Expert shares tips on unlocking the power of conscious leadership

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Capping off a day of discussions around the conscious consumer, Vaishali Jadhav, a leadership development instructor for the Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute, took to the GOPEX 2024 stage recently to share tips to become a conscious leader.

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Jadhav said she was excited to talk to the GOPEX attendees.

“Our intention is very specific in this room,” she said. “We all want to leave the world, the industry or our team better than we found them."

A core of conscious leadership is awareness, Jadhav said, and awareness starts with self-awareness for leaders.

“We cannot steward, empower and inspire others unless we understand what that looks like for ourselves,” she said. “With this journey of conscious leadership, we always start with the individual.”

Jadhav suggested leaders use a few questions to see if their actions align with their true values.

“A great place to start with understanding your values is just by thinking about a great day you had in the last six weeks or in the last six months,” she said. “I want you to think about what made this a great day. Don't just think about the great day, think about why that's a great place to start identifying those core values.”

She encouraged leaders to look at their calendars and events to help evaluate their priorities.

“What would your events and reminders in your calendar say about your values?” she asked. “What would your calendar say your boundaries are?”

A conscious team

Jadhav said once leaders understand about values themselves, they can focus on their team. Conscious leaders help the team understand a company’s core values and each individual’s contribution to the company’s values and goals, she said.

“Conscious leaders deeply understand the values of everyone on the team,” she said. “Conscious leaders see their organizations as a system, and they really get clear on the values that help the system flourish.”

Beyond understanding an employee’s value, Jadhav said, communication is a critical function of conscious leaders.

“Are we constantly communicating as transparent as we can be?” she said.

To demonstrate effective communication and alignment of goals, she played a brief video of a murmuration of starlings swooping and swirling together. Jadhav said the birds were constantly communicating and were aligned on one specific goal — finding food, migrating, etc. And this murmuration is like a conscious leader’s team at work.

“Alignment around purpose, alignment of our goals, transparency and constant communication — that's what makes this thing work,” she said.

Jadhav said a conscious team is psychologically safe, citing data from a Gallup poll on employee engagement. Those employees whose conversations with their manager focused on their strengths had only a 1% chance of being disengaged. If their boss only talked about weaknesses, 22% could become disengaged. But, those employees whose leader ignored them had a 40% chance of disengagement.

“We can all make one another feel seen and heard,” Jadhav said. “You look at the team level and then we harness all of this to really create an organization and culture that has high meaning and purpose.”

Gratitude

Jadhav ended the presentation with a focus on gratitude, which she said is a key trait of conscious leaders. 

“Conscious leaders are deeply grateful,” she said. “We're grateful for our mistakes. We're grateful for the lessons learned, grateful for the human beings who help us do what we do.”

Jadhav encouraged everyone to acknowledge someone who made an impact in their life.

“There’s a power and making people feel seen and heard and understood," she said. "They make an impact and make a difference."