The Brutal Truth about Leadership
A weekly roundup of the latest future of work and conscious leadership news and insights
This week I was honored to be interviewed about conscious leadership by Local, a fantastic company focused on change management. I met Local’s talented leader, Neil Bedwell, at the Worldz marketing conference back in 2019 and was immediately drawn to his vision for how we can make the workplace more compassionate, humane, and equitable. If you’d like to share with others the vision for conscious leadership, the interview with Neil is an excellent piece to start with.
One of the topics we discussed in the interview was how oftentimes leaders leverage fear to accomplish their goals. It’s the opposite of conscious leadership, which focuses on drawing out the best in all team members and creating synergistic wins for all. This concept was reinforced for me this week when I read a provocative article by Marcel Schwantes titled, “7 Harsh Truths That Will Improve Your Leadership Skills Overnight.”
The first brutal truth Schwantes covers is that good leaders will first pump the fear out of the room. This describes how conscious leaders create the phycological safety necessary to build trust and create space for true collaboration and authenticity. They champion co-creation and are able to harness all the talent on their team towards a shared vision they all passionately embrace.
The other seven brutal truths also reflect conscious leadership characteristics, so I highly recommend reading the article and then pondering whether you and your team need to hear these harsh truths about current leadership styles in your organization. Such self-reflection is critical for expanding your conscious leadership. As Schwantes brilliantly notes, leaders who fail to listen to others and examine themselves “operate in an ego-system, not an ecosystem.”
One of the greatest benefits of working with a coach is that leaders will hear the brutal truth from a trusted confidant who can help them blossom into the conscious leader the workplace desperately needs.
Here is some of the future of work and conscious leadership content I found interesting this week:
Edelman just released their 2021 Trust Barometer and it revealed people now trust businesses more than government.As a conscious leader leading a company, this is a huge opportunity to demonstrate your values and help lead society through deep distrust of institutions and fear stemming from uncertainty.
Mindful Leader shared a fantastic article on how to be mindful during a pandemic and uncertain times. The method of naming, reframing and taming can help calm an anxious mind. Conscious leaders can also use this method to help coach their teams through uncertainty.
Consulting firm PWC released the results of their remote work survey and it shows it’s time for us to reimagine where and how work will get done. The survey showed that while most leaders and their teams want to stay remote, they are still determining the right balance for hybrid teams meeting in-person and online.
According to Fast Company, 2021 is the year we’ll really get to see the full benefits of the remote work revolution.Three predictions for the future of work: workplaces will become more equitable, cities and towns will become more livable, and companies will become more resilient and productive.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
Contact her to develop your conscious leadership and transform your organization into the workplace of the future.
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