{"id":866,"date":"2019-12-14T15:58:51","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T15:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/?p=866"},"modified":"2019-12-14T16:00:17","modified_gmt":"2019-12-14T16:00:17","slug":"the-15-commitments-of-conscious-leadership-book-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/14\/the-15-commitments-of-conscious-leadership-book-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership (Book Summary)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"nolwrap\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/15-Commitments-Conscious-Leadership-Sustainable-ebook\/dp\/B00R3MHWUE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp (opens in a new tab)\">The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>LEADING FROM ABOVE THE LINE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>When leaders are below the line, their primary\ncommitment is to being right, and when they are above the line, their primary\ncommitment is to learning.<\/li><li>The first mark of conscious leaders is\nself-awareness and the ability to tell themselves the truth.<\/li><li>Shifting is moving from closed to open, from\ndefensive to curious, from wanting to be right to wanting to learn, and from\nfighting for the survival of the individual ego to leading from a place of\nsecurity and trust.<\/li><li>We often describe unconscious leaders as\nreactive.<\/li><li>Four ways \u201cstates\u201d of being in the world (not\nstages of development):<ul><li>To Me (below the line): It is happening to me. We\ncall this To Me mindset \u201cvictim consciousness.\u201d Those operating in the To Me\nvictim consciousness are constantly looking to the past to assign blame for\ntheir current experience.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>By Me: &nbsp;The\nBy Me leader chooses to see that everything in the world is unfolding perfectly\nfor their learning and development. Nothing has to be different. They see that\nwhat is happening is for them. To do the latter, a leader chooses curiosity and\nlearning over defensiveness and being right (two cornerstones of the To Me\nconsciousness). Instead of asking \u201cWhy is this happening to me?\u201c the By Me\nleader asks questions like, \u201cWhat can I learn from this?\u201c \u201cHow is this\nsituation \u2018for me\u2019?\u201c \u201cHow am I creating this and keeping this going?\u201d<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Through Me:&nbsp;\nThe key to Through Me is that leaders begin to notice something beyond\nthemselves. As leaders open up to Through Me, their purpose question changes.\nThey ask, \u201cWhat is life\u2019s highest idea of itself that wants to manifest in and\nthrough me?\u201d<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>As Me: As Me consciousness has two aspects. The\nfirst is oneness. The second aspect of As Me is the absence of a personal \u201cme.\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT ONE Taking Radical Responsibility<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to taking full responsibility for the\ncircumstances of my life and for my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual\nwell-being. I commit to supporting others to take full responsibility for their\nlives.<\/li><li>We have observed that leaders typically use five\nlevels of motivation: (Levels one and two always leave a negative residue,\nwhereas levels three through five don\u2019t.)<ul><li>Toxic fear: blame, shame, and guilt <\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Extrinsic motivation: money, title, the corner\noffice, and other perks <\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Intrinsic motivation: learning, fulfilling\npurpose, and autonomy <\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Play, creativity, and expressing our \u201cgenius \u201cin\nthe world <\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Love<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Self-blame is equally as toxic as blaming\nothers, or circumstances, and it is NOT taking responsibility.<\/li><li>What if the great opportunity of life isn\u2019t in\ntrying to get the world to be a certain way, but rather in learning from\nwhatever the world gives us? What if curiosity and learning are really the big\ngame, not being right about how things should be?<\/li><li>The first step in taking responsibility is to\nshift from believing that the world should be a particular way to believing\nthat the world just shows up. Second, we need to shift from rigidity,\nclose-mindedness, and self-righteousness to curiosity, learning, and wonder<\/li><li>All drama in leadership and life is caused by\nthe need to be right. Letting go of that need is a radical shift all great\nleaders make.<\/li><li>Make a conscious decision to end blame and\ncriticism and to take 100% responsibility for their lives, committing to\nlearning and curiosity versus being right.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT TWO Learning Through Curiosity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to growing in self-awareness. I commit\nto regarding every interaction as an opportunity to learn. I commit to\ncuriosity as a path to rapid learning.<\/li><li>Current research on leadership shows that over\nthe course of our career, four competencies trump all others as the greatest\npredictors of sustained success: <ul><li>self-awareness<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>learning agility<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>communication<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>influence.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Take a moment to pause, breathe (literally take\na conscious breath), and ask themselves this important question: \u201cWhere am I \u2014\nabove or below the line?\u201d<\/li><li>When a leader is present they are totally\navailable to the moment and to what the moment is bringing to them.<\/li><li>Four conscious breaths with a four second inhale\nand a four second exhale deep into our belly literally shift our blood\nchemistry and breathing pattern.<\/li><li>Wonder is open-ended curiosity.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT THREE Feeling All Feelings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to feeling my feelings all the way\nthrough to completion. They come, and I locate them in my body then move,\nbreathe, and vocalize them so they release all the way through.<\/li><li>We believe that great leaders learn to access\nall three centers of intelligence: the head, the heart, and the gut.<\/li><li>Feelings are resisted and often repressed\nbecause they\u2019re viewed as a distraction to good decision-making and leadership.<\/li><li>There are five primary emotions \u2014 anger, fear,\nsadness, joy, and sexual feelings<\/li><li>We find it helpful to label all sensations along\nthe continuum from low to high intensity,<\/li><li>Feelings are supposed to be released. In fact,\nthey release themselves naturally and spontaneously if we don\u2019t prevent it.<\/li><li>Feeling a feeling all the way through (the main\nobjective of Commitment 3) means letting that feeling have its full life cycle\n(less than ninety seconds) by breathing, moving and vocalizing, resting in calmness,\nand riding the next wave through to completion.<\/li><li>Joy below the line looks like circumstantial\nhappiness: I\u2019m happy because the circumstances outside me are good.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT FOUR Speaking Candidly<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to saying what is true for me. I commit\nto being a person to whom others can express themselves with candor.<\/li><li>What I seek, I find.<\/li><li>Leaders who lead from above the line take\nanother approach. They reveal their thoughts, opinions, judgments and feelings<\/li><li>Jack Welch said, \u201cThe team that sees reality the\nbest wins.\u201d<\/li><li>When we think about candor, we think about three\noverlapping circles. <ul><li>The first circle is the circle of truth.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>The second circle is the circle of openness. Openness\naddresses the question of how much we reveal, whereas truthfulness addresses\nthe accuracy of our reveal<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>The third circle is the circle of awareness<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Learning to \u201ceat\u201c your projections is a master\nskill of conscious leaders. We accomplish this by listing our beliefs and\ncomplaints about others and then asking ourselves, \u201cHow is this true about me?<\/li><li>Based on the work of The Hendricks Institute,\nthree types of reveals are unarguable: a thought, a feeling, or a sensation<\/li><li>To speak with candor is to reveal what is\nunarguable with truthfulness, openness, and awareness.<\/li><li>If you want to support candor, you also listen\nto what the person is feeling as they speak.<\/li><li>Finally, listen to their gut or instinctive\ncenter. It is our experience that people often repeat stories because their\nbase desire is not being acknowledged, either to themselves or others.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT FIVE Eliminating Gossip <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to ending gossip, talking directly to\npeople with whom I have a concern, and encouraging others to talk directly to\npeople with whom they have an issue or concern.<\/li><li>Agreeing to listen to gossip is the same as\nspeaking it.<\/li><li>Conscious leaders make a clear and constant\ndistinction between facts and the stories they make up about the facts.<\/li><li>When you are asked, \u201cAre you clear?\u201c what we\nmean is, \u201cHave you said everything you have to say and felt everything you have\nto feel about this issue? Are you fully expressed?\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT SIX Practicing Integrity <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to the masterful practice of integrity,\nincluding acknowledging all authentic feelings, expressing the unarguable\ntruth, keeping my agreements, and taking 100% responsibility.<\/li><li>Integrity breaches are a major cause of employee\ndisengagement.<\/li><li>Integrity, then, is wholeness, and wholeness is\n\u2026 The unbroken flow of energy and life force Congruence between what is\nexperienced and what is expressed Alignment with life purpose<\/li><li>Tom Peters, leadership and management expert,\nwas correct when he said, \u201cThere is no such thing as a small breach of\nintegrity.\u201d<\/li><li>Conscious leaders know when to lead unilaterally\nand when to lead bilaterally.<\/li><li>In our experience, people who are impeccable\nwith their agreements renegotiate less than 10% of them.<\/li><li>We believe conscious leaders are always cleaning\nup unfelts, unsaids, unkepts, and unowneds, returning to integrity.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT SEVEN Generating Appreciation <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to living in appreciation, fully\nopening to both receiving and giving appreciation.<\/li><li>The first step of appreciation is awareness:\nsimply paying attention.<\/li><li>Refusing appreciation robs the other person of a\nchance to give you their gift.<\/li><li>Research continues to show that a ratio of\napproximately five appreciations for every one criticism comment is the optimal\nratio for strong relationships.<\/li><li>Masterful appreciation must include these four\nelements:<ul><li>Sincerity<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Unarguable truth<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Specificity<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Succinct language<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Committing to appreciation, along with avoiding\nentitlement, helps leaders and organizations grow value and connection in the\nworkplace.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT EIGHT Excelling in your Zone of Genius<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to expressing my full magnificence and\nto supporting and inspiring others to fully express their creativity and live\nin their zone of genius.<\/li><li>If it\u2019s a dead-end path \u2014 if you both dislike\nlike the activity and do it poorly \u2014 dump it (stop doing it), delegate it, or\ndo it differently<\/li><li>Typically, fear guards the line between the zone\nof excellence and the ultimate zone of genius.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT NINE Living a Life of Play and Rest<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to creating a life of play,\nimprovisation, and laughter. I commit to seeing all of life unfold easefully,\nand effortlessly. I commit to maximizing my energy by honoring rest, renewal,\nand rhythm.<\/li><li>Conscious leaders do the same. They take\nwhatever life gives them and they improvisation-ally co-create with others in a\nspirit of playful pleasure. Often, they exert significant energy.<\/li><li>They have been focused, often laser focused but\nthey wouldn\u2019t characterize their day as effortful and a struggle and they\ncertainly haven\u2019t suffered.<\/li><li>Laughter is a key indicator of how much play is\ngoing on in a leader and an organization.<\/li><li>Research from NASA found that organizations\nwhose employees took a nap for at least thirty minutes every day were up to 35%\nmore productive than their competitors<\/li><li>At 3M, all engineers have an hour a day to do\nwhatever they want, whether that\u2019s working on a side project, taking a nap, or\ntinkering with a hobby.<\/li><li>Energy management is key to long term\neffectiveness.<\/li><li>Like all addictions, our work addiction must be\nfaced head on if we are to experience the freedom of conscious leadership<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT TEN Exploring the Opposite<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to seeing that the opposite of my story\nis as true as or truer than my original story. I recognize that I interpret the\nworld around me and give my stories meaning.<\/li><li>Life doesn\u2019t have a label until we give it one. Conscious\nleaders take responsibility for being the labeler of life. They learn to\nquestion all of the labels.<\/li><li>\u201cWhat if for the next few minutes, we could\nerase that software program [that represents our self-perception] so it didn\u2019t\nexist anywhere in your brain \u2014 who would you be then? \u201d<\/li><li>The purpose of The Work is to become curious\nabout all the possibilities of life. We find that this is done most effectively\nif you remain unattached to any outcome.<\/li><li>Exploring the opposite means being open to the\nnotion that the opposite of your story (thoughts, beliefs, opinions) could be\nas true as or truer than your story.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT ELEVEN Sourcing Approval, Control and Security\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to being the source of my approval,\ncontrol and security.<\/li><li>Humans have three core wants: approval, control,\nand security.<\/li><li>Leaders who believe they lack approval, control\nand security are always trying to get them from someone or something on the\noutside. This wanting leads to all kinds of beliefs and behaviors that are\ncounter to conscious leadership.<\/li><li>The Sedona Method. It works by asking yourself\nthese questions:<ul><li>At any moment (especially when you are upset and\nstressed) ask yourself \u201cWhat do I want?\u201d<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>\u201cCould I welcome this wanting? Could I simply\nallow this wanting to be here just as it is?\u201d<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>\u201cIf I dig a little deeper, is this desire coming\nfrom wanting approval, control or security?\u201d<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>\u201cCould I welcome this wanting? Could I just\nallow it to be here?\u201d\u201dCould I let this wanting go, just for now, just in this\nmoment as best I could?\u201d<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>\u201cCould I rest for this moment as that (someone)\nwhich is beyond all wanting?\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT TWELVE Having Enough of Everything <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to experiencing that I have enough of\neverything \u2026 including time, money, love, energy, space, resources, etc.<\/li><li>Lynne Twist identified three toxic myths of\nscarcity. <ul><li>The first is that there is never enough.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>The second myth is that more is better.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>The final myth is that\u2019s just the way it is:\nit\u2019s a hopeless, helpless, unequal, unfair world that we can never change or\nescape.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Sufficiency isn\u2019t an amount. It\u2019s not\ncomparative at all. Instead, sufficiency is \u201can experience, a context we\ngenerate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough and we are enough.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT THIRTEEN Experiencing the World as an Ally <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to seeing all people and circumstances\nas allies that are perfectly suited to help me learn the most important things\nfor my growth.<\/li><li>Conscious leaders shift out of the state of\ncomparison and competition to see everyone \u2014 including themselves \u2014 as equally\nvaluable.<\/li><li>Conscious leaders welcome this experience\nbecause they see the benefit of pressure; it either causes them to wake up and\ntake action or allows new things to come forth.<\/li><li>If the universe were using this person or\nsituation as a perfect ally to help you grow, what would you get to learn about\nyourself and life?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT FOURTEEN Creating Win for all Solutions <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to creating win-for-all solutions (win\nfor me, win for the other person, win for the organization, and win for the\nwhole) for whatever issues, problems, concerns, or opportunities life gives me.<\/li><li>Collaboration opens all kinds of possibilities\nthat are not available from competition and compromise.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COMMITMENT FIFTEEN Being the Resolution <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I commit to being the resolution or solution\nthat is needed: seeing what is missing in the world as an invitation to become\nthat which is required.<\/li><li>\u201cWhat is the universe inviting me to be or\nbecome in this moment related to what I perceive as missing<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp LEADING FROM ABOVE THE LINE When leaders are below the line, their primary commitment is to being right, and when they are above the line, their primary commitment is to learning. The first mark [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sellingsherpa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/15-Committments.png?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9j2qV-dY","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":869,"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions\/869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}