I returned recently from the C3 Summit in Austin TX – that’s the Catalyzing Conscious Capitalism Summit. In attendance were some well known CEOs such as John Mackey CEO of Whole Foods, George Zimmer of Men’s Warehouse, and Casey Sheehan of Patagonia, to name just a few. In addition, we had such luminaries as Jean Huston and Deepak Chopra as some of our keynote speakers.
What do these stalwarts of our capital system have to do with consciousness gurus such as Deepak and Jean? Believe it or not these and the more than 100 other attendees came together because of the common belief that consciousness is the next competitive advantage for business in the 21st Century.
What exactly is consciousness? It exists when we live in attunement with what we at Quantum Leaders call the Context field of energy. This is the field of meaning and purpose, the underlying context for all that we do. For some, this field remains unconscious and therefore unavailable to them. Yet this field is rich in information that when accessed, can guide and direct any person and any organization to the most effective way to achieve their goals.
As one of the attendees described it, we are at a critical crossroads in business today. We are all standing at the center of the intersection of where capitalism intersects with consciousness. This is more than the traditional view of the socially responsible organization or even being environmentally friendly or “green”. All of that is of course part of being a conscious capitalist, but being conscious recognizes more than just the actions one takes.
It begins to draw on the realization that we are all part of a collective whole and as such what we do to others has a direct impact on what happens to us. Hmm, that sounds a lot like one of those spiritual rules often referred to as the Golden Rule. Hence, one of the pillars of conscious capitalism is that we as business leaders are here in service to all our stakeholders. Yes, I said “in service to”. As today’s new conscious capitalists recognize, it is more about those we are here to serve than it is about serving ourselves.
And what guides our service to others? It is the second pillar of conscious capitalism, meaning and purpose. At Quantum Leaders, we call this the Soulful Purpose of the organization; a purpose so core it touches the very soul of the organization and is in fact the very reason for its existence. Like the acorn that recognizes its purpose is to ultimately become an oak tree, each individual and each living organization has a soulful purpose that will guide and direct its success.
The third pillar of conscious capitalism is leadership. To the degree that the leadership for an organization has matured and developed along the three dimensions of functional skills, interpersonal skills and their own intrapersonal skills is the degree the leader will be able to create a consciously living organization. Each of these domains of skills translates to the ability of the leader to manage the organization, to create collaborative team environments and inspire and motivate the workforce to become fully committed and engaged to the fulfillment of the organizations’ Soulful Purpose.
Some might say this is a new beginning; I however believe it is but the next step in the evolutionary process for individuals, organizations and our society as a whole. For those of you who are interested here is a highlight video of the conference. I encourage you to watch and consider your own growth as an individual, a leader, and as an organization.
At last!! As a professional HR Specialist and Management Consultant and Coach who understands the commercial realities of life in business, my cry in anything I have done is “what about the people?!”
This is both from a genuine want to ensure we can make a positive difference in peoples’ business lives but also because it just makes very good commercial sense.
I want to be part of this new wave and am working with some really exciting people in Scotland to make this happen too. Love to hook up with some like minded, warm, positive genuine people who don’t consider it sissy to have all those qualities and demonstrate them in business and who most of all want to put lots back – long time coming. Thank You!
Lesley Campbell
Lesley,
YEs it is a long time coming. WE have been evolving to this for many,manyyears, and the seeds planted are now sprouting. I am finding many shoots sprouting above gound and it is very, very exciting.
Yet, we are still at the early stages and there is much to be done. THose of us who are of like mind, will give back and make a difference, of this I am sure.
Thank you for your comments. I will be in touch.
Norman
Dear Norman…
Overjoyed to read your blog. There are those of us who have known a paradigm shift was occuring in the collective unconscious for some years. And to hear it writ large in your writing adds power for the move to critical mass.
My focus is helping leaders who want to develop Inner Leadership to ethically supercharge their presence, performance and power. So… a very big thank you…
Sharon,
You are so very welcome. And I want to thank you for your commitment to helping leaders develop their inner wisdom.
It was said it takes a village to rasie a child. Well it takes a lot of pioneers to rasie a village to a new consciousness. I am glad to meet another pioneering soul
Norman
Well said. I hope that it’s not a matter of if or when, but a matter of how soon business will see the path forward. I agree with your three pillars and would extend the development of those three dimensions to all employees with the “root” one being the intrapersonal skills. This has far-reaching implications not only at work but in their daily lives and the choices we make as a society. To the extent an employee is well-grounded in who they are from within (spirituality), that will translate into them being able to work with diverse thoughts of others and not feel threatened. That will be the key to overcoming the technical, non-technical, and business model barriers that will arise as we pursue sustainability as a world.
Yes David I concur. The Context field is the foundation of everything that exists. When the Context field intersects with the People dimension we have the core of what make s organzations work (or not). In addition to the people diemnsion we also also have the Leadrship and Process dimensions which also carry their form of Context energy. Understnding the different fields of energy andhow the play in the overall picture is where the real key to creating a sustainable world lies. (To further understand the THe COntext field as well as the other two fields of energy ACtivity and Realtionship please read our whitepaper THe Living ORganization which you can downoad at http://www.quantum.rwwdev.com/html/resources_whitepapers.htm)
I hope you enjoy it
Norman
Thank you, Quantum Leaders!
With finding this website and reading your blog, I feel that I have finally come home.
For many years I’ve been struggling to balance my spiritual side with running a business and often felt that it could never be reconciled. I can’t wait to get into the rest of the articles and learn more about how to build a conscious business.
Allison,
Welcome home!
Feel free to contact me personally at nwolfe@quantumleaders.com for any reason, whether to discuss the challenge reconciling your spiritual side with teh challenge of running a business, or any other topic you may face.
My goal is to be in service to others who are desirous of creating a conscious life and who want to make a difference through their work and business efforts. While the two are often thought of as “two worlds” I have come to understand them as really the same journey.
I look forward to further discussions, in the forum or elsehwere.