We create our own reality. We either do it consciously or unconsciously.

Michaela says " By being conscious you are stepping into the driver's seat of your life and no longer simply be a passenger in someone else's car."

Purpose in our lives comes about slowly. At times it just creeps up on you and reaches a crescendo and brings you to making a choice. Some choose knowingly and others are not awake or conscious to be able to read the signs.

It’s about self-leadership. It's you driving your own car. That's self-leadership.

You can't drive a bus with others in it unless you can drive the bus.

Conscious leadership starts with understanding that it is our own responsibility. to understand how we function and basically take the responsibility for our responses to situations and the way how we process situations.

It's easier said than done because we very often feel that we are self-aware and we are taking responsibility. But when we start digging into it becomes somebody else's fault or we start blaming people for what is happening in our life. So taking responsibility is based on self-awareness. And awareness of how we function.

Another big thing is understanding the difference between the context that we come from and the content that we work with. What that means is– what is my place of being that I'm proud that I am approaching things from? I can be approaching things from, for example, being angry, or being in that place of victimhood, or being in that place of aggressiveness. Understanding that if I am approaching a meeting situation with my team. From that kind of place, I am only going to create an atmosphere of aggression or more victimhood, Its understanding that.

The core of who I am when I show up in these situations is going to create my results. So if I know that I'm going to go into a meeting then I need to be conscious of how I put myself into this place . Its not just show up with whatever energy its I want to show up being confident, whether it is loving, whether it is understanding, whether it is in a state of collaboration. I need to be conscious of it.

So I want to be intentional about what place that I'm coming from approaching the situations. That is a big part of being conscious and understanding that context, how we show up who we are when we are approaching situations is really key to what we're going to create.

You've got to consciously step up and say, I want to be the leader, but I want to be and include these five or six behaviours that I must do day in and day out.

Another big part of being self-aware is, what is going on in your head.

What is the chatter?

That is beating you up or have you got an inner coach that is there to help you? Really understanding what is going on in your mind is another big part of being conscious and functioning from the place of being self-aware and more sitting in your center.

How the process within us goes, when we are creating our result is, we have got a sense of belief, which is very often subconscious from this belief, we think certain things, so beliefs thoughts, then thoughts create emotions. And we know when we get anxious, when we get nervous, and when we get angry. We feel it in our bodies, right? So emotions come up and then we are triggered.

 And then from emotions, which are affecting our behaviour, of course, and then our behaviour creates the result, right? That's why we say that we consciously or unconsciously create our reality because beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and actions drive results, 

Michaela Smith can be found at

michaela-smith.com 

linkedin.com/in/smith-michaela

Business is all about facts and data. Whereas great leadership occurs from the authenticity reflected in actions a leader takes. That authenticity occurs when, as a leader, one leads from their heart and not only take decisions based on the data. Authenticity is showing who you are through your actions by leading from your inner being.

Authenticity is our individual greatness. Which is our gift of being unique as human beings.

Up until we understand this and know how to express it in our behaviour we're not being authentic. On the contrary, we're existing through an imposter syndrome scenario.

It requires going within yourself and discovering what one is really passionate about and then using that in being intentional in every aspect of one's life.

'Be the best version of yourself' is an oft-heard phrase. What authenticity truly means is continually learning and growing every day.

So how do you bring about exploring and finding your authenticity?

The 'Greatness Engineering' way has a simple process called 'DARE'

D- Decide

A- Action

R- Review

E- Expand

In leadership authenticity, it all starts with the decisions we make. That decision leads us to take action. Which either brings us results that we planned to achieve or not. That's where one needs to review the results. This is the stage where learning for improvement occurs. And from that learning one expands to decide the next course of action.

What this process does, it helps you be more effective in your communication with others by establishing clarity in all actions. It puts forth your attitude which sets the tone of the relationships. Which then helps the leadership and oneself to be valued and appreciated.

 Mireille can be contacted at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mireille-toulekima/

https://twitter.com/MToulekima

The world has changed and with it the way leaders lead also needs to change.

We've moved from the era of manufacturing to being knowledge-based. This impacts leadership. As such there's a critical gap as leadership hasn't quite bridged how to lead in a knowledge-based environment. And using tools prevalent in the manufacturing times simply don't work anymore. Coupled with this is the fact that employees, as people, have and are changing.

The gap as we see it in leadership presently stems from the perspective of how leaders view their teams. What matters is viewing them as people and their development as a priority. However what happens is that leaders tend to defer to shareholders and shareholders aren't into leadership. Their interest is the bottom-line. And shareholders believe caring about workers is going to cost them money. Instead of understanding that there is a better way of managing people that's behavioral based and one that would get them better returns.

Now we see change in leadership coming through, not top-down, but bottom up. Employees are not sticking around when they aren't getting respected and appreciated.

This is the catalyst that brings forth the need to lead from the heart.

And the heart has a mind!

As an author, I reflected back on what I had done in leading people and the insight was that I was touching hearts.

That validation happened when speaking to a world-renowned cardiologist who confirmed the science of communication between the heart and the mind. The research shows up that the heart has it own form of intelligence and is responsible for the feelings we feel and drives our behaviour.

A key research fact in the book talks about 75% of employees stating their stress is from the interaction with their boss. Whilst the same group states they like the work they do. So the interaction bit gets isolated and is identified as the cause. Looking at this objectively, leaders don't take into account how they make employees feel. This is a lack of sensitivity. Secondly, it's often perceived that the role of a manager is to find fault. Which results in an employee feeling horrible.

These two examples highlight the necessity of having a new orientation. One where the leader or manager is more of a coach. When one sees oneself as a coach one becomes an advocate for people and doesn't criticize.

This brings forth the bit about having positive energy. It's what helps one be more productive. In summary, if the attitude is right, it creates a happier feeling that drives productivity. Human beings are hardwired to thrive on positive energy.

The tip here is to listen more to your heart and not stay with the thoughts in your mind. Now when we hire people we're looking for brain smarts and nothing about the heart or feelings. We are now learning that there are two forms of intelligence. The heart is where intuition comes from. And the heart always looks out for what's good for you.

Find Mark https://markccrowley.com/lead-from-the-heart-duh/

As professionals how do we get the balance between our wellbeing, health, and productivity?

It starts with being aware of the unconscious thoughts and beliefs that are affecting these three areas. And with getting clear on what's driving oneself. That's when choices materialise and from those choices, one can make changes. So if one believes that our thoughts and beliefs create our experiences, then if one changes the thoughts, one has different experiences.

The problem is that most don't know that their thoughts and beliefs are getting in the way. And the impact of this is significant. Overworking, over-functioning, and neglecting our health.

Digging into my own unconscious thoughts and beliefs helped me learn how they were blocking me and how I could change them.

An example-- is asking one the question to write down what they want to have a year from now. And that's where clarity happens as most focus on time. Time to take care of their health, time with family, and time to make an impact in the workplace.

From this one learns why they are doing what they are doing. That throws up choices. And those choices are then turned into action by putting a timeline to it.

This example highlights how important it is for one to get and be in touch with their inner self.

When we get clarity on what's important and the values that are dear, how to choose who I choose to be given the external pressures of what success looks like. It comes down to the choices one makes and gets to a point where all aspects of self are in balance.

Doing this requires having grounded confidence. Which is being comfortable with being uncomfortable and building skills and tolerance of taking the discomfort. This is the bit that helps with productivity. By identifying a set of activities that one is good at and one enjoys doing, and doing it more incrementally one increases their productivity.

As leaders when we operate from a place of deep self-content, even when we get triggered or have an emotional reaction, it's the grounded confidence that allows us to see the opportunities in the situation. People tend to gravitate to the calmness a leader shows in hard situations as that's an attractive quality. 

You can contact Moira at

www.moiralethbridge.com

[email protected]

How we grow up affects our personality and affects how we think and what we do. There are a lot of things that impact us without us realising the effects those have. They become what we could call limiting beliefs. When we are able to reflect on those, take the lessons and forge them into our vision is when we end up leading ourselves from within. It's what led to my summation of believe, become and empower.

 Moving on to jobseekers specifically, the one thing should do is try and give smart answers to what might seem to be a ridiculously polite question. For example, in sales interviews, one is asked what animal would you be if you could choose to be so? And this gives an insight to the interviewer about how you think. In order to make an impression, you've got to answer this from the perspective of the interviewer.

 Going on to leadership what is your view on leading from within?

Leading from within is the ability to share stories that help you connect emotionally. It's the bit that connects hearts and minds. It helps encourage people to take the learning from the sharing of experience and then adapt and use it to their benefit in their way. This is the bit that all great leaders do.

 In being a great salesperson one has to develop the ability to listen, ask lots of questions so that the client's perspective comes through, and then walk the client through as to how the service or product is useful.

 The one takeaway for listeners is this-- believe in yourself and doing that comes from within you.

Spiritual intelligence in leadership and its impact.

It's necessary, for a leader, to have a clear alignment between what we know and what we do. It's that bit which helps a leader provide good leadership to the team..

Leadership’s ability to connect with a higher purpose, to be courageous, and compassionate, things that are actually associated with spiritual intelligence directly impacts engagement.

Research showed that not only did leaders not embrace this fully, if the cultural environment was not conducive it tended to diminish the spiritual intelligence. The leaders researched had components of it but none of them were empowered to use it.

Inspite of changes all around, socially, behaviourally and business wise today, the one thing that deeply embedded in many working cultures is to use cognitive abilities even if it's known not to be effective.

Unfortunately using only cognitive abilities does not solve engagement. Which is the most important thing for a leader to have.

To have spiritual intelligence takes courage. It requires a leader to step away from the known pathway and undertake a self discovery journey of finding their inner belief.

The cause of this is that as leaders we're not taught this. On the contrary we're told stuff like this is out there and is not to be brought into an organizational set-up.

The key element of spiritual intelligence is to consistently be purposeful in actions and thoughts and elevate those around me and myself to do better. And this can't be done just with one's mind. It's heart-based. A feeling that comes from within you and as you feel it you think it. That gives you strength which is what creates the self-belief.

The reason why you need leaders that are heart felt and soul inspired is because they allow their teams to step out of the common pathways, knowing they will be safe and that it's expected of them to do so.

The only way to bring about this change is to influence and share with a younger leadership group. People who would be tomorrow's business captains. By arming them with tools that help them self-reflect and for them to understand who they are so that they can be their best selves.

The common perception of leadership is that it's all external. On the contrary leadership is all about going within oneself. And lead oneself.

How does NLP (neuro linguistic programming) work in leadership development?

What NLP does for an individual is bring greater and complete understanding about oneself. Aside from the common perceptions about NLP, what NLP does is help you understand how the human mind works.

As a leader when one is making decisions, where are those decisions coming from?

When I am reacting to something, where is that reaction coming from?

When I am communicating how much is the recipient understanding?

The level of awareness of such things increases hugely when exposed to the science of NLP and what it does is bring forth the leader in the individual.

Leadership is a behaviour and not a title. You behave in such a way whereby you clearly show, through your actions, that you are leading your own self.

You understand where your behaviour is exactly coming from. This level of awareness then brings about a change in perspective where when interacting with another person, you're trying to understand where their behaviour is coming from.

This is what helps leaders bridge the gap with their teams. The team members actually pick up on the behaviour of their leader. When a leader is leading with high self awareness leads to being inspirational for the team.

The resulting outcome of this, for companies, is that people become more inclined towards creative thinking.

In leadership it helps in being able to see the perspective which is bringing the behaviour. This occurs through heightened self awareness and going through a mental process of trying to understand why what was said or done occurred.

What increased self awareness does is that it empowers us to question. We don't resort to giving excuses or answers. Instead we attempt to understand where and what made the perspective come about. This questioning behaviour tends to rub off and that action, by default, works in developing the leadership behaviour in others.

Speaking on self-awareness, post pandemic, there has been a rise in self awareness en mass. People had the time to actually pause and look within and re-prioritise what matters to them.

Looking at what one has been doing and asking why. It results in discovering purpose. And that turns into the motivation to live and lead oneself in a way that is fulfilling to self each day.

For more on Naheed Khan visit: https://www.futurwits.com/

The title of your book-"The Buddhist CEO'- is intriguing from a leadership perspective.

 A key bit about leadership is one has got to want to do it. With that comes the responsibilities of setting the scene, share a vision people can resonate with and work towards and show the values that matter. With that comes one aspect of being somebody who is willing to get stuck into difficult issues.

 All of which comes back to the key element of leading from within. Which is sometimes very difficult given the pressures of the outside world that push and pull you in all directions.

 As a leader you've got to really know who you are as a person. Your values and where you see your company going. 

 It's always best to follow what's coming from the heart that guides you straight. Operating from the head often leads to convoluted actions as the mind is often overwhelmed with the onslaught of information. Being true to one's inner self gives that consistency of action, of thought, which then makes it easier to share the vision or picture one has as a leader. Doing this helps inculcate and increase trust over time.

 Focusing on the staff and taking their perspectives and points and being inclusive in ensuring what matters to them is part of the company's activities goes a long way in earning trust and appreciation as a leader.

 A change in senior leadership in any company always shakes up the hierarchy. What helps is the empowerment that managers are given. It helps them to take on leadership responsibilities and thus showing similar values and work ethics that helps encourage innovation and new ideas which made the company a valued one.

 All part of being a ‘Buddhist CEO’ Contact Thane on

https://twitter.com/BuddhistCeo

https://www.thanelawrie.com/

Scaling up is a methodology that helps companies grow sustainably and achieve exponential growth. The methodology used covers four areas-- people, strategy, execution and cash. These four areas are known as four decisions that any company needs to get right in order to be able to scale successfully.

Doing all of this comes back to leadership.

The more you grow your people, the more you grow your business. As people grow they have more capacity to run the strategies and input into strategic thinking.

In doing this what are the challenges?

When we look at the various challenges companies face and work our way to understand the root cause, we see it comes down to primarily being a people issue. In that, helping leaders to be more intentional is the key challenge.

Leadership is about being intentional.

How do you intentionally work towards a certain outcome is what matters? In this journey, how intentionally a leader can bring people along is what matters. It's this particular bit that creates challenge as there are many who aren't intentional or wanting to move along. Old habits and familiarity of doing things in a particular way come in the way. With intent it's important to manage it in order to ensure one is moving forward towards the planned outcome.

Focusing on balancing each of the four areas is what helps manage intention and provide leadership direction towards the planned outcome. Doing this requires being intentional about each aspect at a certain time and being disciplined in doing it.

The way to do this is to focus on the common goal of the company and then look at the rhythm and habits or the processes required. This creates a behaviour which helps leadership be intentional and balance the day-to-day requirements and strategic thinking and action.

Jeremy can be contacted on:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyhancy/

The world of employment is battling through some changes the likes of which companies haven't experienced in their lifetimes.

Should work be a hybrid, remote and in-office? Or should it be fully remote or go back to how it was by being fully in office?

These are the questions companies are battling through now.

 This makes it an opportunity for companies to actually change and re-shuffle things.

Let's take the example of how tight the labour market is. The recruiters are tired. They are not getting the skill sets they need, and when they do it's tough to get the right demographics, the candidates aren't quite keen. This is impacting recruitment significantly.

Even with these difficulties when we do get the right people and get them in the companies, do we enable them to be able to purposefully and efficiently do fulfilling work?

In both these scenarios the blockage is the recruitment and employee engagement systems that are in use.

Because of this progressive companies are using this war on talent as a situation to re-think and re-jig very many things that impact business performance.

This brings up the role of leadership.

It's important for leadership to look at how the data flows. Specially where workflows are concerned. Two key things need to be the priorities-- quality of the data and the utilization of it- in the strategic drivers of the business. Doing this requires a bit more than having a great data analyst. It requires having clarity on the business purpose and understanding how the strategic business drivers will lead to success.

Many a business is lacking on clarity of their purpose and social responsibility. It results in confusion.

 It's why having clear direction, communicating that direction to the employees clearly so that all at their respective roles are able to use the data and information effectively to benefit the company in a socially responsible way.

 Anna can be found at

https://twitter.com/AnnaMamalaki

https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamamalaki/

https://annamamalaki.com/