The 4 Pitfalls and 4 Practices
Imagine biking down a street in Manhattan in a designated bike lane. Passing on the left is an endless procession of speedy cabs and limousines. On your right, you flash past hundreds of parked cars. Suddenly, a car door opens, you can’t get around it, so you’re forced to feel the true cost of unaware people.
Being asleep and unaware is a big liability.
And it’s happening more regularly in the face of all this change. It’s someone who offends a colleague with an unwitting faux pas. Or someone who ignores a customer’s concern and loses the sale. It’s someone who is tone deaf to the needs of his team. Or alienates her boss with a flippant comment. It’s a parent who ignores his teenager’s drug problem or a government worker who takes a small bribe.
The cost of unaware people is just too high to pay these days.
Especially when the antidote, becoming more conscious, costs little but returns exponentially.
Let’s face it. There is a growing gap between those who are awake and those who are asleep.
The faster the world changes, the bigger the gap becomes. Most people believe they are self-aware, but research shows that only ten to fifteen percent of us truly have this capability.
Some of us are changing and adapting with the times.
Others are falling behind. What are some of the pitfalls you face and the practices you can use to become more aware and conscious? There are four reasons why we are not changing fast enough:
- Too Stagnant– We are too slow and reactive, afraid of the uncertainty of change.
- Too Shallow– We are unaware and too superficial in our thinking and feeling.
- Too Small– Biased and close-minded, we often live in steel bunkers and cannot see our way out.
- Too Safe– Too cautious or isolated, we lack a sense of urgency and accountability.
So, how do you manage these pitfalls?
Based on our research, the most successful people follow four powerful practices of being Conscious:
- Get Real and Embrace change.
We must see reality for what it is, not what we want it to be. - Go Deep and Experience change.
We must build a greater awareness of our inner self. - Think Big and Expand change.
This requires you to look outside yourself to see a world of infinite possibilities - Step Up – Energize change.
By stepping up we become positive change agents in our own lives.
When you engage in these four practices, not only do you feel better, but you perform better.
We examined thousands of assessments and found that self-aware people outperform on a variety of measures as rated by bosses, peers, and subordinates.
So, how conscious are you?
The Four Pitfalls and Four Practices are part of our Healthy & Conscious Leadership Program, offered by The Healthy Leader in ILT, VILT, and online learning.
