The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
As a leadership coach, I create bespoke pathways to the goals my clients have defined for themselves. However, all of these coaching journeys have the same beginning and closure – think of it as an arc of discovery, empowerment, discernment, and truth. Along the way, I often use books and/or articles that are relevant to our work together. One of my favorites is The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman and Kaley Warner Klemp.
There are endless mountains of leadership books – some new, some old and many that read like “wash, rinse, repeat”. The lived experience of the author truly informs the content and my experience is that there are many representative voices that are missing from bookshelves everywhere.
When I discovered The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, I was immediately satisfied with the:
simplicity of the model – an easy to understand above and below the line depiction of behavior that leads to the outcomes we all want as leaders.
relevance of the 15 commitments that have stood the test of time.
description of ways to practice any of the 15 commitments placed at the end of each chapter makes for easy reference when you find yourself struggling in a particular area.
chapter summaries that allow clients who might not have completed their reading assignment to “catch up” quickly.
Over the years, my clients have gravitated to these 5 commitments and what I witness is a true willingness to really dig in.
Commitment 1 – Taking Radical Responsibility
Commitment 2 – Learning Through Curiosity
Commitment 4 – Speaking Candidly
Commitment 8 – Excelling in Your Zone of Genius
Commitment 15 – Being the Resolution
I have also found this book to be incredibly spot on in group coaching. Holding a mirror up to yourself in a group setting, alongside the support of colleagues/work partners who can help in supporting your above the line conscious leadership behavior is a beautiful thing to see. Where some struggle, others soar, leaving the group able to support each other long after our coaching journey is over.
Conscious leadership is about being aware of yourself, your thoughts, and feelings as you move into the role of a leader. It’s about activating, and maintaining, your consciousness in how you are seeing and being seen in the environment you find yourself in. For those of us who have been leaders for a long time, it’s quite easy to move into auto-pilot. Yet the wise ones among us know that the workplace is an ever-changing system of people, process, rules and decisions that can yank us one way today, and a totally different way tomorrow. Maintaining a true sense of who you are and choosing how you want to behave is critically important to how you model integrity.
Ah, integrity. Now that’s another leadership topic to jump into!