Ten behaviors of aspiring conscious leaders who are Listening with all the senses.
Conscious leaders are waking up and becoming more aware of themselves, of others, and of their environment. They are listening generously with all their senses, feeling all their feelings, and creating space for becoming more mindful and noticing what is going on around them. This is an invitation to wake up, recognizing that conscious leadership requires us all to become wide awake and to stay awake and alert in all aspects of our lives.
Listening with all the senses is the first of the three practices for noticing what is going on described in the book, The Inner Journey to Conscious Leadership.
A Zen Buddhist story reminds us about the importance of waking up and noticing what is going on. You may have heard the story before in one of its many variations.
A man being chased by a vicious tiger comes to the edge of a cliff. As the tiger closes in on him, the man notices a vine leading over the cliff and down the precipice. Quickly he crawls over the edge and begins to climb down the vine, only to discover another tiger waiting for him below.
Looking up, he sees a mouse gnawing away at the vine, his lifeline, and looking down, he sees the tiger. Just then, he spots a luscious strawberry within arm’s reach. He seizes the berry and eats it. Ah, how delicious the strawberry tastes.
Can you stop and notice the beauty in your environment and the people around you despite all the tigers and the mice?
If you find an aspiring conscious leader noticing what is going on, listening with all the senses, they will likely be:
- Waking up, becoming increasingly aware of everything
- Listening attentively using all the senses
- Feeling all the feelings
- Developing emotional intelligence
- Being highly sensitive to emotional and physiological changes in ourselves and others
- Appreciating the silence
- Being aware of feminine and masculine values within ourselves and others
- Trusting intuitive feelings
- Managing the environment to limit distractibility; embracing distractions as messages
- Creating the space for becoming mindful of what is going on
Which of these behaviors are you already practicing?
Which of the behaviors do you need to work on to become a better leader? Select one of these behaviors to practice today. Set an hourly reminder and take a purposeful pause to reflect on your experiences and set an intention for your practice. Send me a message via the contact page if you would like to share your experiences. Categories: Noticing, Listening
