4 Ripple Effects of Conscious Leadership

By Georgina Miranda, guest contributor

As the future of work continues to evolve at a rapidly changing place, our centeredness and heightened awareness as leaders become ever more so critical. The playbook we once used as leaders needs to be revisited with new eyes and heart so that we can be our own anchors and that for our people. We are called to consider a broader perspective of what world-class places of work look, feel, and act like. 

Conscious leadership asks us to be mindful, compassionate, and selfless in all we say and do. Becoming a conscious leader begins with having self-awareness to drive meaningful change in the organizations we run and keep well. We live in times where businesses need to achieve profitability, while still prioritizing the health and wellbeing of their people. 

The Ripple Effect of Conscious Leadership 

Mindfulness. Mindfulness helps us harness our attention and awareness, allowing us to remain in the present moment. The amount of rapid fire change impacting organizations globally is leading to large levels of change fatigue, burnout, and overall feelings of depletion. It’s easy to feel pulled in one thousand different directions on any given day. Being able to reclaim personal attention and awareness helps leaders to be able to diligently tackle one change or challenge at a time. Practicing mindfulness as a way of working allows for centered conversations where people feel heard and valued. By being mindful ourselves, we inspire our team to embody this practice. A mindful organization operates with efficiency, focus, heightened awareness to be able to take a more responsive approach to challenges versus a reactive one. 

Compassion. With the tremendous amount of pressure, change, and stress leaders have faced, many are left with a feeling of wishing they could do more or better. It’s an opportunity to develop a practice of self-compassion. If we know we are doing the best we can in any given situation, we must be able to show compassion for ourselves and any shortcomings that may result considering so many factors are far beyond our control. This is not to say that we lower our standards of self-accountability, but that we acknowledge and address the physical, mental, or emotional pains we might be experiencing. If we cannot do this for ourselves, then we won’t have the emotional intelligence and capacity to do this for our people. We cannot place judgment on the challenges others in our organization might be facing, especially as leaders do not have a 360 perspective in what is happening beyond zoom or those hallway conversations. As our people entrust in us the hardships, fears, or doubts they may be experiencing, we have the opportunity to address them from a place of compassion. An organization that starts to practice and embody compassion allows for a culture of heightened emotional intelligence, trust, and care. 

Selflessness. Being entrusted as a leader comes with responsibility for the safekeeping and serving in the best interest of the organization and its people. Our goal as leaders is not only to personally succeed, but that as a whole, the actions and decisions we make serve the highest and best good of all involved. Imagine the shift that happens when leaders move from I to We. Being able to practice selflessness requires self-awareness as well. We need to be able to evaluate our decisions and actions and be honest behind their intention and who they serve. An organization with selfless leaders inspires a culture of collaboration and connection. 

Empowerment An organization fueled by conscious leaders empowers personal leaders. Leadership starts with each individual, after all. An organization's success does not rely solely on those with leadership titles, it is dependent on the entire workforce. When we can inspire personal leadership, individuals are empowered to set healthy boundaries and look after their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing as well. This aspect of leadership needs to expand beyond our role within an organization but our role in taking the best care of ourselves so that we can show up best prepared for any challenge at hand. 

Shifting a Paradigm for the Future

The global pandemic has left an imprint on how we work and challenged us to adopt new skills at lightning speed without asking anyone if they were up for the ride. A year and a half later, we have an opportunity to consciously look at our current situation in the workplace and design engineer in a way that best supports the future growth of not only the company, but the people making the magic happen so to speak. We can’t ignore the data that speaks to the heightened levels of stress, anxiety, and depression that are impacting places of work around the world or the disparities that still exist in terms of providing equitable structures and offerings. Conscious leaders will help shift the global collective out of outdated systems, behaviors, and structures that are no longer relative to our world today and that do not have the best interest of their people rooted in their core. They will be able to do so with awareness and total consciousness, first within themselves, then within their places of work. It’s a new era to thrive not only in profitability, but with impact and total well-being.