Leadership from the inside out

Tune into your inner enlightened leader to BE more, not DO more.

In today’s complex, chaotic world, enlightened leadership is more needed than ever. And to me, that’s something all of us can take responsibility for.

Every one of us has opportunities to lead, whether with authority vested by others, whether through a role requiring influence, or whether we simply need to become the emotional leader of a group or in our family in order to change the way things are going. Sometimes we simply need to lead ourselves in order to move forward in a stronger, healthier way.

We tend to put leadership on a pedestal. This makes it seem like something for other, fancier people to take on, something hard and out of reach.

It’s not though. Leadership is about being one who guides. It’s that simple. Anyone can step into that role.

Guidance means giving direction towards a common goal. Guiding means influencing and inspiring others to head in the chosen direction. And it means caring for and motivating others (and yourself), even when the going gets rough.

It doesn’t work when no one wants to follow your direction, nor do they find you inspiring. That’s why it’s also important to leverage the soft skills of leadership, like vision, integrity, empathy, and effective communication.

The book “Primal Leadership” offers undeniable, research-based evidence showing that emotionally intelligent leaders are the only effective ones, while those who stay stuck in command and control leadership styles are shooting themselves in the foot over the long term. They deny their own humanity and that of their teams, drive people hard, and may achieve results for a short time. But in the long run they burn people out, destroy employee engagement, and increase churn.

The Enlightened Leadership Gap

It’s clear we have far too many “command and control” leaders still out there.

44% of American workers have had a supervisor or employer they consider abusive. Over half of workers in the U.S. report being burned out. 50% have missed time at work because of stress. 35% of workers identify their boss as a major source of stress at work, and 80% say that a change in direct management or leadership has an impact on their stress levels. 76% report that work stress has negatively impacted their relationships and 66 % report losing sleep because of work stress.

And that’s just at work—the leaders behind those statistics return home and often wreak the same havoc there. Not to mention, those leaders themselves are often drastically burned out and exhausted. Almost 60% of leaders report feeling worn out at the end of each day, one of the warning signs for burnout.

But there is a way to shift out of command and control leadership and find a more energizing, enlightened option. We always have a choice.

The Choice Is Ours

Imagine a guide leading a group over rough terrain on a treacherous mountain path when a rain storm picks up. This guide has a choice. Get to the destination in time to meet their ride at the appointed hour, or seek a safe spot to wait out the storm.

If she rushes the group back to the van, she knows she can avoid paying her driver overtime, but she must push them hard to hike through the rain in slippery mud. Someone may twist an ankle. Others will be scared and uncomfortable. All will be aware she put them at risk. So there’s a solid chance no one from the group would ever go on her guided trips again. The mood in the van on the ride home will be sour because people will be wet, cold, and upset. Her reviews will be poor and her business will decline long term.

Alternatively, if she slows down, seeks cover, and waits out the storm in safety, she pays a big overtime invoice to her driver. But while the group huddles in safety together to wait out the storm — feeling relatively comfortable under the overhang of a tree-covered rock ledge — they bond over the experience and share stories of other challenges overcome in the past. They feel connected. The van ride home has a buoyant energy and everyone leaves a good review. Half the guests return for another guided trek. Her business gets a boost.

In this instance, the guide’s choice was binary and clear. Any well trained guide would know what to do.

But for most leadership scenarios, choices are in the gray zone, and there is no one right answer. There is no training that would offer a clear single path forward.

Leadership today is harder than ever

Complex, chaotic situations, the treacherous reality of today’s environmental degradation and tenuous economics, a relentless culture of “more” that creates the pressure to endlessly do and produce more… all these are now on a leader’s plate.

If that leader is in a business environment, then they must also address the challenges of employee burnout and disengagement, and a workforce with an emerging, but deep seated, desire for a better future of work.

At home, a leader may face conflict between family members, the discontents of a spouse who doesn’t find the distribution of labor fair, or their own need for downtime and rest. In community, a leader may struggle to create consensus in a group.

To be an enlightened leader in this kind of environment is no easy task.

But I’m happy to say that there is a clear way to uplift. One which everyone can adopt. One that will have immediate impacts as well as life long repercussions.

Enlightened Leadership & The Inner Switch

A leader who is able to tap into their inner knowing, and to go inward, will be able to choose the path that is best for their group. Not the path best for the short term results, not the one that feels fastest, easiest, or flashiest. The path that is grounding, caring, and energetically aligned.

I have recently had the pleasure of getting to know Susan S. Freeman, an executive coach, leadership development expert, consultant, and speaker—and an alumnae from my college with a couple decades of experience on me. She has inspired me, and I’m excited because she just published her second book (it launched today!), which I had the chance to read in advance.

Inner Switch: 7 Timeless Principles to Transform Modern Leadership

I love the way books can get other people’s ideas into my head in a fast download, and I gobbled up this quick read. But putting Susan’s ideas into practice will be a life long practice.

This is a book that explains not just the “what” of visionary, inspiring, influential, empathetic and emotionally intelligent leadership, but the “how.”

In it, Susan coaches readers to find the inner depth and equanimity necessary to lead at the highest level.

She brings ancient Eastern wisdom to enhance modern Western business leadership, and in doing so she paves the way for readers to connect with their true self and to bring this true self into all of their actions, which ultimately drives effective results.

“When leaders make a habit of focusing inward on themselves and their internal state before making a decision, holding a meeting… or interacting with staff, they become more open and receptive, they leave the defended structure of their reactive ego mind, having developed a capacity to disengage from fearful narratives derived from past experiences, as well as from their anxieties about the future. They are able to reduce conflict in the workplace because they have done so first within themselves.”

Susan gained her insight into Eastern philosophy from more than 25 years of studying yoga in the process of healing a nerve injury. She uses her insight to teach us to attune to the body’s wisdom and to discover a state of mind that enables us to stay calm, be resourceful, and respond with intention, even when under pressure.

To accomplish this, Freeman outlines seven principles that help readers shift from unconscious reactor to conscious responder while in leadership roles.

Freeman’s seven principles begin by teaching readers to 1. open to the new and unknown, and the realm of possibility. In doing so, readers gain the chance to 2. learn from beyond the limitations of their mind and its conditioning, instead reaching a state where they can see what truly is real, while 3. letting go of old patterns of stressful reactivity. They can then use breath work to 4. drop in to a deep inner knowing that opens them up to a huge well of information, creativity, and energy.

Once these new behaviors are adopted, readers can 5. integrate body, mind, heart and being in the present moment, driving balanced, spontaneous, wise action. Together, these methods allow readers to 6. connect with their inner harmony before connecting with others, to build fully aligned teams and organizations and co-create with them.

Now they are ready to 7. illuminate their decisions and interactions with others, by seeking to remove the darkness of the ego, of the conditioned mind, of fear and anxiety and painful memory. This lets the inherent light in all of us shine through, keeping us on the right path.

“What we can rely on is our energy. We are always emitting energy, but are we aware of the quality of the energy we are transmitting to others? For leaders, this requires communication that is not only verbal, but also connected to and integrated with the heart.”

When leaders guide others from this state, others may also release their unconscious reactivity and respond powerfully in the present.

My takeaways

Knowing that my inner work will power my outer results much faster and more pleasantly than any amount of external effort is exciting.

If I’m feeling stressed, I can turn inwards to let go of my outward expectations and attachment to overwork and tune into a broader range of possibilities to deliver results.

If I’m feeling disconnected from others, I can reconnect to myself and then share my energy outwards. I can get into internal energetic alignment before seeking to harmonize with others.

And when I have to make a decision, I can focus on the removal of my reactive, ego mind, and listen to my inner knowing to reach the best answer.

Above all, I will aim to lead with love, the highest energy of all.

As a yogi myself, I love knowing how time on the mat translates to good leadership practices. I love seeing how breath work can be used any time and any where to help me take the lead and step into the light. I love remembering how important my own energy management happens to be. I hope this also inspires you to go inwards.

Here are some of Susan’s final words of advice in the book:

1. Open your heart and incorporate its wisdom

2. Take the lead no matter how another person behaves

3. Embrace that it is your responsibility to affect the energy around you

4. Choose openhearted connection and joy over fear, suffering, and domination of those you lead

5. Center yourself before meetings (and during, if needed)

6. Create spaciousness in your speech to allow for your full expression of thoughts and feelings and to give people an opening to respond

7. Focus on becoming a more present observer

Next week, I’ll go deeper into the 7 principles Susan outlines. They are truly inspiring!

-Marisol