We make decisions every moment of our lives. Every day we wake up with a choice about our attitude for the day. Inspired? Give up? Pissed off? energized? Our attitudes and beliefs drive our behavior and performance. Bad attitudes often create poor performance. Great performance usually starts with a very strong internal frame of mind. So how can you consistently choose positive beliefs and attitudes and encourage them in others?

It starts with self-awareness. There is a very clear connection between consciousness and the way you behave. The way you are inside influences what you say and do. Simply put, your behavior is a combination of your internal wiring, your personality, and the choices you make.

The more aware you are of your inner world, the more likely you are to make better decisions. Why? Because you are paying attention and that means being “fully present in the moment” and not dwelling on what has just happened or what may or may not happen in the future. You will naturally think more clearly and be able to choose and make decisions from a place of inner balance. Instead of reacting to a situation without thinking or with unclear thinking, you react with clear thinking that comes from a solid foundation of inner and outer awareness.

It is very similar to the importance of physical balance for athletes. Balance creates a strong foundation and allows for flexibility, focus, and incredible power. In the same way, developing the ability to pay attention to one’s inner and outer worlds actually allows for inner balance, focus, and greater self-awareness. In martial arts, being aware of your breathing patterns is critical to producing tremendous strength and power. When you are mindful or conscious, you can observe your own thoughts instead of being consumed or lost in them. This increased self-awareness is the foundation of what I call Conscious Leadership.

Conscious Leadership is a process that helps you maximize your ability to achieve business goals, build strong and trusting relationships, and increase your personal and job satisfaction. It does so through a methodology that allows you to examine your own attitudes, values, and beliefs and develops your ability to choose highly effective approaches to communicate with integrity, build accountability, and solve difficult problems with creativity and consensus.

The first step is to understand the concept of mindset. Mindsets are the lenses through which you see the world. They are created by your beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, family of origin, and life experiences. At his best, he operates from a positive and healthy mindset. At worst, you can find yourself practically imprisoned by thoughts and attitudes that make your life and the lives of those around you miserable, unproductive, and unsatisfying.

These limiting mindsets can undermine you, protect a fragile sense of self, help you look good, be right, blame others, and get what you want at the expense of others. When you open the door to these limiting mindsets, you lose perspective and awareness. You are not in touch with your true nature and you lose the ability to be an effective leader.

Here is what I have found to be true limiting mindsets:

• Arrogance: “I know the right way to do this. Anything different is wrong and I won’t listen to what you have to say.”
• Guilt: “It’s all their fault; there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’m going to unplug you.”
• Selfishness: “I’m going to do this and I don’t care what you want or need.”
• Deception: “I’m certainly not going to tell you how I really feel or what I’m really doing.”

Let’s take a closer look at each of these and the corresponding mindsets that form the foundation of Conscious Leadership.

Arrogance

Arrogance is an attitude that says, “The way I see the world is the way the world is.” The goal of the arrogance mindset is to make a person look good and be right, which blocks open communication, invites conflict, and refuses to acknowledge that another person’s experience and point of view are valid.

The arrogant mentality is unable to distinguish from reality. In that world, the thought is “My opinions are the only valid point of view; others are wrong or irrelevant.” The real problem with the arrogant mindset is that it is blind and doesn’t even know it. The ability to learn is marginalized and the ability to see another point of view or admit a mistake is negativized. Instead of skillful problem solving or gaining a fuller understanding of a problem situation, the arrogant mindset is defensive, argues more vehemently, and creates bigger barriers to overcome.

Modesty

On the other hand, humility embraces the attitude “The way I see the world is just the way I see it.” Respect that others may see the world very differently. Humility is not synonymous with weakness, but is rooted in intrinsic self-esteem and strength. It comes from the Latin word “humilitas” and means below or from the earth. Humility allows a leader to live with a sense of curiosity and openness that fuels a deep commitment to learning and a thirst to be present and aware.

The humble mindset has opinions and expresses them fully. However, instead of presenting them as facts, or as the only way reality can be seen, the humble mindset owns and expresses its opinions. “My perspective on the situation is this… What do you think?” This approach is confident and direct and invites dialogue and learning.

blame

There are multiple factors in creating any situation. For example, if I’m late for a meeting, I can focus on external factors like, “The resource team always schedules me back-to-back meetings without enough time in between,” or I can focus on the part I played. , “I didn’t pay attention to the moment when I accepted all these meetings.” One perspective focuses on what someone else did that I can’t directly control. The other focuses on what I did, my inattention, which I do have control over.

The guilt mindset only acknowledges contributing external factors. It leads to disempowerment, resentment and resignation. “I could not do anything. It’s not my fault! It’s your problem! They did not give me the report on time”, are expressions that typify the attitude of guilt.

responsible choice

The responsible choice mindset is based on the principle that as human beings, you have the ability to choose how you behave in any situation. There is a moment between stimulus and response that allows free choice. In explaining why I was late, I am not denying that the meetings were scheduled back-to-back. I do recognize that I wasn’t paying attention and I recognize that I contributed to that situation and that allows me to do something to improve it or change things in the future.

Instead of just blaming someone else and doing nothing, responsible choice opens the door to solving an issue or problem by doing something practical. The responsible choice mindset leads to accountability, empowerment and action. It invites us to the present moment where you can make decisions that increase the probability of positive results.

Selfishness

There is nothing wrong with a singular focus on accomplishing a task or goal. However, if goal achievement becomes more important than integrity, long-term problems develop. The expression “Winning is not the only thing, it is everything” really typifies the extreme selfish mentality.

All kinds of problems arise when selfishness reigns. Relationships are damaged when you do not care about the needs of others while pursuing your own. Our inner guidance system knows that something is not right and the guilt takes over us. Productivity declines because people tune out when they sense a hidden or selfish agenda. There are many examples of corporate selfishness, including Enron, World Com, and Bernie Madoff.

Integrity

The antidote to selfishness is the full expression of universal values ​​in action, which I call integrity. Integrity is the alignment of one’s behavior with principles such as honesty, love, respect, and excellence. Nelson Mandela and John Wooden, the renowned UCLA basketball coach, are great examples of people who have truly shown integrity throughout their lives.

Being able to say that you gave your best and behaved with dignity, in victory or defeat, is the mark of a true champion and a great leader. Living in alignment with your values ​​and paying attention to how you achieve your dreams and goals is the path to lasting fulfillment. When there’s pressure, short-term sacrifices may have to be made, and yet at the end of a long day, a long week, or a long life, don’t you really wish you could say you’re more proud of how you went about achieving your goals? dreams and goals?

cheated

As a society, we are often shocked when a celebrity or political figure does something immoral or illegal and suddenly has their blameless image tarnished overnight. It’s like the answer given by a character in Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises. When asked “How did you file for bankruptcy?” the character replies, “Gradually, then suddenly.” Like the other mindsets, deception begins with a way of thinking and then manifests itself in behavior.

Cheating can be as simple as withholding important information during a difficult conversation or denying something you’re doing in your personal life that you really know isn’t good for you. It can manifest as the inability or unwillingness to tell someone how you really feel about how upset they are, how much you really care about them, or how well you think they’re really doing.

Authenticity

On the other hand, authenticity is the ability to be aligned with what you feel, what you think and what you believe through the actions you take. To behave authentically, you first have to be authentic with yourself. That means having the awareness and courage to be absolutely honest with yourself. I have found that questions like the following are very helpful in generating inner honesty: “What really matters to me?” “What am I really worried about?” “What is really important to me?” “How am I really using my time?” “What do I really want to happen?”

Authenticity is being able to express yourself fully and completely, and having the courage and skill to do so with care and respect. It means being able to sincerely apologize when you’re wrong, take a stand when you feel strongly about something, and bring all of yourself to an important conversation: your thoughts, feelings, wishes, and hopes.

Now what?

What you do in life is the result of what you think and believe. Therefore, the more you understand your way of thinking and develop the ability to live in ways of thinking that bring out the best in you and those around you, the more effective you can be. It totally depends on you.

You can choose mindsets of arrogance or humility, guilt or responsible choice, selfishness or integrity, deception or authenticity. Your ultimate freedom is the freedom to choose your attitude, mindset and way of behaving. A skilled and conscientious individual develops the ability to choose mindsets of humility, responsible choice, integrity, and authenticity and acts with openness, responsibility, dignity, and truthfulness.

© Copyright 2010 by Don Johnson