This month in Community Voices faculty member Maria Mercedes Galvez teaches us how to breathe our way into a more successful leadership. 

A New Leadership: Conscious Leadership

They are not rumors, they are loud and clear figures reflected in the latest studies on leadership, in which it is evident that 86% of organizations or social systems declare that one of their three greatest challenges has to do with leadership.

Leaders need to develop new skills to inspire, set an example, empower, align and develop change.

Conscious Leadership

It is increasingly common to speak of a leader with awareness of the environment, trends and also their emotions, the cause and effect of their actions, what generates their own behavior in others. Not only aware of the value they bring but also of their own limitations, where they do not add value and when it is better for them not to be there. Aware of the importance of asking for help, of the innovation and creativity that arises from delegating…

To manufacture the results we desire depends, by a large part, on the quality of relationships we have and our awareness of how and what we talk about at all times. The leader who has impressive results is one who is aware of the needs, expectations and emotions of the people he/she leads and also of his/her own, since he/she is aware of her/himself, his/her vision, mission, strengths, weaknesses and priorities.

What prevents most leaders from doing what they have to do? Mainly, not thinking, or what is known as a reaction trap. It is a natural process that affects the majority of leaders in a kind of fight or flight reaction. Instead of focusing on the big picture, people react to all kinds of ‘distractions’, such as phone calls, emails, meetings, the list of daily tasks and other similar interruptions.

These reactions are activated by the lowest and most primitive part of the brain, hiding from the mind the ability to have an overview of things.

Breathing plays a primary role in breaking this reaction cycle and achieving a higher state of consciousness. Most of us spend much of our lives without being consciously aware of our breath. Conscious breathing exercises the part of the brain that nourishes creativity, allowing people to become aware of their entire being: the mind and the body.

When we reach a higher level of consciousness, people can transcend the reaction trap and begin to focus on what is really important: generating results. Doing so involves making conscious choices, setting limits and slowing down enough to manage priorities and think about decisions.

How do we do that?

As we mentioned before, it is all about breathing. Whenever you have time, for example before a meeting, try this exercise to improve your senses. First stand up, close your eyes and relax. Inhale and count to four, then exhale and count to eight. Repeat this practice several times and observe the sensations that occur in your body. 

The technique will help you feel more relaxed, focused and conscious. It allows you to face unexpected situations better, with more calm and clarity than ever. Practice this attentive breathing technique enough and it will become natural for you.

Written by Fernando Rabanales, member of our Faculty. In this article Fernando expresses a style of communication that reflects a leadership value that we teach in our programs: the power of listening and being present, truly present.

Communication is More Than Words

Almost half a century ago Dr. Albert Mehrabian discovered that in reality very little of what we say, we say with words. When we speak, only seven percent of what we say is transmitted through the content of our words. Thirty-eight percent is in the tone of voice, the intonation, our rhythm when speaking, etc., and fifty-five percent is body language (gestures, the way we move our body, postures, among others). This brings us to the two greatest difficulties in communicating: on the one hand, the problem of actually expressing what we want to say and, on the other, the problem of understanding what our listeners want to express to us. In order to communicate effectively we have to learn to "read" beyond their words.

Knowing how to read between the lines allows us to go deeper into the subliminal message of an informal conversation, a simple one like “how are you?” or “how do you feel?” These prompts can be the beginning of fictional speech. The moment we begin to speak we are confronted with a fiction that we have created, and, that we hope, reveals a truth. There isn’t a “pure” language. The only “pure language” is the initials sounds of a baby. When we lose our originality, we begin to create an image of ourselves loaded with masks of complacency. This idea brings to mind the crystal clear conception from Adrienne Rich of a liar as someone who has lost sight of the possibilities that exist between two people, or a group of people. She writes, “our capacity to create reality, through the creation of fictions with language, should not be abused. This abuse is called lying. Those who are in the public life that create our values are especially called to not “lie”. Without exception most of us believe that that they are lying to us."

 Are they lying to us or are we lying to ourselves? It is here that silence, listening to our own discourse is very important.

In his book “Nine Kinds of Silence” Paul Goodman writes:

"Not talking and talking are two human ways of being in the world, there are types and degrees of both voice and silence.”
There is the silent silence of stupor or apathy;
The sober silence that goes with a solemn face;
The fecund silence of conscience, the grazing of the soul, from which new thoughts emerge;
The alive silence of the alert perception, ready to say: "This ... this ...";
The musical silence that accompanies the absorbing activity;
The silence when listening to another speak, take it adrift and help him to be clear;
The noisy silence of resentment and self-recrimination speaks loudly and subvocally but hard to say;
The bewildered silence;
The silence of a peaceful contract with other people or communion with the cosmos."

Do you listen enough? Do you listen with your eyes, ears and heart, seeking to understand? If you do that instead of seeking to be heard, you are surely on the path of true communication.