The 15 Commitments of Conscious leadership: Book Summary by D Shivakumar; Chairman & CEO, Pepsico India Region

1. The 15 Commitments of
Conscious leadership
Diana Chapman, Jim Dethmer, Kaley warner Klemp

2. We wrote this book because most of
the current models of leadership
don’t work.

3. Current models of leadership
motivate people largely with fear and
extrinsic rewards.

4. Most current models of leadership
and hence the culture are built on
scarcity and win/lose competition
internally- a deeply flawed mindset.

5. In most companies, team meetings
are intellectual sword fights where
people invest time is proving the
other wrong. Blame is the order of
the day.

6. Feelings are never mentioned or
discussed in meetings and talk on
feelings is seen as a sign of weakness.

7. Great companies value learning over
everything else. When a company
learns, it takes the form of a good
culture.

8. Conscious leadership is what’s below
the line and what’s above the line

9. The mark of conscious leaders is self
awareness and the ability to tell
themselves the truth.
Distortion and denial are the
cornerstones of unconscious leaders.

10. Blame is a powerful motivator. Like its
cousins guilt and shame, it is one of
the most common forms of
motivation used by leaders and
politicians.

11. Victims see themselves as “at the
receiving end”. Something is being
done to them by someone or
something out of control. Typically
they are complaining all the time.
Underneath their tone is ‘whining’

12. The key phrase is ‘ taking full
responsibility” as opposed to ‘ placing
blame”

13. A key step for a team is to take a
conscious decision to end blame and
criticism and take 100 % responsibility
to learning and working for the
company.

14. Making the choice of ‘full
responsibility’ is the foundation of
true personal and relational
transformation.

15. 4 competencies trump all others as
being the best predictors of
sustained success :
a. Self awareness
b.Learning Agility
c.Communication
d. Influence

16. Conscious leaders spend time
learning and unconscious leaders
spend time following up, defending
their ego and being defensive to
prove their position.

17. Great leaders learn to access the
head, the heart and their gut when
they decide.

18. Jack welch said ‘ the team that sees
reality the best wins”
97 % of people in an organization are
economical with the truth.

19. Gossip is a sick phenomenon in most
companies. 1.Gossip is a false
statement made by someone with a
negative intent. 2.It is also gossip if
the speaker is unwilling to share this
publicly if the person that is being
spoken about is in the room.

20. When people don’t tell truth to each
other, they release a lot of negative
energy and it takes too long for that
company to process information and
feelings.

21. Gossiping is a key indicator of an
unhealthy organization culture and
the fastest way to derail creativity.

22. Why do people gossip?
• Show others wrong
• Gain validation
• Control others
• Get attention
• Divert attention
• Avoid Conflict

23. Gossip starts with a story and
stories are interpretation of facts.

24. Conscious leaders know that facts
do not cause stress or drama, it is
the story that accompanies the
facts that causes it.

25. Conscious leaders know that they
need to keep gossip at bay in their
companies. So they ask for truth,
the right expression and authentic
feelings.

26. The word integrity shares the
same root as ‘integer’, a whole
number.It is about energy,
congruence and alignment

27. The first step of appreciation is
paying attention. Many leaders
don’t pay attention and don’t
listen

28. Masterful appreciation is built on
sincerity, unarguable truth,
specificity and succinct language.
Jargon is rarely seen as
appreciative

29. True leaders take whatever life
gives them and improvise and
create with others is a spirit of
fun.

30. Wanting control comes from a lack
of belief.
When I believe I lack control, I try
to start controlling.

31. There is never enough of anything
in the world, so don’t guzzle
resources.

32. Resource focus focuses you on a
zero sum game. This leads to
competing and not collaboration.
Competing means that I win and
you lose.