How a Conscious Leader Nurtures a Culture of Collaboration

How a Conscious Leader Nurtures a Culture of Collaboration using Tools from Radical Collaboration®

Imagine a world where competency, advanced analysis and creation is available to everyone at their fingertips. Where everyone is using advanced machine learning and AI.

At the moment only the early adopters are utilizing the new technology, but it will not take long until we are all there.

The question becomes, when we start to free up time and there is space for collaboration, learning and innovation, and even our role changes. What do we do?

I believe we will see huge changes, and even if there is no way to see the exact impact of this big shift, I believe that we need to embrace new technology, learn how to use it and incorporate it into our daily lives, and at the same time remember that our most important human quality, our consciousness is where we can make the most difference moving forward.

The importance of Conscious Leadership and Radical Collaboration®

Conscious Leadership

Conscious leadership is a holistic leadership style that embraces awareness, authenticity and empathy, while staying mindful of your own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. You could say that when you embody this leadership style you have "pealed all layers of the Onion" where you are that onion.

Have you started to peal your onion yet?

If you have, it means that you are in a process of developing a deep awareness of yourself and your impact on others, making decisions that benefit both your teams and the organization as a whole. You are able to see all layers of yourself, your team, your organization and even outside of your organization.

Radical Collaboration®

Radical Collaboration® is an approach focusing on improving interpersonal relationships and effectively managing conflict. Educating yourself and your team in collaborative skills could help enhance the collective strength of your team with a vocabulary, skills and tools that increases team effectiveness and collaboration.

Openness, which is said to be "The Grand Simplifier", by Dr. Will Schutz is one of the essential collaborative skills. With openness there is transparency, truthfullness, no room for creative stories and doubts which build Trust.

When you know how to recognize defensiveness and non-collaborative environment as well as a culture of collaboration you are in a unique position to influence the culture and lead people into non-defensivneness and a collaborative mode.

Why is Conscious Leadership and Radical Collaboration® important in the age of AI?

What makes us as humans unique is our consciousness, there is no pretending in this space, only presence, openness and possibility. A non-judgemental atmosphere where there is space for being creative and innovative. A place where it is inspiring to be.

In my opinion, our primary task moving forward will be, to increase our level of consciousness so that we can utilize that new level of freedom the machines will give us. Furthermore we need effective and fruitful interactions and collaborations.

Considering that our roles will change drastically, and we might even get into situations where some roles are not even needed anymore, it is my opinion that you will differentiate yourself by mastering the new technology and knowing how to lead yourself and your people into a state of consciousness, where creativity flows and effective collaboration takes place.

Nurturing a Culture of Collaboration as a Conscious Leader

How does it help you as a conscious leader to create a culture of collaboration by pealing your onion?

When I refer to 'peeling your onion,' I am referring to the process of self-discovery and self-awareness. Just as an onion has multiple layers that can be peeled back to reveal its core, we as individuals have layers formed by our experiences, beliefs, and behaviors. As we 'peel' these layers through introspection and conscious efforts, we get closer to our authentic selves - the core of the onion. It's about uncovering and understanding our fears, motivations, and subconscious behaviors to become more authentic and effective leaders.

I believe that it all starts with you and your willingness to be authentic by sharing personal experiences, expressing genuine feelings, and approaching topics with honesty and vulnerability. This openness fosters trust, which is vital for effective collaboration.

If I am struggling with basic human fears - such as rejection, humiliation, or the feeling of being ignored - and I haven't yet explored these mechanisms within myself, it will inevitably influence my behavior. It might even make me reluctant to open up about certain aspects of myself, which, in turn, will affect the environment around me.

In coaching it is said that you can only bring your coaching clients to where you are willing to go yourself. So you might have blind-spots as a coach and be unwilling to take your clients certain places even if they need to for their growth and development. I believe the same applies in leadership, and this is part of being a conscious leader, you must be willing to discover your blind-spots where they are hindering you in being authentic, real and vulnerable with your team.

As a leader, you must be willing to go deep, fostering genuine and meaningful relationships with both yourself and those around you.

As you navigate your journey of self-awareness and conscious leadership, what layers of your 'onion' are you ready to peel back to uncover your authentic self and inspire a culture of collaboration within your team?

Tools from Radical Collaboration®

Often times it is our own defensiveness that prevents us from effective collaboration, often times we don´t even know that we are defensive. Becoming aware of your own defense-mechanisms is a crucial first step to applying the tools of radical collaboration®.

These are the are five essential skills to Radical Collaboration®;

• Collaborative Intention, when we perceive a threat to our wellbeing, we respons defensively. Learn how to stay non-defensive and commit to success in the relationships. 
• Openness, the universal key to simplified relationships. Learn how to be open yourself and create a climate of openness where people feel safe enough to raise difficult issues. ​
• Self-accountability and choice. Learn radical self-responsibility of the choices we make and the consequences of our choices. 
• Awareness of self and others, commit to know yourself and others well enough to explore and resolve difficult interpersonal issues.
• Problem solving and negotiation, skillfully negotiate your way through inevitable conflicts in a way that supports rather than undermines the relationship.

Utilizing these skills effectively as tools will increase the quality of your relationships and the effectiveness of your collaborations.

You can learn all the details of how to embody these skills by participating in my next Radical Collaboration® training and I will be exploring the five essential skills further in upcoming blog posts.