The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking

Are you Above the Line or Below the Line?

"We suggest that the first mark of conscious leaders is self-awareness and the ability to tell themselves the truth. It matters far more that leaders can accurately determine whether they are above or below the line in any moment than where they actually are."- The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, location 239

The model at the core of this book is exceptionally simple. It’s a horizontal line. At any given moment, we are either above or below that line. When we are below the line, we are in a defensive and closed posture, committed to being right. We are in a “to me” state—the world acts upon us. When we are above the line, we are curious, wanting to learn. Below the line everything is very serious; above the line, there is humor. When we are above the line, we’re in a “by me” state—we are authoring our lives.

The first step in becoming a conscious leader is learning to locate yourself either above or below the line. All 15 commitments introduced in this book have two versions—one that operates from above the line (e.g., taking full responsibility) and another that operates from the below line (e.g., looking to place blame.)

If we are not conscious—not aware—we will gravitate below the line and not even notice that most of our time is spent there. We’ll wonder why we aren’t getting the results we want. Conscious leaders go below the line all the time. They also quickly notice it, accept where they are, and learn to shift to being above the line.

The first step in becoming a conscious leader is to get familiar with what each location feels like. Noticing and naming your feelings, your thoughts, your beliefs and your motivations are among the practices that you’ll learn. With even this introduction, you can already begin. Where are you?

Note: For a wonderful introduction, check out this video from the authors.

Learning to Shift

"Leaders are always drifting and shifting. Shifting is the master skill of all conscious leaders."- The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, location 817

While shifting is the master skill, it’s not really all that hard. Once we recognize that we’re below the line, genuinely accept it, and are willing to shift, the most powerful thing we can do is make a physical shift—change our body chemistry.

How do we do that? The authors provide two simple techniques.

Technique #1: Conscious Breathing
In a threatened state, we tend to hold our breath or breathe shallowly. Conscious breaths break the hold of that reactive state. The method offered up here is simple:

“Four conscious breaths with a four second inhale and a four second exhale deep into our belly literally shift our blood chemistry and breathing pattern.”

Technique #2: Shifting Posture
When we’re in a defensive state and committed to being right more than to learning, our body assumes a specific pose. While we may not be aware of this at first, it’s actually not hard to identify a defensive posture. Try it now! Then, just shifting your posture can help you to shift your state. This can mean stepping away, walking for a minute or two, just shifting back if you’re leaning in (if you can’t actually get up and move around.) Try it, it’s kind of amazing!

The bottom line: Shifting perspective is much, much easier after you’ve shifted your physical state.

Speak Unarguably—Listen with Curiosity

"Great leaders and teams become experts at revealing their unarguable experience (‘I’m having a thought…’) without forming any attachment to being right about it… When this candor is met with curiosity and deep listening ‘Tell me more about that thought. I’m curious to know what you think,’ amazing breakthroughs of insight and innovation often occur."- The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, location 1360

Candor is a key to conscious leadership and living above the line. Withholding keeps us below the line. However, conscious leaders do more than simply reveal rather than withhold. They speak unarguably. Sentences that begin with “I’m having the thought that…” or “I feel…” or “I am sensing…” are, by definition, inarguable. In other words: “that the thought occurred is unarguable. That the thought is true or right is highly arguable.”

As we learn to speak what is true for us, recognizing that it is not necessarily right, and as we learn to listen to others, knowing that they are speaking their truths (and that we can be curious about those truths) we can extract ourselves from a pattern that we are often stuck in—the drama triangle. When we are convinced of our “rightness” we will typically find ourselves oscillating among the roles of hero, victim or villain. For an introduction to the triangle—and its conscious alternative—here’s another great little video from the Conscious Leadership Group.