yourself’. Indeed, it makes it much easier for you to assess where to put your energy in order to improve and become more rounded.
Self-awareness and acceptance of your personality and emotions will also help you to recognise this in others, and so will help you to become more empathetic to your workforce.
2. Meditation
As far as we are concerned, there is little that meditation cannot improve. Even if a regular meditation for you is just sitting quietly for five minutes a day to let your brain unjumble, this will make a huge difference. The deepening of your consciousness caused by regular meditation will aid you in being more focused, more efficient and more creative. It will also put you in a better mood, which will lead to less build-up of stress, and therefore, more clear-headed decision making.
3. Reflecting on Your Choices
As a leader, you will make many choices that affect other people. It is important, after making big decisions, to reflect on the effect they have had on the company and the people who work for it. Big decisions will often have repercussions that are both expected and unexpected. Ensure that you observe effects and repercussions, and act accordingly to fix any unforeseen issues.
4. Admitting Fault
Part of effective leadership, conscious or not, is trust. Trust between you and your team. You will not always make the right decision. Sometimes you will ruffle some people’s feathers. It is important that you admit fault when there is a fault, and that you communicate how you will both take ownership of the mistake and work to correct it.
5. Following Through on Your Promises
In addition to admitting fault, it is also crucial that you keep your promises. This is also essential to building trust. A leader that cannot follow through on their promises, is a leader that cannot be trusted. Therefore, be honest. Do not make promises you cannot keep, and keep the ones you make.
6. Transparency and Communication
Never treat the people that work for you like fools. The more employees feel involved in the workings of a business, the more likely they are to invest their positive energy into it. Keep people in the loop. Tell them what is going on. And, even if you cannot tell them what is going on, at least tell them that you cannot yet tell them what’s going on. Make sense? Information should flow like a river, a constant stream of communication. Big news should never come as a shock, like a bucket of water in the face. Your team should always be able to see it coming.
7. Listening
Don’t just hear your employees. Listen to them. To listen is the simplest but most impactful behaviour you could cultivate when it comes to tangible relations between you and a colleague, whether it be a single person or a group. Listen. Ask questions about their concerns. Have a conversation about potential action. Invest in their concerns and make them part of the solution.
By Chris Thomson
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