How trust and love thinking helps us exercise conscious leadership

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We know that fear and doubt thinking thwarts our leadership. Conversely, trust and love thinking expands our capacity to exercise conscious leadership. The challenges in today’s world call forth a new way of exercising leadership that prepare us to act courageously in the face of our deepest fears and competing loyalties.

What is Conscious Leadership?

This type of leadership challenges us to enter into a deeper consciousness of self to understand the roles that emotions and mindset play during the leadership process. It is a departure from solely focusing on the “doing” of leadership. Conscious leadership calls us to honor the “being and doing” aspects of leading because BOTH influence our effectiveness. Exercising conscious leadership requires an inside-out approach guided by presence, self-awareness, and intentionality (“being”). It calls us to pay attention to the ways our mindsets, behaviors, and emotions support and compete with our ability to exercise brave leadership. Not only pay attention to, but to be willing to adjust our practices when loyalties and fear compromise our decisions to do what is right. Doing what is right requires integrity and moving in trust and love thinking--a type of thinking that embodies a deep faith and resiliency that withstands the backlash that comes with pushing against the status quo.

How does leadership based in trust and love look? 

Trust and love thinking views the world from an abundance mentality---seeing the multitude of options. Fear and doubt thinking holds a scarcity view, which limits our creativity to see the plethora of opportunities in front of us. With trust at the helm, we understand and act on the power of choice in every moment--the choice of doing good (out of love) or of causing unnecessary pain (out of fear). I make the distinction of unnecessary pain because sometimes we take actions that may cause pain to a group in the name of moving from equality to equity. Sometimes, we have to do unequal things to achieve equity---this decision may cause one group to feel pain but is necessary to create a more just society.

For example, the State of Massachusetts plans to partner with the New York City Leadership Academy to launch an equity fellowship for aspiring superintendents of color, an action that some will consider unequal and may cause pain---in the name of creating more fair access to the superintendency. The decision to enact this program represented trust and love thinking and a deeper consciousness of what it takes to address entrenched inequities in the superintendency pipeline. Statewide leaders trusted that pushing the status quo works towards the common good. Approaching this initiative with an abundance mindset removed the fear that this program would potentially take positions away from White aspiring superintendents. If statewide leaders held a scarcity mentality, fear and doubt thinking would limit creativity and stop the program at the idea stage. Their love for all kids, coupled with the deeper consciousness of what it takes to create educational equity, channeled brave leadership in the midst of competing loyalties. 

Are you willing to trade in fear and doubt thinking in order to unleash a deeper consciousness of leadership based in trust and love? We are all we've got.  

With love and solidarity, 

Dr. Annice E. Fisher 

Founder, The BEE FREE Woman & Developing Capacity Coaching, LLC

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