Conscious leadership

Conscious leadership training – Leading from awareness and with humanity

Being a manager has never been easy, but today leaders are facing unprecedented complexity and ambiguity. Technology and constant availability produce information overload and generate anxiety and a sense of disconnection.

From fire-extinguishing to leading from inspiration

A conscious leader is a leader who is truly present. Those around them see, feel, and are inspired by their presence and humanity, which creates a ripple effect deep into the organisation.

Being a leader has never been easy, but today brings unprecedented complexity and ambiguity. When we consider the challenges leaders face today, it’s easy to see the need for cultivating conscious leadership:

Why conscious leadership is needed

Increasing complexity and ambiguity

The environment we live and work in is becoming ever more complex and ambiguous. There are numerous new and difficult challenges and many organisations face considerable resource restraints.

A state of “continuous partial attention”

We are attached 24/7 to an array of technological devices that produce information overload, which generates anxiety and a sense of disconnection. The volume of information at our disposal is, in fact, leading to less rather than more certainty. We can argue that we live in a state of “continuous partial attention”.

Why conscious leadership is needed

Lack of mental space

The most frequent complaint heard by leaders is the lack of mental space they experience. We often simply do not have the space or the breathing room necessary to be clear and focused, and to deeply listen to ourselves and others in order to make adequately informed and wise decisions.

The world needs leaders with an open mind and warm heart

If we are to successfully resolve the greater challenges we face – not only within our organisations, but in our society and planet as a whole – we need more leaders who are focused and creative, with an open awareness and a clear sense of purpose and compassion for the greater whole.

Leading from awareness

The necessity for leaders to reflect and renew themselves is at the heart of the most influential contemporary leadership models. How can this be achieved in today’s high-speed and complex environment?

Practising mindfulness is a scientifically proven way of leading with awareness, by enabling leaders to create more mental space in the midst of the constant busyness and challenging environments. They learn to become aware of their own mental patterns and habits, and develop tools to change unhelpful habits.

Creating a ripple effect

Creating a ripple effect

The benefits from this shift do not only apply to the individual leader and their team, but to the organisation as a whole. Higher engagement levels and more trust in leadership are an important result – as well as more successful change management within the organisation.

Focused leadership does not necessarily replace other leadership or management approaches. It serves as an enabler for those approaches, by giving leaders the mental calm and clarity to apply them.

How do you learn conscious leadership?

We spend most of our time in the often frantic “doing – thinking – problem-solving” mode in which stress builds up and clouds our vision.

By learning to switch between the “doing” mode and a more contemplative “being” mode, you learn to find more mental space and develop more awareness. This enables you to connect more deeply with others and with your personal purpose.

A focused leader is characterised by a strong presence, focus, humility, compassion, emotional balance, value-centred decision making, resilience, and positivity.

A mindful leader is also someone who takes care of their team, looks out for signs of overwhelm and engages in an honest discussion to find out how they can help. 

What will you learn in this training?

  • Learning a set of contemplative practices, such as mindfulness meditation, to deepen (self-) awareness and regulation
  • Understanding the science behind the brain
  • Reflecting on personal leadership values to develop a clearer sense of purpose
  • Learning to pause in the midst of the franticness of a hectic life
  • Sharing ideas and experiences with other programme participants
  • Reflecting on challenging situations and how to remain balanced while finding the right response according to your values
  • Effective communication and  active listening
  • Awareness of overwhelm in your team and the ability to respond 

Our standard programme is a three-day in-person programme, but other formats can be developed 

What will you learn in this training?

What you will learn

In our conscious leadership programme you learn how to:

  • Recognise stress-inducing patterns and respond more appropriately to these
  • Develop self-awareness in order to monitor yourself accordingly
  • Cultivate focus as well as the ability to tolerate ambiguity
  • Bring mindfulness and compassion into communication and the feedback you give and receive as a leader
  • Respond wisely to challenging situations
  • Lead by inspiration, based on your personal leadership principles

In our new adapted programme we will focus on the following set of 7 key competencies for leaders:

1. Focus: The ability to focus and to be truly present is key for high performers in this distracted and fast paced working environment.

2. Resilience: Selfcare, stress management tools, knowing how to protect and nourish yourself are needed to boost wellbeing and prevent burnout and exhaustion.

3. Empathy: The ability to connect to others and to be truly present and kind is needed to create a human working environment which is based on trust and motivation rather than fear and control.

4. Positivity: The ability to find joy in little moments of daily life, to cultivate gratitude and contentment is crucial to counter the negativity bias of the human brain and to contribute to a happy workplace and life.

5. Values: A focused leader has a clear understanding of their set of values and uses them as a compass to navigate in life. The value compass provides meaning and purpose and helps to stay true to yourself and in control of your life.

6. Emotional balance: Leaders often consider emotions to be kept out of business life while unconsciously they are being controlled by them. It is therefore important to be in touch with your emotions and know how to regulate yourself.

7. Humility: An inspiring leader keeps their ego in check and can relate to others as an enabler and a coach rather than top down through command and control.

The content and set-up of this programme is specifically designed to help you integrate mindful leadership practices into your daily life and work.

In this training, we work both on personal stress-management and interpersonal applications for mindfulness, helping you to find more balance for yourself and inspire others to do so as well. No prior knowledge or experience with mindfulness or meditation is required.

About us

We believe that mindfulness skills can make this world a better place, not only because it helps to improve individual wellbeing, but also because it leads to wiser choices and more kindness in this world. Our team of international certified mindfulness and yoga teachers has extensive experience at the work place and can train in English, Dutch, German and French. 

Learn more about our vision, meet our team and check out our beautiful locations.

  • Beate Trück
  • Lot Heijke
  • Lorinda Brinton
  • Alena Reisinger
  • Steve Savels
  • Berenice Boxler
  • Kirsten Victor
  • Lyuba Byessonova
  • Yvonne Tuinte
  • Sandrine Rauter
  • Katrien Maes
  • Peter Paanakker
  • Isabelle Hoberg
  • Heather Gorham
  • Viannou  Coëme