Why personal change is important for a conscious leader

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate why personal change is important for a conscious leader and provide four actionable traits a leader can implement to make a greater impact with the people they lead. The model is to become aware, make changes and see if those changes make the difference you want in your life. If not take different actions until you get the results you want. As this action model becomes a habit, this drives more and more confidence and courage in the leader as they are seeing the positive changes manifest in their life. Design/methodology/approach – The approach I used for the paper is to layout real examples that show the negative impact leaders are causing to their people and organisations. I then use a client example and how she was able to make a personal change using four conscious traits. The work represented in this paper is through first-hand experience and client stories from my coaching. Survey information provided is subjective through informal questioning. Findings – The majority of people (∼73 per cent) who I have queried about leaders they have worked for highlight they were unmemorable and made no impact on inspiring them. Through my coaching I have found leaders who commit and follow through with making the personal change to be a conscious leader and use the four traits the paper highlights, see positive impacts in their own life and in the people they lead. Originality/value – Being a conscious leader is a new emerging area in leadership and those leaders who make it part of their leadership are seeing the positive impacts it is creating with their people and teams. The payoff is the leader becomes an example for others of what personal change can achieve and they become conscious of their behaviours. This awareness allows them to decide is this how I want to be and what I want to be remembered for. This transformation then drives great confidence and courage to be a better leader that benefits everyone in their network.