Living and Leading Consciously: Leadership as an Expression of Purpose and Values

Abstract The authors (Sisodia, founder and chairman emeritus of Conscious Capitalism; Bhat, thought leader and entrepreneur) note that leadership is “a reflection of one's inner state of being.” They write that an “inner alignment—where healing, purpose, and contribution converge—is what enables leaders to move beyond success into significance.” They reference “what the psychologist and author Gay Hendricks calls the ‘zone of genius.'” This involves zones of, in their words, incompetence, competence, excellence, and genius. In describing living consciously rather than compulsively, they advocate for witnessing yourself, “to observe your mind, body, and emotions without judgment; and releasing our attachment to the ego.” Sisodia describes his “life awakenings,” and as his thinking evolved, his “research uncovered businesses that thrived by placing human well‐being at their core—companies beloved not just by their customers but by employees, suppliers, and communities.” That led him to “identify the foundational pillars of what we would later call Conscious Capitalism: higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and caring culture. In discovering these companies, I found the solution to my heartbreak. On the other side of our deepest pain lies our bliss.”