Education

Conscious Leadership Educating Mainstream Business


The constant contraction of jobs throughout the tech sector has many inside corporate America anxious over fears that other sectors may befall the untimely conclusion of hiring sprees post-pandemic. LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index, released in late 2022, gathered data from nearly 900 million members to establish a baseline of current employees staring down the barrel of corporate volatility.

Over 30% of respondents self-reported anxiety about their job status, fearing impending budget cuts to their respective departments could increase layoffs. Yet, running counter to the decisions of the c-suite are women in the workplace activating choice as a lever for future decisions.

Mckinsey’s Women in the Workplace report (2022) found that over the last year, 29% of women have considered taking a less demanding position or leaving their current employer altogether.

The convergence of professional, long term and substantive career certainty continues to be influenced by an index of opportunity or lack thereof. The McKinsey report identifies that the “broken rung” has remained unchanged over the last eight years. Compounding pressures between home and work for professional women continue to be negatively impacted by career diversions retarding upward mobility. Entry-level advancement to managerial ranks continues to favor male candidates while limiting females with commensurate achievements. Out of every 100 men, only 87 women are promoted from entry-level positions to managers.

The trickle-down effect finds men significantly outnumbering women who would otherwise be eligible for senior leadership positions creating a slippery slope of pipeline need across the talent spectrum.

The report goes on to find, “Women leaders are leaving their companies at the highest rate in years, and the gap between women and men leaders leaving is the largest we’ve ever seen. To put the scale of the problem in perspective: for every woman at the director level who gets promoted to the next level, two women directors are choosing to leave their company.”

The variability of responsibility in light and reflection of a global pandemic has many across the globe looking to alternative principles to guide professional pursuits.

Impacting Changing Mindsets

The passage of time and a new normal consisting of translucent and increasingly less stable job prospects have some looking at spirituality as an elixir to current challenges.

Post-pandemic, people are becoming more spiritual, according to a report last year. 75% of Americans described themselves as spiritual, with 28% declaring a deepening of their faith caused by the pandemic.

The report’s authors noted, “People are spiritual but have been discouraged from bringing that part of themselves to work. Leaders now have an opportunity to build a rare culture—one where people are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work, and leaders are glad they do.”

Spiritual pursuits across cultures and professional domains appear poised to convert to corporate environments through conscious leadership approaches.

Conscious Leadership

Jeffrey Deckman, 2021 Innovator and Thought Leader of the Year from the International Business Awards for his work on conscious leadership, sees a conscious leadership approach as necessary to healing societal tumult over the last three years. “Being a conscious healer in action involves a unique form of detachment that mixes empathy and compassion with professionalism and discipline. It requires that we ‘see the human in the human’ while acting in the best interest of the organization as a whole.”

An example of a professional consciously approaching business from life lessons brings culture into practice for clientele.

Robin Rivera spent years researching feminine leadership, focusing on social welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. As a Mexican American and a 2012 George Miller Scholar, Rivera believes conscious leadership is in its relative infancy.

“Conscious leadership seems to be the buzzword of the moment, yet few have harnessed what this truly means. We are at the forefront of accelerating human consciousness through powerful divine leadership and multi-dimensional transformation,” Rivera said.

After attaining her MA in consciousness and transformative learning, Rivera focused on conscious leadership training for a workforce in flex.

“In these urgent times, we are witnessing the rapid globalization of the digital marketplace and increased demand for alternate teachings, healing modalities, and energy work,” says Rivera.

Like Rivera, change strategist Albana Vrioni contends that increased awareness is needed to support turbulent markets. “Conscious leadership is not altruistic and not permissive—it’s inclusive, and it’s wise. The opposite of conscious leadership is divisive, judging, criticizing, and putting down others. Narrow-minded, rigid, short-sighted, arrogant, and narcissistic leaders are the opposite of conscious leaders.”

Rivera’s personal story of homelessness and depending on food stamps for survival overlaps the need for compassion steeped in contextual awareness for others, professionally and personally.

“I come from meager beginnings that precluded vibrant dreaming for a future of work that could mean something,” shares Rivera. “I was fortunate to have educators who recognized my talent for writing and led me down a path to Cal Berkeley. These experiences created a drive in me to focus on the meaning of work, service, and culture. That’s essentially conscious leadership, and I’m privileged to serve my clientele in a manner that brings me as much if not more satisfaction than they receive.”


The challenges of Rivera’s background underscore the effort many professionals are taking to the messiness of a post-pandemic work world. “The demand from clients to learn about leadership from a new and personal lens of leading continues to grow,” adds Rivera.

The endgame isn’t aimed at perfection, adds Vrioni. “Conscious leadership is not about perfection. No leader is perfect. With conscious leadership, we explore how much awareness of the ecosystem we have to make decisions inclusive of the environments we work in.”

As leaders across the corporate spectrum continue to wrestle with talent gaps, work-life balance demands, and financial market instabilities, many are turning to new leadership modalities to meet current needs. Rivera, a recipient of over 37 awards for her leadership, advocacy, and community service, sees opportunity among the instability across sectors.

“Conscious leadership embraces all of us, providing a pathway to understanding and compassion in an unstable world.”

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.



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