Conscious Leadership in troubled Times

Last few months humanity has seen a sudden change- the COVID crisis, massive unemployment, a spike in racial insensitivity within our communities etc. During these trying times, there is an urgent need for leaders to take note of what’s happening around them and how to respond to the situation in a rational way. It is said that “Value for peace is not high in a green zone but in a war zone”. If ever there is a need to have access to tools, techniques to manage one’s own mind, find inner peace, it is right now. Leadership is going through a major crossroads.

I recently had the privilege to attend a talk on “Conscious Leadership” with Naren Shankar, Prabhat Singh and Ruthwik Vashi who at the professional level are working in major Silicon Valley companies and at the spiritual, personal level are actively volunteering with a non-profit called Art of Living, a volunteer-based educational and humanitarian organization’s spread across 156 countries and spreading yoga and meditation to millions across the globe. The organizations recent major initiative https://meditateus.org is aimed at empowering people to learn and practice powerful breathing techniques and promote the aspect of inner peace, empathy and awareness based leadership.

Conscious Leadership is all about Inner transformation(IT)

Inner transformation(IT) means it does not matter what we achieve if we cannot put a smile on our face. On one hand, there is a quest for more personal gain, for becoming better and for success and on the other hand, there is an aspect of going inwards. Conscious leadership requires one to focus on empathy, which can be achieved by learning to manage one’s own mind, emotions, fear, anger etc. One of the core principles of leadership is to lead with empathy, which is possible only if one understands one’s own mind. For a leader to understand someone else mind, first he/she must introspect and understand one’s own mind. The process of IT is nothing but shining the spotlight inwards. It’s about understanding one’s own thoughts, emotions, state of mind and energies. Today’s leadership needs “self-awareness” with a magnifying lens on one’s own self, taking time to understand one's own mind. 

Conscious Leadership is about sharpening your state of being.

Our interactions with the external world are driven by 3 different states – state of affair, state of mind and state of being. Most of the time we live in a lot of chaos driven by the state of an affair like the professional world, community, relationship, and family which has a huge effect on our state of mind. Sometimes we are happy, excited, sad, frustrated. Fear of uncertainty becomes the driver for stress. The current state of affairs - a situation like COVID, racial insensitivity is not conducive to have a happy state of mind which in turn greatly influences the state of being – feeling low, depressed, sad, and in the severe situation leading to suicidal tendencies.

Conscious Leadership is about inside out. Once you are solid at your core and manage yourself well, are upbeat and have a positive state of mind. Then any challenge comes to you, you are prepared to face it with a smile. Starting from your state of being, which influence your state of mind which in turn influences the state of affair. IT is being in that state, where you influence the situation, events. Conscious leadership is about managing the state of affair with a focus on the state of being.

Conscious leadership is about inner peace outer dynamism(IPOD)

In this day and age, to be a leader, to drive a team, you need an immense amount of focus, energy, you need the ability to handle challenges, rapid changes. Many times, things you plan may not work as planned. So, managing such situations starts with managing one’s own mind. In team dynamics, it translated to managing multiple minds. You must gain the team’s trust and in turn, drive their passion and energies. When you drive your inner peace, you can drive outer dynamism as well.

Conscious leadership is about better time management

There is a difference between activity and productivity. Many times, whenever the mind is not clear, cluttered, too many thoughts, there is fear, insecurity, apprehension etc., we tend to sit and worry, we plan the future which may or may not be in our hands. When the mind is clear, you have the skill to manage your energies, and you are inspired, time management happens automatically, managing time equates to managing one’s clarity of mind.

The core of Art of Living's teaching lies in the “Happiness Program”, which is a 3-day workshop spanning 9 hours and covering all the aspects that I highlighted above. In addition to learning ways and means to manage my mind/stress, I also got a first-hand experience of learning meditation which I have been practising for the past 10 years,

The shimmering colours of life that I realized after doing my "Happiness Program" are heavenly and thus, cherishable and it would be a blessing for me to pay it forward on this legacy to the maximum beings and make this planet radiate peace and love.

If you are interested in learning a breathing and meditation practice that is effective and easy to follow and can be practised every day in the comfort of your home, then, please visit, https://meditateus.org, to reserve a spot for an online workshop from June 26-28.

For any future workshops, please visit https://www.artofliving.org/us-en/search/course