The Art of Self-Truth: Leveraging Your Bullshit Detector for Conscious Leadership
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Unmask the power of truth in leadership by discovering how a “bullshit detector” can foster awareness, ensure integrity, and enhance your decision-making. This blog can help unlock your leadership potential.
Part of raising our awareness is committing to facing the truth of our situations, of how we show up, of our performance, regardless of what we’ll see. This commitment opens doors to far greater clarity, raises our potential for being in integrity, and reduces stress. This lays the ground for upleveling our wise decision-making.
Embracing Truth for Elevated Awareness and Decision-Making
Having a caring, clear, gentle yet firm bullshit detector is one of the best remedies for unconscious leadership, and to foster greater awareness.
My beloved late wife was my treasured bullshit detector. Not only did she master the art of that role, but she totally saved my butt on a few occasions.
The Value of a Personal Bullshit Detector
A bullshit detector is someone who is able to listen neutrally, free of agenda; able to grasp the complexities of situations without getting mired in them; able to spot what we are not seeing in the details as well as from a helicopter view; and able to gently, firmly, and clearly reflect what they’ve noticed.
Characteristics of an Effective Bullshit Detector
A bullshit detector only works if we, as conscious leaders, are able, willing, and earnestly wanting to listen. If we allow ourselves to get triggered into a reactive defensive stance, our capacity to hear what’s being reflected will become diminished and we’ll lose the opportunity to elevate to the next level in awareness and growth.
Worse, if we throw what our volunteer bullshit detector has reflected — right back in their face with an edge, that can poison the relationship.
The Pitfalls of Defensive Leadership
To pull this off effectively, we must place a sky-high value on our commitment to truth.
Not our truth or their truth, but to being IN truth — to not fooling ourselves — to caring more about the truth of things than protecting that tender, fragile part of us that for some reason either feels safer or more likely to get our needs met by bullshitting.
We must also be willing to allow ourselves to be vulnerable. Though this takes some inner weightlifting to achieve, having worked on this with CEOs for many years, I know that we are all capable of rising to the occasion.
Prioritizing Truth Over Ego
For instance, instead of our highest goal being the project delivering great results, unseen in the shadows within us there might be a need to place a higher value on the applause and recognition we will receive for the success.
This could easily distort the steps we take toward the project’s fruition so that we shine more favorably than others who might also rightly deserve to be credited for the great outcome.
The Hidden Motivations Behind Our Actions
Our bullshit detector can support us by helping to illuminate where they perceive us to be out of alignment.
If our intent and commitment is to be in truth about what’s going on within us, then we stand an excellent chance of ensuring that our words, choices and actions are aligned with our values and are holding integrity.
The good news is that the more aware we become, the less we’ll engage in fooling ourselves, and the more completely and clearly we will see our situations.
The Freedom of Full Awareness and Integrity
Each instance we rise to the occasion to be in integrity and live in full alignment with our highest values, we take a step toward the freedom to actualize the very best of ourselves, not only as conscious leaders, but in all areas of our lives.
So here’s to each of us finding our precious bullshit detectors — and honoring them for their immense service to us, and thus, their service to all those around us.
Unleash your Brilliance as a Conscious Leader
It's my mission to support people in leading with unyielding integrity, clarity, and authenticity. If you'd like to tap into your deeper insight and practical wisdom to lead more powerfully and effectively, feel free to reach out at connect@evolvingceo.com to set up a time to connect.
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