We all share this planet together, and we want to steward through it . We know that strong outstanding leaders at a higher level of evolution than those who created the problems are necessary to solve our global environmental challenges. And then also for purposes of awakening all of us on this planet are all sharing, as one humankind. And we are all brothers and sisters. We all have the same general goals, interests in and opportunities for our lives. We hold value, respect and honor each other. And that’s what the leadership circle is all about.
The purpose is to support leaders in evolving the conscious practice of their leadership. And that’s really critical because in evolution we’re ever constantly adapting or changing. Many of us can speak academically about it’s a lifelong journey, lifelong learning. But the reality is, it truly is an evolution. We never arrive and even those who might think they have arrived. The world continues to modify, change, new challenges, opportunities constantly, right? So we’re always in a state of elevation evolution.
In conversation with Michael O’Connor at Coaching Matters, Micheal explains the relevance of the leadership circle and why we should coach people towards things that are meaningful to them. He explains that we tend to live in a world that’s got a lot of complexity and tends to be the root issue of where people are looking for support on how to navigate through all this relevance or all this complexity. The leadership circle framework has a nice convenient value for all of us in that the research has already been done. So one should start there, as a place of look and challenge.
Isn’t it interesting? Well, Here is a glimpse of the conversation that Gaurav had with Michael.
Table of Contents
A Conscious Leader Vs A Natural Leader
Do you think there’s a difference between being conscious and being natural? Do you think leadership should be naturally established?
Being a conscious leader and natural are two different things. This is my opinion, but I feel very strongly, the second is that we as people mature and evolve over time. So in our early years, that which is natural is not conscious, it’s actually the opposite of that. And we kind of mature into and evolve towards something that looks more and more like that. So while we’re on the journey, and research has about 95% of us consciously addressing things is necessary. So the question is, does that mean I’m being a natural?
No, not at all. One of the key themes in creative compensation is to be authentic and real. We can be conscious, and authentic, and real, all at the same time. But it requires honesty, and it requires integrity. So I will say, if we want to be meaning-making, highly contributing leaders, the natural thing to do is to be conscious, and constantly challenge that which is natural.
Gaurav: From where I reflect, if you look at the evolution of consciousness itself is a natural process. So it’s not a question of whether it’s natural or conscious. What I’m saying is, the evolution of the conscious consciousness is a natural process, provided you are willing to unlearn and unwind all the conditioning that you have picked up in this world, which is a part of nurturing. And at times, we all are domesticated in the environment in the context that we are born into, which actually hampers our natural process of evolution, and evolution of consciousness.
Reactive and Creative Competence
People in position are always in a power game. Now, how do you identify their reactive or creative competence?
Leaders create influence. And there are different kinds of influence. Your question speaks to positional influence, where my role is- I’m an executive vice president, and therefore I have influence versus a personal influence where it’s earned based on my integrity in the way that I work. So I think one thing to work through is, is it a positional influence or a personal influence. But that’s one of the benefits of coaching and one of the benefits of the 360 assessment.
Many of us have gotten long in the world, not really knowing how we’re doing. So a 360 allows us to look at these questions that we maybe never thought about before, these research-proven questions, there’s about 124 of them in the leadership circle, and also invite people in whose feedback we care about and hear their perspective, I would say probably half of the leaders I work with who are executive and my age or older, probably half of them are completely surprised at the data. It’s not at all what they would expect. And it’s common to see somebody’s self-score looking one way. And the combined ratings of 10 or 15. Other people look a different way. And that big old gap is like wow, brand new information. That was my experience. So the thought would be one way to measure all this is to do a candid, objective 360.
Gaurav: My observation is that reactive leaders try to bully creative leaders during open forums, how to handle the situation?
Michael: There are a lot of different ways that we can be reactive. Bullying is one of those 11 strategies. There are others where there any effective contribution is acquiescing or ignoring or disengaging, you’re playing small or something. So there are lots of different ways we might look at this. But if we’re dealing with the bully, let’s see, wow, that’s you. One of the things that are foundational to all of this is just calling things out, naming them that as they are. So if it is appropriate to pull this bully off to the side and help him or her understand the implications, that’s one thing, or it could be setting ground rules or something. There’s a lot to that. But if there’s public bullying, there’s becoming increasingly not okay. In, in forums of people doing their work. So it needs to be addressed one way or the other. And sometimes that’s very challenging because sometimes it is the most senior leaders that are doing that. But it tends to be a common thing for coaching conversations. So that’s one point of view. I’m sure there are Other ways to look at it. So I’d like to hear if there’s anybody else who has a different opinion.
Does TLC provide different norming groups? Or is the norm group static?
Michael: Currently, yes, the norm group is static. And that will change. So if you’ll just know currently, the norm group has the entire leadership circle database across the world. And in time, but not yet. In time, we want you to be able to look at healthcare only, or India only, or executive only. Before we can offer that, again, we’ve turned it off for a few years, we are going through some significant security and data analytic issues, which are making those kinds of things vulnerable. So once we get all that kind of clean up, maybe in the next six months or so, we look forward to being able to offer customer groups again.
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About the Speaker
Michael O’Connor works in the field of transformation. He is a Senior Leadership Consultant and Vice President of Business Development. He has over 25 years of expertise assisting clients and has served as a valued counsel to forward-thinking leaders who want to make a difference. Mike helps leaders become more productive, impactful, and powerful in their business and leadership endeavours. He is dedicated to and enthusiastic about assisting others in realising and maximising their full potential.
Michael has worked as a Training and Development Manager, Executive Coach, Instructional Designer, Team Facilitator, Consultant, and Business Development Manager throughout his career. Michael was the Director of Organizational Development and Succession Planning at King Edward Hospital in Bermuda before joining The Leadership Circle. He has also worked as a Senior Consultant for Development Dimensions International for over 20 years (DDI).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of the leadership circle?
The goal of the leadership circle is to assist leaders in developing a mindful leadership practice. And that’s important because, throughout evolution, we’re always adapting or evolving. The world is always changing, presenting new challenges and opportunities. As a result, we’re continually in a state of elevation change.
How is the evolution of consciousness a natural process?
Consciousness evolution is a natural process if you are willing to unlearn and unravel all of the conditioning you have picked up in this world as a result of upbringing. And, at times, we are all domesticated in the milieu in which we are born, which obstructs our natural process of evolution and consciousness evolution.
Is being a conscious leader the same as a natural one?
Being a natural leader and being a conscious leader are two distinct things. The second is that we, as individuals, grow and change with time. Natural is not conscious in our early years; in fact, it is the polar opposite of consciousness. And we gradually age into and evolve into something that resembles it more and more.
What is the key theme of creative compensation?
Being true and real is one of the fundamental principles of creative compensation. At the same time, we can be conscientious, authentic, and genuine. It does, however, necessitate honesty and integrity. So, if we want to be meaningful, high-contributing leaders, the obvious thing to do is to be cognizant of what we’re doing and continually challenge what we’re doing.
Who is Michael O’Connor?
Michael O’Connor works in the field of transformation. He is a Senior Leadership Consultant and Vice President of Business Development. He has over 25 years of expertise assisting clients and has served as a valued counsel to forward-thinking leaders who want to make a difference. Mike helps leaders become more productive, impactful, and powerful in their business and leadership endeavours.
