Force vs. power: The journey of conscious leadership and the brain
Leadership is a lifelong journey of changing and raising consciousness…change and consciousness is about the brain.
You have led your teams and organizations through the Covid-19 pandemic, persevering, conserving, and pivoting when much of the world stopped in an instant. The unwinding and reopening of the economy in phases has demanded extraordinary flexibility in order to communicate, collaborate and rapidly acquire and deploy resources for teams. Your brain has been stretched to think about everything from how to keep your team members physically safe to engaging teams in multiple locations as you retune/reboot your business and find ways to serve your clients and customers differently.
Your brain has also been expanded by the national, even global awakening to systemic racism and Black Lives Matter, a call to action that cannot be ignored. Your assumptions and beliefs about the history of our country must now reckon with the facts that our social, cultural, business and economic system was designed for the benefit and profit of white-skinned people (white privilege) through the oppression of black- and brown-skinned people, even if it is not your direct experience.
Our government, religious institutions, commercial enterprises and social norms have forcefully been constructed to protect white privilege. Our societal structures were not created from a noble power. The difference between force and power is an important one for leaders to contemplate. Dr. David Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. in his decades-long work on the mapping of human consciousness notes that “… (true) power arises from meaning… and motive. Power supports the significance of life itself. It uplifts, dignifies, and ennobles (all human beings). Force must be justified, whereas power requires no justification. Force always moves against something, whereas power stands still. Force has an insatiable appetite…Force’s effect is to polarize rather than to unify…True power emanates from consciousness itself.”
Are you conscious of your level of energy and effectiveness and able to raise it?
Does the essence of your leadership come from “power” or by “force”?
What would people say about the energy you manifest if you ask them?
Leadership is a lifelong journey of changing and raising consciousness. Coaching is about change and raising consciousness. Change and consciousness is about the brain.
What neuroscience is teaching us about the brain can enhance and improve leadership. The brain can form new neural pathways and connections that change the way circuits in the brain are wired (neuroplasticity). Thinking, emotions, feelings, belief systems and behaviors are constructed by us and can be changed for the better.
This is incredibly good news!
My coaching practice increasingly centers on working with leaders in focused, brain-healthy ways as I pursue certification in neuroscience, consciousness, and transformational coaching in addition to my Master Coaching Certification (MCC). Through increased consciousness, awareness and practice, leaders are increasing the performance and joy of their teams.
As a leader, you set the standard for continuous learning and growth through your own development. You are in charge of the energy you manifest, the spirit of your people, the culture, and the lived values of your organization.
As you move your business forward you have the opportunity (and responsibility) to design some of the most important work of your leadership journey, from increasing your conscious leadership and acquiring new leadership competencies to caring for people in ways that may have been invisible before and dismantling systemic racism.
The next cohort of Lead for Good, starting in March 2021, will support your journey by exploring ways to bring your leadership to new levels of consciousness and effectiveness and grow together.
Suggested Reading:
White Fragility: Why It’s so hard for White People to Talk about Racism, by Robin Diangelo
Sherri McArdle is a wife and mother to adult children and has been a business leader/owner for over 25 years. She is also a Master Certified Coach (MCC) to leaders and executives across the country and a trained mediator.
