Book review #20 of 2019. The 15 commitments of conscious leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman and Kaley Warner Klemp

This book is pure gold, whether you are in leadership or not.

The title suggest that it is a book about leadership and while that is not untrue, I think it might be better described as a book about life and how to live a more conscious, useful and fulfilled one at that.

A lot of us spend the majority of our lives in conflict with ourselves and with what the reality of our current situation is. This is what leads to our suffering. It is not the situation itself that causes the suffering, but our resistance to it.

We have the opportunity and ability to view and respond to difficult situations, people, relationships and environments through a completely different lens. This lens is one of full responsibility and acceptance which leads to growth, awareness and almost always a better outcome for everyone involved. This book masterfully provides a guide on how to do just that.

“We often describe unconscious leaders as reactive. They react from a ‘story’ about the past or an imagined future, and their personality, ego, or mind takes over.”

The authors provide plenty of very practical tools to apply and experiment with in your organisations and relationships. Some of them require some serious commitment and boldness and are not without their risks, but then, in my experience not many things that are really worthwhile come without some risk associated.

I have learned a massive amount from this book and the commitments it advocates for and I finished it feeling inspired — so much so that I am going to read it again, but this time I am going to make a playbook from it and endeavour to apply as much of it as I can in my role as CEO at NONA.

“Effective leaders commit to curiosity over fear”

I strongly recommend this book to anybody that wants to live a more useful, aware and fulfilled life and to be a positive influence on those around you.