(This article originally appeared in Ambition, the thought leadership publication by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) – in print and online – and has been republished on this website with the permission of AMBA.)
As we all stand poised to move out from under the shadow of COVID-19 but with a world still full of uncertainty, many of us are feeling a shift in our outlook. The time spent locked away from friends and family has given many pauses for thought, and not just thought but action too as can be seen from the ‘Great Resignation’.
While it is easy to see what is wrong, it is much more difficult to identify the steps needed to put things right. A change of direction may well be needed but how can you be sure of which direction to take?
Marika Messager found herself at a crossroads nine years ago when, having worked for 14 years as a senior executive in the finance markets in equity sales, although she was an undoubted success, there was something missing from her life. After much soul-searching she realised that the elusive missing element in her work and personal life was conscious leadership. Conscious Leadership is being self- aware, being radically responsible and focusing on forging a positive impact in your world. It means thinking in terms of ‘we’, a community, rather than a culture of ‘me’.
Conscious leadership will impact all areas of your life, your success at work, your fulfilment from relationships and your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. To practise conscious leadership, it is necessary to honour your potential in everything that you do. There are three key pillars of principle that underpin conscious leadership and Messager believes that adherence to these is essential to its achievement.
The three pillars of conscious leadership
- Clarity
This is all about knowing who you are, what you want, when to take action and how to go about it. Most leaders who lack self-awareness are unable to bring their authentic self into situations and therefore either hide and manipulate, lack self-confidence, don’t feel good enough or suffer from impostor syndrome. Coming from a place of truth and authenticity, we can experience ‘soft power’; which means standing strong in our alignment while not needing to exert power over others, but rather, empower all to achieve our vision/mission. - Presence
This refers to emotional intelligence and your ability to master your emotions; it relates to how you respond to challenges and opportunities in a way that makes you proud of yourself. A conscious leader practices emotional agility and has the capacity to maintain expansive emotions such as self-confidence, courage, trust, joy, and inner peace. All while minimising emotional triggers and outburst and so maintaining a calm demeanour. Without presence it is extremely hard for any leader to truly level up. - Creation
This is the point where you evolve the strategic and execution plan (including the processes and systems) that you have designed from a place of clarity and presence. You will achieve more creative power when you have clear intentions and you have mastered your emotions.
Embracing Conscious Leadership means committing to a way of life that is all encompassing, it involves living in the spirit of radical truth where every aspect of your life, every dimension, is aligned with your true inner self and therefore embodies that truth. It is through this process that you become a conscious leader – self-aware, radically responsible, and focused on forging a positive impact.
Measuring success is multi-layered and comes from within. Whether it is financial success, inner peace or making an impact, you need to experience a perfect equilibrium in all aspects of your life.
For many, they are only able to measure their effectiveness as a leader by looking back at the success that they’ve achieved. Working with many clients, Mariska Messager is always surprised that success comes so much easier to some than to others. What is the difference between those who grasp success so easily and those who have struggled to attain it?
One of the most noticeable differences is that those people for whom achieving their goals has been more difficult often have just as hard time making decisions, to the point where they are sometimes virtually paralysed with indecision and so are unable to make decisions at all. They become frozen as a result of the fear or frustration they feel to the extent that it renders them incapable of making a choice. They have lost trust in their ability to make the right decision. For these people, and there are many, they view consciousness as an illusion and so they are reluctant, or even refuse, to undertake action that will make them more self-aware.
The other side of the coin though is that leaders who appear to find themselves celebrating win after win have a very distinct characteristic. For them decision making is easy. They seem to do everything the right way, at the right time. They always seem confident and always ‘in the flow.’ They are continuously on the move, making accurate decisions and expanding in all areas of their lives. The leaders who fall under this category see Consciousness as a truth. They continually work on themselves to achieve higher levels of consciousness. For them there is an innate understanding that in order to access or maintain higher levels of leadership, they must embrace the Conscious Path in order to stay ahead. These are Conscious Leaders.
Conscious leadership in practice
If you have the awareness of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies then you are well on the way to conscious leadership. Without self-awareness and self-leadership, nothing can develop: you have to work on yourself first.
Consciousness works on the personal aspects of the ‘healed healer’.
In the first instance, on a mental level, you have developed the ability to be aware of your thoughts and are able to choose what you want to focus on. You have mastered knowing your intentions.
On an emotional level, you have the ability to feel and accept your emotions, both negative and positive, and having felt them, you are able to release those that no longer serve your purpose, so that you have the capacity to bring yourself back into emotional alignment. You are not operating from your wounds, but rather from a strong emotional core.
Your physical self is just as important, and you will have understood that taking care of your physical wellbeing is a pre-requirement to emotional and mental mastery. You will have put in place practices that support your potential and you will have developed the ability to break free from unhealthy habits or addictions.
And finally, on a spiritual level, you have become in tune with your purpose and find yourself operating with an awareness of your personal vision of positive impact. You will have learned to trust your intuition, delved into and developed a robust understanding of spiritual technologies and stepped into your level of conscious leadership.
It is by developing your own conscious leadership that you will be fully able to take on leadership of others.
This is an adapted version of an article that was published on AMBA’s website, written by Mariska Messager; CEO and Founder of ConsciousLeadership.org.
