‘Tis the season of giving and gratitude and we’re celebrating in true conscious capitalism fashion by sharing our knowledge, wisdom, and experience amongst our fellow members. We are so thankful for this insightful bunch of C3MD members who took time out of their busy holiday-prep schedule to log in for our virtual November “Coffee & Collaboration” event last month. The topic of this particularly introspective coffee chat? Conscious leadership.
C3MD President Liz Richardson started the meeting with a video about conscious leadership, one of the four tenets of conscious capitalism. To kick off the discussion, she shared an inspiring quote from the book, Servant Leadership by Robert Greenleaf:
“A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.”
What Is a Conscious Leader?
According to Greenleaf, there are six key steps by which to abide as a conscious – or servant – leader:
- Good leaders must first become good servants.
- Focus on “We” not “Me.”
- Inspire, foster transformation, and bring out the best in those around them.
- Lead by example.
- Prioritize creating value for all business stakeholders.
- Cultivate a culture of trust and care.
As participants reflected on these six steps, the discussion shifted to “What does it mean to be a conscious leader?” While definitions varied from person to person, the sentiment remained the same. A conscious leader is one who is always thinking about the core values of the organization and working to uphold them. Here are a few takeaways from attendees about what it means to be a conscious leader:
“A conscious leader does not need to be right all the time. They’re willing to accept that maybe there is a better way to do things that they have not considered.” – Jessamine Duvall
“A conscious leader is always being mindful of what brought the employee and stakeholders to the organization.” – Camille Mazelev
“The conscious leader is not just thinking about the profit, and not just the employees, but also the clients, the neighborhood, and even the competitors and the planet. Someone who is always thinking about that definitely defines the conscious leader to me.” – Tanya Rapacz
Location, Location, Location
Of course, at the end of the day, a conscious (or unconscious) business leader has to keep profit and the bottom line in clear sight to run a successful business. Being grounded and aware of surroundings can help to keep everything in perspective and reactions intentional, regardless of what happens during day-to-day business. To sum up this intention, Liz Richardson shared a video from Conscious Leadership Group which offers a simple question for leaders to consider on their conscious leadership journey: “Where am I?”
Illustrating this question with a simple black line, leaders are asked to consider where they fall: above the line or below the line? Put simply, an above-the-line leader is defined as someone who is open, curious, and committed to learning, whereas a below-the-line leader is committed to being right, defensive, and closed off. Understanding where one stands on the line, and what it could mean, can help inform the journey toward conscious leadership.
At the end of the video, chuckles emerged as everyone considered where they fall on the line. But, as member and previous C3MD President Wendy Moomaw points out, “one of the things to notice is that it’s not necessarily about whether we drop below the line but how long does it take us to notice we’re below the line. And how is that impacting our leadership?” She continues that it’s not attainable to always be above the line. It’s more as if we’re constantly going above and below the line, and being conscious of “where do I want to be to do this work. It’s more about intentions.”
Thank you to everyone who attended the November chat. Couldn’t make this event but want to learn more about how you can become a conscious leader? Start by joining our January Coffee & Collaboration event.
Feel free to reach out to us via email, and/or follow us (and engage) on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
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Join us for our next virtual Coffee & Collaboration in September, where we’ll focus on Conscious Culture. Register here.