I've been a student of Conscious Leadership for about 3 years now and it has rocked my world in a great way! My former boss (CEO of Veracity Solutions) Marva Sadler had met Julianna Christe (Chief Training Officer at Crafted Leadership) at People Helping People, an employment program dedicated to helping low-income women and single moms reach their full potential in the workplace. I think they were both volunteers. Anyway, Marva left that meeting knowing that Julianna was a trainer and coach using Conscious Leadership principles and was having monthly meetings about it. When Marva suggested I check it out, I was intrigued. After I attended the first monthly meeting, I was hooked! I attended nearly every monthly meeting for a year. There were real learnings and actionable results with each meeting. I loved the principles of transparency, dealing with the 4 core emotions and the value of taking 100% responsibility among many other principles I learned. I was on my way. That was my first taste.
Over the second year, I brought Julianna into Veracity Solutions where I was head of HR for several dedicated trainings and workshops. I had been preaching and practicing giving and receiving feedback for a few years and we had made progress as a team but I was eager for a deeper implementation. I was also interested in better ways to get through workplace conflict and helping our team avoid the Drama Triangle. So, Julianna met with our leadership team, our operations team and towards the end of last year (2018), she came to our company offsite, Converge. Converge is an annual event where all of our employees and consultants meet to align on company strategy, improve our craft and create and deepen bonds of friendship. Her interactive workshops were very effective and and her fun personality made everyone feel welcome and safe. Everyone at Converge last year OWNED CL!
I deepened my understanding and desire to live the principles of CL this year starting with a 3 day offsite earlier in the year. IT WAS FANTASTIC! Life changing! The rest of this year has been me just doing my best to "live above the line" and shift when I've chosen to act "below the line." It's been a journey and I've embraced all of it.
I better pause and let you know that I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm a Christian and a student of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Two of the core teachings of my church (and the Gospel) are FAITH and REPENTANCE. Well, Conscious Leadership IS faith and repentance. It's all "one" in my mind. Ahhh... harmony!
I've had a chance to coach some amazing people over many years and it feels great to now include principles of CL. It's so clear and actionable - and it feels great to use.
If you've made it this far, you may have started to look up CL. There's plenty of online content to start with: YouTube videos, blogs, downloadable books etc. I'll be dedicating future blogs to parts and pieces of CL but here is a taste...
The framework of CL is easy! Live your life "above the line" not "below the line." If you find yourself below the line you can utilize shifting questions, patters and practices.
If you are "above the line," you are OPEN, CURIOUS, COMMITTED TO LEARNING, and take 100% RESPONSIBILITY for your stuff. You are positive, full of faith and are a pleasure to be around. If you are "below the line," you are CLOSED, DEFENSIVE, COMMITTED TO BEING RIGHT, and take MORE OR LESS THAN 100% RESPONSIBILITY. Easy right? Nope, we have stuff going on all the time that can trick us into acting below the line.
In case you are curious, CL is not owned by anyone (I can hear the lawyers calling now) as far as I've learned BUT, there are companies that adopt it and then offer products and services based on it (like me!). Crafted Leadership is the company I have utilized over the last few years. Julianna and Nancy are GOOD PEOPLE!
So there you have it. My journey with CL so far and a taste of it to get your journey started.
If you have interest in learning more, I'd love to talk to you! If you want group training in CL, I'd love to refer you to Crafted Leadership (please tell them I sent you!). If you are interested in 1 on 1 leadership coaching, then I'm your guy.
- The HR Stream Team
Comments