The Consciousness of an Organization & its Leader

April 19th, 2024

Founder & CEO, Tutul Consulting

Sujata Deshmukh

13 words inspire me when facing challenges, dilemmas, or client situations: "The consciousness of an organization cannot be higher than that of its leaders!" This sentence is prominent in my documents and on my company's website. The Sanskrit equivalent may be "Yatha Raja Tatha Praja."

(Excerpts from Sujata's speech at a day-long convention at National HRD Network South Gujarat organized by Himanshu Bhatt and the #NHRD team)

What is consciousness?

Consciousness, here, describes liberation from self-concept limitations or ego, a mystical experience transcending the perceived separation between the isolated self and the world or God, and a state of increased alertness or awakening to a new perspective.

Leadership: A Balancing Act

Leaders not only need to listen, hear, and respond appropriately to colleagues but also avoid imposing their mental models on the world if they're unconscious of others' views.

Leaders must guide people with starkly different views, making consciousness a key factor in ensuring everyone's perspective is heard (Bridge Partnership’s Sophie Ireland and Jane Sassienie, Global Directors). Turning consciousness on isn't as easy as flicking a switch – leaders must constantly evaluate their own levels of consciousness.

The Four Levels of Consciousness by Peter Sage:

  1. TO ME (victim consciousness)

  2. BY ME (responsibility consciousness)

  3. THROUGH ME (surrender consciousness)

  4. AS ME (oneness consciousness)

‘To me’ is the state when we’re at the will and effect of life. It doesn’t matter what emotion we feel — the cause of the experience is always outside of us, whether it’s bad traffic or great weather. Problems come with maintaining this mentality. The ‘to me’ state leaves us convinced that we are the victim of outside forces, and our mood is constantly dictated by life’s ups and downs.

The ‘by me’ state replaces blame with personal responsibility. It is a state of creatorship and empowerment, where we can choose how we react to outside forces — from a world-shifting event like a recession to the everyday weather. In ‘by me’ states, we are in GO mode and can choose how we create our reality.

‘Through me’ consciousness means surrendering to the present moment. If in ‘by me’ we play the creator, then with ‘through me’ we are merely a vessel in which the universe enacts itself. There is a sense of flow and things happening naturally in the ‘through me’ state: innovators, musicians, and writers might say that their ideas, music, and stories came ‘through’ them as if by accident. This is a state of impulse or gut feeling where we play in a dynamic dance with life. FLOW.

‘As me’ is a spiritual experience — a blurring of the personal self and a connection with oneness. History’s greatest spiritual teachers have urged that the experience of oneness, freedom from separation, and the dissolution of an egoic self are the greatest human possibilities. In this state, we cultivate boundless love and appreciation. Nothing is lacking. We have no nagging wants, and no need to alter where and who we already are.

Conscious Leadership for Organisational Culture Building

Level of consciousness within the leadership group is a significant factor in diagnosing the cultural issues of an organization. Based on the thousands of surveys we have conducted, we have developed some relatively hard and fast rules about organizational cultures and leadership groups:

Rule 1: An organization cannot operate at a higher level of consciousness than the personal consciousness of the leadership group.

Rule 2: The culture of an organization is either a reflection of the personal consciousness of the leadership group (conscious or subconscious) or is inherited from previous leadership groups.

Rule 3: In general, most organizations operate with a ‘default’ culture because it arises unconsciously. The culture is not managed or monitored; instead, it is simply recognized as ‘the way things are done around here’.

This underscores why we respect certain organizations and leaders and how, as leaders evolve, so does the organization!