What Is Conscious Leadership, Anyway?
by Jennifer Sellers
What does it mean to be a conscious leader, to live and lead consciously? I found a simple – but not necessarily easy – practice of conscious leadership in the book The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp.
I first came across the book when a client, the CEO of an explicitly conscious company, recommended it to me. When I heard the title, The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, I thought, “I’m sure there’s something good in it because I trust this client,” but I didn’t expect to discover much that was new. I wasn’t all that inspired. I finally got around to reading it about three months later, and WOW. It’s true, I didn’t find a lot that was new, but I did find so much of what I’ve learned in a lifetime put together in an exceptionally fresh and accessible way.
It’s inspired me so much that I’ve recommended and keep recommending it whenever I can. A foundational idea of the book is a way of looking at conscious leadership – and conscious living – as being open, curious, and committed to learning, as opposed to being closed, defensive, and committed to being right. There it is, simple but not easy, right?
Mind the Grip
by Jennifer Sellers
I felt the grip as I rounded the first corner. I was on one of my usual routes in our desert-scape neighborhood, accompanied by my walking buddy, Tia, a rather reactive but usually smiling black-coated retriever mix. Was there a coyote, a javelina, a bobcat…as is often the case these sunrise mornings? No, the subtle feeling came from inside me.
I had a thought, and then there was the grip. The thought was about a conversation later in the day with a potential client. I had completed a Phase I project for this group and was to talk with one of the leads about whether and what Phase II is. On the one hand, I was looking forward to the conversation, to connecting, and to seeing if there is a way in which I can be of service. On the other hand, my fight-flight-freeze nervous system felt threatened, perhaps for no good reason other than that’s what it does.
Pausing, Lojong, and Leadership
by Kate Harper
I was recently introduced to lojong, a centuries-old Buddhist practice for training the mind in compassion. As Pema Chodron describes it, lojong contains “fifty-nine pithy slogans that remind us how to awaken our hearts.” The slogans point to practical instructions for ways to awaken amidst the beauty and difficulty of the world.
I was struck by lojong’s use of pithy sayings as invitations (or exhortations) to practice a different way of engaging with what is right in front of us. And that made me think, this is what we created with Pause, Inspired Mastery’s book and card set of 52 practices for leaders.
Concise practices and pithy quotes that cultivate presence
Hang on for a minute. Before you think I’ve gone crazy, I am not comparing Pause to lojong as an important spiritual text. I’m not saying Pause is the path to enlightenment. And yet, Pause is a set of concise practices, with pithy quotes, that invite a different way of engaging with what is right in front of us. The Pause practices open possibility, expand awareness, and cultivate presence. In pausing and inviting a new perspective, we access our natural resourcefulness and open-heartedness.
Think Bigger
by Jen Sellers
One way to think bigger is to question the thoughts you’re having. Questioning your thoughts requires you to know what they are. Knowing what they are requires self-awareness. And self-awareness requires practice.
Notice Any Thoughts
Begin by just noticing any thoughts you’re having, any time you can. You might take a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days to practice this step. Notice whether each thought that you become aware of evokes a positive, a negative, or a neutral feeling in your body and your psyche. Just this much may lead you to insights.
Listen to this practice here:
Don’t Believe Everything You Think
by Jen Sellers
Mindful Leadership
“Mindfulness” and “mindful leadership” are buzzwords in business today, but they are concepts that people have practiced for thousands of years. And self-awareness – a form of mindfulness – is one of the basic components of emotional intelligence, a suite of traits that is more and more valued in the workplace.
The components of mindfulness are simple. It is present-moment awareness without judging something good or bad. Any time a leader looks at something with an open, curious mind, he or she is practicing mindfulness. A flurry of studies shows that even short-term mindfulness practices can bring many, many benefits, including increased physical health, emotional health, focus, and memory; and decreased stress, depression, and hostility.
Nine Breath Mind Clearing
by Jen Sellers
Here’s a Mindful Leadership practice for you – a nine-breath mind-clearing exercise. Use it between activities, as you leave one activity behind and prepare for the next, for example, between email and a meeting, between one phone call and another, between a conversation and working on a project.
You can be sitting or standing, and as you gain experience with it, you can even be moving from place to place. This practice takes only a few minutes to learn and a few seconds to do. Listen to the exercise here.
Curator of the Good and Useful
by Kate Harper
My client had a tough decision – go on the last business trip before retirement with a very special colleague or stay put and keep an eye on a very high profile project.
“Choose your answer,” I coached him. “Now imagine it is 10 minutes from now. How do you feel? Now move forward 10 months. How do you feel? How about 10 years from now?”
He got his answer. “Great tool,” he said.
“It’s not mine. I stole it from Suzy Welch.”
“Fantastic. I’ve never had an original thought, but I’m great at recognizing them.”
That got me thinking. I’ve always been in awe of people who create something – those with a message, philosophy, or good and useful tool. I’m sheepish that everything I have to offer has been learned from someone else. My client’s words stopped me short. What if the eye for something good and useful is a talent? Indeed one of my gifts is the ability to find, absorb, and share things that are genuinely helpful to my clients. I hereby claim my gift. I am a curator of helpful perspectives, practices, and tools.
Please join me for my first curated exhibition: one perspective, one practice, and one tool.
Trendy or Timeless?
by Kate Harper
Years ago, I was told to just be present. What? What the heck does that mean? Mindfulness – being present to what is happening in the moment with openness, curiosity, and compassion – is an ancient practice garnering a lot of buzz in leadership circles.
Is mindfulness this season’s polka dotted coat or a Chanel jacket? Our vote is for Chanel. From the beginning, we at Inspired Mastery have supported our clients to bring mindfulness to everyday circumstances. One of Jen’s clients, Lucianne Walkowicz, a stellar astronomer and TED Fellow shares her experience (excerpted from her blog post Be There Then):
A Word About Acceptance
by Jen Sellers
Accept what is and your role in creating it, and you become empowered to create something different. – Alan Seale
In a Mindful Leadership seminar I conducted a couple of weeks ago at a bank in Phoenix, the word acceptance came up as an aspect of mindfulness. It had me thinking about what acceptance is and what acceptance isn’t, especially when it comes to our own leadership mastery. These are my brief thoughts.
What it is:
- Seeing clearly what is here, not what we wish were here, hope will be here, or even expect to be here
- An attitude of meeting a situation as it is without fighting it or pushing against it
- The ability to feel whatever emotions are arising without letting them take over
- A practice in equanimity
What it isn’t:
- Saying “Whatever!” with an air of frustration and despair
- The idea that “It’s all good.” It is often not good, but it is
- Giving in
- Giving up
What does acceptance mean to you? We’d love to hear from you!
Stopping the Anxiety Drain
by Jen Sellers
My client Xavier had a niggling problem. As a senior leader and member of the personnel development team, he fosters the growth of individuals across the organization, including recommending transfers to grow new leaders and advance careers. Yet, if too many of his best people go to other locations, the performance of his division could be compromised.
Xavier only had a glimmer that this nagging issue was subtly draining him. We talked it through and he developed a plan which included prioritizing the most essential people at his site, looking at who could replace them from other sites, and preparing a time of overlap. When we were finished, I asked him what had been important in our discussion, and he said, “I turned a worry into action.”
In our next session, Xavier described how he dealt with another concern, the latest obstacle in a difficult plant start-up. Without realizing it, he had again turned worry into action.