The 15 Commitments of Conscious leadership

Diana Chapman, Jim Dethmer, Kaley warner Klemp

We wrote this book because most of the current models of leadership don’t work.

Current models of leadership motivate people largely with fear and extrinsic rewards.

Most current models of leadership and hence the culture are built on scarcity and win/lose competition internally- a deeply flawed mindset.

In most companies, team meetings are intellectual sword fights where people invest time is proving the other wrong. Blame is the order of the day.

Feelings are never mentioned or discussed in meetings and talk on feelings is seen as a sign of weakness.

Great companies value learning over everything else. When a company learns, it takes the form of a good culture.

Conscious leadership is what’s below the line and what’s above the line

The mark of conscious leaders is self awareness and the ability to tell themselves the truth.Distortion and denial are the cornerstones of unconscious leaders.

Blame is a powerful motivator. Like its cousins guilt and shame, it is one of the most common forms of motivation used by leaders and politicians.

Victims see themselves as “at the receiving end”. Something is being done to them by someone or something out of control. Typically they are complaining all the time. Underneath their tone is ‘whining’

The key phrase is ‘ taking full responsibility” as opposed to ‘ placing blame”

A key step for a team is to take a conscious decision to end blame and criticism and take 100 % responsibility to learning and working for the company.

Making the choice of ‘full responsibility’ is the foundation of true personal and relational transformation.

4 competencies trump all others as being the best predictors of sustained success : a. Self awarenessb.Learning Agilityc.Communicationd. Influence

Conscious leaders spend time learning and unconscious leaders spend time following up, defending their ego and being defensive to prove their position.

Great leaders learn to access the head, the heart and their gut when they decide.

Jack welch said ‘ the team that sees reality the best wins”97 % of people in an organization are economical with the truth.

Gossip is a sick phenomenon in most companies. 1.Gossip is a false statement made by someone with a negative intent. 2.It is also gossip if the speaker is unwilling to share this publicly if the person that is being spoken about is in the room.

When people don’t tell truth to each other, they release a lot of negative energy and it takes too long for that company to process information and feelings.

Gossiping is a key indicator of an unhealthy organization culture and the fastest way to derail creativity.

Why do people gossip?

• Show others wrong

• Gain validation

• Control others

• Get attention

• Divert attention

• Avoid Conflict

Gossip starts with a story and stories are interpretation of facts.

Conscious leaders know that facts do not cause stress or drama, it is the story that accompanies the facts that causes it.

Conscious leaders know that they need to keep gossip at bay in their companies. So they ask for truth, the right expression and authentic feelings.

The word integrity shares the same root as ‘integer’, a whole number.It is about energy, congruence and alignment

The first step of appreciation is paying attention. Many leaders don’t pay attention and don’t listen

Masterful appreciation is built on sincerity, unarguable truth, specificity and succinct language. Jargon is rarely seen as appreciative

True leaders take whatever life gives them and improvise and create with others is a spirit of fun.

Wanting control comes from a lack of belief.When I believe I lack control, I try to start controlling.

There is never enough of anything in the world, so don’t guzzle resources.

Resource focus focuses you on a zero sum game. This leads to competing and not collaboration. Competing means that I win and you lose.