The Conscious Leader

Conscious Leaders have come to realise that our obsession with unfettered economic growth, bottom line corporate results, and personal wealth is harmful. Why? Because our drive for economic growth damages our environment to a point where it's threatening mankind's future, and our greed for personal wealth encourages amoral, selfish and heartless behaviours, especially at work. Over the last twenty or so years, we've seen the rise of a self-serving, cynical style of leadership amongst those who should know better, as evidenced by politicians in the UK and bankers, all out for what they can get. We've witnessed the breakdown of trust, honour and decency, and seen this breakdown reflected more broadly in society.

Conscious Leadership embodies a different set of values from what you might call Power Leadership. It is focused is on serving others, whilst Power Leadership is essentially selfish, focused on acquiring personal wealth, status and power. Power Leaders believe the purpose of an organisation is about money; Conscious Leaders, whilst astute with money, are people and principle focused. One style seeks to use people as a vehicle for their own personal ambitions; the other seeks to help people find their fulfilment and passion, especially in the workplace. One is driven by the insecurities of the ego, the other by the recognition that everyone can make a difference in this world. One is driven by selfishness and a “help myself” attitude, the other by selflessness and “help others” attitude.

They view money as a means to an end, the end being to help create a better world for our children to inherit. They see that organisations are communities, and that a focus on the bottom line is not enough for an organisation these days; it needs to make a difference in the world, to contribute to society in a broader way than just selling its goods, through developing a ‘Purpose Beyond Profit'.

Conscious Leaders focus on developing the potential of their people, empowering them so they feel they can make a real difference, help them find work a fulfilling and enjoyable experience. Everyone needs meaning in their lives, and many look to their work to find it. In developing their human skills and their own process of self-actualisation, Conscious Leaders help them move away from the small “me” mentality (which most of us occupy) to the larger “us” place, where we all help one another, we become co-operative, supportive, and strive for better understanding, better relationships, and a better world.

Just as there are Conscious Leaders, there are also Conscious Organisations, ones that have come to believe that making profit purely for its own sake is not enough these days, and where their remit and sense of responsibility is much broader than just financial performance. They embrace the idea of making a difference in the world, a Purpose Beyond Profit, covering four areas: its customers, its own people, its community, and the planet. Organisations, too, must develop their potential, and not just financially, and they develop their own ‘credo', their commitment to making a difference in the world.

 

As Robert Louis Stevenson said: “ To be who we are and to become what we can become, that is the sole purpose in life.”