ARE YOU LIVING BELOW OR ABOVE THE LINE?

Years ago, I read a David Brooks NYTimes column about finding your niche at the intersection of two different disciplines and doing something no one else does. I’ve since lost the article but the idea has stayed with me ever since.

In September, I led a daylong retreat with 30 YPO (Young President’s Organization) leaders and their spouses, exploring the intersection of Conscious Leadership and Design the Life I Love.

The overarching goals of Conscious Living, inspired by Conscious Leadership principles, are to reduce the reactivity and drama we experience in our lives and to spend more time in an open, curious, and playful state (“above the line”) rather than being reactive (“below the line”).

As a visual person who works in three-dimensional space, the idea of locating yourself either below or above the line feels simple yet profound.

Connecting with one's ideal self can help us navigate and identify new opportunities when we're "above the line" and stay in that state for longer periods and with more consistency. And that’s where I come in.

We spend about 90% of our time below the line, feeling pessimistic, fearful, or anxious.

Above the line is where we are optimistic, empathetic, open-minded, holistic, collaborative, and playful.

In other words, above the line, we think like designers.

Moving from below to above the line can require Design Feints.

I wrote about my AHA! moment, when I realized that most everything I do as a designer is a Design Feint, during a karate class in one of my previous newsletters.

I didn’t want to tell the group the whole story right away, but rather, I wanted to demonstrate it.

So, I led them through my Heroes Exercise, where I ask people to think about the heroes who inspire them. They believe they’re focusing on their heroes’ qualities, but in reality, I’m guiding them to reflect on their own values.

The reveal of the Heroes Exercise is always powerful. Suddenly, participants realize I’ve tricked them for their own good.

In sports, a Feint is a movement made to deceive an adversary.

In design, a Feint is a brain hack that tricks your mind for your own benefit, helping you overcome the preconceptions, biases, and stories that hold you back.

We often need a Design Feint to get out of our own heads. Once our mind is distracted, a space opens up. In that space, we’re free to imagine new ideas.

Creating that space with leaders and their teams is one of my favorite things to do.

Thank you,

Ayse

All drawings by?Ayse Birsel, ? 2024.

INSPIRATION

You can find more about The Conscious Leadership Movement developed by Diana Chapman and Jim Dethmer, to support the expansion of conscious leadership in the world, here. ?

For a deeper dive, read their book, The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success .

For more on our session at the intersection of Conscious Living and Designing The Life You Love, you can set up a time with me at [email protected]

"I have had the privilege of being immersed in YPO and the extensive learning opportunities it affords for more than a decade. I have become something of a junkie for the personal development work that YPO promotes, which compelled me to serve as Learning Officer for my chapter. In that capacity – and as an active member – I have benefited from dozens of self-actualization workshops of one form or another. I would stack Ayse’s workshop up against any of them, particularly for the actionable take-home value it delivers. For a busy executive, I also appreciate that it required no pre-work and was contained to a few high-impact hours. Pound-for-pound, I haven’t experienced a more powerful self-help workshop.” ? —Mark Anderegg, Co-Founder, Newbury Franklin

For our design programs, please email Leah Caplan, VP, Design and Project Planning, Birsel + Seck, at?[email protected] .

For coaching engagements, please email Jacquelyn Lane, President, 100 Coaches, at?[email protected] .

For speaking engagements, please email Nancy Aaronson at?[email protected] .