15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership

Read as ‘commitment’ and then a ‘counter-commitment’ for each point.

  1. I commit to taking full responsibility for the circumstances of my life, and my physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. I commit to support others to take full responsibility for their lives.

    I commit to blaming others and myself for what is wrong in the world. I commit to being a victim, villain, or a hero and taking more or less than 100% responsibility.

  2. I commit to growing in self-awareness. I commit to regarding every interaction as an opportunity to learn. I commit to curiosity as a path to rapid learning.

    I commit to being right and to seeing this situation as something that is happening to me. I commit to being defensive especially when I am certain that I am RIGHT.

  3. I commit to seeing all people and circumstances as allies that are perfectly suited to help me learn the most important things for my growth.

    I commit to seeing other people and circumstances as obstacles and impediments to getting what I want.

  4. I commit to the masterful practice of integrity, including acknowledging all key feelings, expressing the unarguable truth and keeping my agreements.

    I commit to withholding, not feeling, living in incompletion, and being right about my story.

  5. I commit to feeling my feelings all the way through to completion. They come, and I locate them in my body then move, breathe and vocalize them so they release all the way through.

    I commit to resisting, judging and apologizing for my feelings. I withhold, avoid, and repress them, contracting into fear or solidity.

  6. I commit to saying what is true for me. I commit to being a person to whom others can express themselves with candor.

    I commit to withholding my truth (facts, feelings, things I imagine) and speaking in a way that allows me to try to manipulate an outcome. I commit to not listening to the other person.

  7. I commit to end gossip, to talk directly to people with whom I have an issue or concern and to encourage others to talk directly to people with whom they have an issue or concern.

    I commit to saying things about people that I have not or will not say to them. I commit to talking about people in ways I wouldn’t if they were there. I commit to listening to others when they gossip.

  8. I commit to living in appreciation, both fully opening to receiving and giving appreciation.

    I commit to feeling entitled to “what’s mine,” resenting when it’s not acknowledged in the way I want.

  9. I commit to creating a life of play, fun, ease, improvisation, and laughter. I commit to seeing all of life unfold easefully and effortlessly.

    I commit to seeing my life as serious; it requires hard work, effort and struggle. I see play, fun and laughter as a distraction from effectiveness and efficiency.

  10. I commit to fully expressing my human potential, and to supporting and inspiring others to fully express their creativity and live in their zone of genius.

    I commit to holding myself back and not realizing my full potential by living in areas of incompetence, competence and even excellence.

  11. I commit to living from the belief that I have enough of everything… including time, money, love, energy, space, resources, etc.

    I commit to a scarcity mentality choosing to see that there is “not enough” for me and others in the world and therefore I have to be conscious of making sure I get and preserve what is “mine”.

  12. I commit to being the source of my security, control and approval.

    I commit to believing that my safety depends on others – how they behave, feel, and express themselves. I commit to rigid confidentiality to control what other people think of me, and to protect my security… financial, emotional, reputational, etc.

  13. I commit to creating a win for all, (win for me; win for the other person; win for the organization, and win for the whole) solutions for whatever issues, problems, concerns, or opportunities life gives me.

    I commit to seeing life as a zero-sum game, creating win/lose solutions for whatever issues, problems, concerns, or opportunities life gives me.

  14. I commit to being the resolution or solution that is needed: seeing what is missing in the world as an invitation to become that which is required.

    I commit to reacting to the needs of the world with apathy or resentment and doing nothing or assigning responsibility to others.

  15. I commit to seeing that the opposite of my story is as true or truer than my original story. The source of interpretation is in me.

    I commit to believing my stories and the meaning I give them as the truth.

—Conscious Leadership Forum, http://www.conscious.is/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/15-Commitments-of-Conscious-Leaders.final_1.pdf (404, taken from Google’s cache, slightly edited)

Learnt about this from the first lecture of Sam Altman’s Startup Class, made me think about my behavior in last couple of months at work and elsewhere. Reproducing here for ease of access and since this was the original form in which I read it. A new version is available as The 15 Commitments at conscious.is resources section.

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