A conscious leader is self-aware, radically responsible, and focuses on forging a positive impact while building a community of ‘we’ rather than a culture of ‘me’, says Marika Messager

What is ‘conscious leadership? Ultimately, it means honouring your potential in everything you do. Embodying the principles of conscious leadership means standing firm on three pillars that I believe are essential to achieving it: clarity, presence, and creation.

Three pillars of conscious leadership

1.* Clarity: knowing who you are, what you want, when to take action and how to go about it. Most leaders who lack self-awareness cannot bring their authentic self into situations and therefore either hide and manipulate, lack self-confidence, don’t feel good enough or suffer from impostor syndrome. When we come from a place of truth and authenticity, we come from a place of ‘soft power’; which means standing strong in our alignment while not needing to exert power over others, but rather, empower all to achieve our vision/mission.

2.* Presence: this refers to emotional intelligence and your ability to master your emotions; respond to challenges and opportunities in a way you’re proud of. A conscious leader practices emotional agility and has the capacity to maintain expansive emotions such as self-confidence, courage, trust, joy, and inner peace. All while minimising emotional triggers and outburst. Without presence it is extremely hard for any leader to truly level up.

3.* Creation: the strategic and execution plan (including the processes and systems) that you have designed from a place of clarity and presence. You will achieve more creative power when you have clear intentions and you have mastered your emotions.

Conscious leadership is a way of life, where one commits to living in the spirit of radical truth. Being aligned with one’s true self and therefore embodying that truth in every dimension of your life. In that process, a conscious leader is self-aware, radically responsible, and focuses on forging a positive impact while building a culture/family/community of ‘we’ rather than a culture of ‘me’.

How can conscious leadership help you create success?

Success is an inside job. The more conscious and self-aware you are, the more you understand that success is a perfect equilibrium between financial success, inner peace and making an impact.

Many people measure their effectiveness as a leader through the success that they’ve achieved. In my years of working with clients, I have observed two things. There are some who had a hard time attaining success and those who were able to grasp it in their hands easily. What is the difference between these two types of leaders?

• People who have a hard time achieving their goals have a hard time making decisions and are sometimes so stuck that they are unable to make decisions at all. They often feel fear or frustration which freezes them and renders them useless and unable to make a choice. There is a large percentage of people who find it hard to find success because they see consciousness as an illusion and they refuse to embark on efforts that will make them more self-aware.

• On the other hand, leaders who seem to find themselves celebrating one win after another have a very distinct characteristic. It is easy for them to make decisions. They seem to do everything the right way, at the right time. They always seem confident and always ‘in the flow’. They are in momentum, make accurate decisions and expand in all areas of their lives. The leaders who fall under this category see consciousness as a truth. They continually work on themselves to achieve higher levels of consciousness. They understand that in order to access or maintain higher levels of leadership, they have to embrace the ‘conscious path’ in order to stay ahead. These are conscious leaders.

Awareness and conscious leadership

Conscious leadership is having the awareness of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. Without self-awareness and self-leadership, nothing happens: you have to work on yourself first.

Consciousness works on the persona of the ‘Healed Healer’. The four aspects of awareness are detailed below:

1.* On a mental level, you are aware of your thoughts and have the ability to choose what you want to focus on. You have mastered the power of intention.

2.* On an emotional level, you have the capacity to feel your emotions, both negative and positive, release what no longer serves and bring yourself back into emotional alignment once triggered. You are not operating from your wounds, but rather from a strong emotional core.

3.* On a physical level, you understand that taking care of your physical self is a pre-requirement to emotional and mental mastery. You have practices that support your potential and the ability to break free from unhealthy habits or addictions.

4.* On a spiritual level, you are strongly in tune with your purpose and operate from your personal vision of positive impact. You have learned to trust your intuition, developed a sound understanding of spiritual technologies and stepped into your creator power.

Conscious leadership in the organisation

In our business, we believe in the principle of ‘elevating humanity through business and elevating business through humanity.’ Through humanity, we raise consciousness in business and through business we raise consciousness in humanity.

In any organisation, conscious leaders want to be a force for good for the people they work with, the stakeholders, and the planet. They come from a place of innovation and a commitment to access market leadership with the understanding that a conscious business is based on the three pillars of profit, people and planet.

Our mission is to guide curious minds into the world of consciousness and its possibilities. We believe that as we create conscious success in all dimensions of our lives, we become human beings driven to foster a positive impact on the world and create a better future for all. Now more than ever, it is time for conscious leadership.

Main image credit: Marc Sendra Martorell on Unsplash

Marika Messager is the CEO and Founder of ConsciousLeadership.org. She has a background in the financial markets, where she was recognised as one of the industry’s most successful equity sales professionals, making it to a seven-figure annual compensation at the age of 31 and managing 40 people across Europe at 34.