Last week, an executive coaching client of mine asked: “How can I be more mindful and proactive with my team, rather than reactive? There is so much chaos and uncertainty around us all.”
Immediately, I could empathize with him. We all feel a range of emotions every day, and yet Susan David reminds us: emotions are data, not directions. In other words, while all emotions are OK to experience, we don’t have to act on all of them – we can consciously choose which values guide our decisions and actions.
“Emotions are data, not directions”
-Susan David, author of Emotional Agility
I experienced this myself last week when I felt angst around some new content and strategies on my plate to develop. I knew that acting on the angst would lead to less-than-stellar results, uninspiring content that takes me twice as much time to create. Instead, I reminded myself of one of my values around my own inspiration practice – taking responsibility for my energy and emotions, and using the inspiration engine of unstructured time to restore myself. As a result, I took some time off from actively “solving the problem.” It was a conscious choice to step back, so that I could lead forward a few days later with greater inspiration and impact.
I call this conscious (rather than reactive or autopilot) leadership, which has roots in the Conscious Capitalism movement started in 2009 by John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods.
Practice Conscious Leadership
A few years ago, I met a group of passionate leaders in New Haven CT who exposed me to a movement called Conscious Capitalism. The higher purpose of the organization – elevating humanity through business – immediately resonated with me, and I happily joined the newly forming board of the Connecticut Chapter. The organization stands on four pillars of business: conscious leadership, conscious culture, stakeholder orientation, and higher purpose.
What intrigued me about the name and four pillars of the organization was the word “conscious,” especially as it relates to leadership. The definition of the word essentially means “to be aware and awake.” While it feels similar to the idea of being mindful, it has a slightly different meaning to it. Being the Latin etymology nerd that I am, I immediately researched the original Latin root: consciousness derives from the Latin word conscire which means “to know.” In other words, conscious means being both mindful (awake) and, at the same time, knowledgeable (aware).
I see conscious leadership asbeing “awake and aware” of how you lead from wherever you stand in your organization, your community, your family. It’s about being intentional in how you show up and impact others around you every day.
“There is no more powerful source of creative energy than the world than a turned-on, empowered human being.”
– John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO
Today, we are going through a painful collective experience, one that touches each and every one of us, with the ultimate impact and end-date unknown. How this collective, difficult experience impacts each of us varies wildly, with people struggling in different ways based on their home, work and family situations.
We can’t and shouldn’t ignore the difficult realities we face. What we can do is be conscious about how we want to lead ourselves, our families and communities, and our teams and organizations through these difficult times.
Create Your Leadership Philosophy
In working with executives and leaders for over 20 years, one of the first things we focus on is creating (or revisiting) a personal and empowering leadership philosophy or personal mission statement. A personal mission statement captures your “why” – why you do what you do… and may include your values, strengths, beliefs, ideal impact, and best self.
There is no “right” or “wrong” way to create one because each is unique and personal to the leader. Years, ago, I wrote an original LinkedIn post where I shared a specific methodology for creating a ‘leader impact statement’ that included a worksheet. Today, I encourage leaders to create their own process without attachment to a “right” way – remember that while you may eventually share your mission statement with others, it is meant for your eyes and use. What is most important is that it resonates deeply for YOU.
Create your mission statement by carving out a quiet space and time to reflect on and consider your “why.” Perhaps pour a cup of tea or coffee, take a few deep breaths to ground yourself, and allow yourself to feel any emotions that come up. Give yourself some space to reflect and vision. Then, write down what matters most to you about your work, your presence, and your impact in the world.
I encourage leaders to revisit and even rewrite their mission statements each year. I practice this process myself, as well and my personal mission statement is: to create space for new thinking that inspires growth and positive impact (individually – new skills, mindsets, ways of teaming; organizationally – strategic growth, positive culture).
“When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘we did it ourselves.'”
– Lao Tzu
