The 4 Levels of Leadership Consciousness

Could you surrender enough to allow the universe to tell you what comes next? 

Where you should go? 

What you should do? 

Who you should talk to?

Does this sound crazy? Especially in business?!

Based on the 4 levels of consciousness, this surrender to the universe is level 3 - it’s called the ‘through me’ level. 

The first stage is To Me - where we see ourselves as a victim to everything and everyone around us. Things happen to me and I complain and blame. This is when we look outside ourselves, to the environment, to explain why things are happening to us. We identify external factors, people, circumstances, or simply bad luck as the causes of our less than perfect careers or lives. 

The second stage is By Me - where we hold ourselves as the masters of our universe. We take control of our lives. We see ourselves as being able to direct what happens to us, through thoughts and actions. We control our lives, forcibly if required, to achieve our goals. 

This is prevalent in business – well intentioned professionals hold their personal goals tightly and take full ownership for making them happen. When they perceive an obstacle, they bulldoze their way through it, find a way around it or dig their way under it – it’s called strategy. 

No matter what, when we are in the By Me stage, we find a way.

The third stage is Through Me - this is where we listen to what is needed or being asked of us.

We hold ourselves as a vehicle to do what is wanting to be created. We find ourselves asking “what is required from me here, now?” This is the stage where leaders put aside their personal agenda and hold a broader awareness beyond themselves. 

In this stage leaders are more open to collaboration, guidance and possibilities. This is a place of effortless flow and a sense that the universe is working through you. This can be quite difficult to grasp in our individualistic society where we are attempting to climb the corporate ladder, keep up with the Joneses, and create our very own Canadian/American dream story. This stage requires us to let go of these and to broaden our scope to serving the world. Does this sound grandiose and naïve? It doesn’t have to be!

I’ve been playing with this level of consciousness. Asking: “What is needed? What would the universe have me do today? What might be wanting to happen?”.

Crazy, right?!?

Maybe, who knows. And why not try: experiment, listen and see what I might hear. 

What might I learn? What might unfold by letting go and surrendering?

A point of clarification: we don’t achieve a level of consciousness and live there for our remaining days. We move from one level to another throughout the day, though we tend to have a more dominate level. One where we spend more time. 

For most of my life, my default has been the By Me stage. I’ve taken accountability and responsibility for my results and did what was required to move in the direction of my goals. While that brought me outwardly success, it didn’t always translate into happiness and fulfillment and certainly caused stress.

Which bring me to why I am playing with the Through Me stage.

What if I spent more time in Through Me? What if we all did? How would this impact the human race? How would businesses be run? How would days unfold? What would happen to stress and anxiety? 

What might the experience of YOUR life be like if you surrendered and asked what is needed today? 

Which of the levels do YOU spend most of your day? How might you start playing with the next level?

If you’re wondering, level 4 is called As Me and this is a place of oneness, where there are no questions, no seeking, no suffering.

This picture of me was taken after a massage recently. I listened and this is what I heard needed to happen.