Woke vs Conscious
Increasing awareness without vengeful politics
Last week the CEO of one of the world’s largest investment firms released a letter defending his support of stakeholder capitalism. BlackRock leader Laurence Fink wanted to clarify that far from abandoning the drive for profit, he actually believes it’s possible to do good while earning money. “Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics,” Fink wrote. “It is not ‘woke.’ It is capitalism.”
Apparently the letter was written in response to concerns that the company was yielding to “woke” political activists who would undermine its earnings. The term “woke” has become a familiar part of the American lexicon as the country grapples with addressing injustices and prejudices.
Looking at its definition, the term “woke” actually means to be aware or awake. This is a key tenet of conscious leadership: to be aware of yourself, your impact, and your potential. In a sense, conscious leaders can be described as woke. The key difference seems to be how those who describe themselves as woke act out their beliefs.
While increasing awareness is a laudable and necessary goal, it doesn’t merit seeking revenge, domination, or judging others. It also doesn’t mean forcing everyone to conform to certain beliefs or actions.
To be truly awake or conscious is to recognize that we do have issues to address in the world, and then examining how you personally can BE the change you want to see. By each of us working our own level of conscious awareness, we can truly change the world for the better.
Fink goes on to explain why profit is still the overarching goal for his company:
“Make no mistake, the fair pursuit of profit is still what animates markets; and long-term profitability is the measure by which markets will ultimately determine your company’s success.”
Profit is an important metric for any company, but so is measuring its social impact and how it treats its employees and broader community (i.e., all stakeholders). This is long-term, infinite game thinking. Leadership guru Simon Sinek describes why it’s important to not just look at profit as the measure of success, but how you’re actually building and running your organization:
“Infinite games have infinite terms. To succeed in the infinite game of business, we have to stop thinking about who wins or who’s the best, and start thinking about how to build organizations that are strong enough and healthy enough to stay in the game for many generations to come. The benefits of which, ironically, often make companies stronger in the near term also.”
To be truly “woke” is to be conscious of who you are, how you have the ability to impact those around you, and to do so in a humble, winsome way that helps others grow instead of demeaning them. It’s the future of leadership, it’s playing the infinite game, and it’s a genuinely worthwhile goal for all of us.
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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