Leaders as Elders, Stewards, and Tuning Forks is one of the chapters in Jeffrey Deckman’s award winning book, Developing the Conscious Leadership Mindset for the 21^st Century. Jeffery writes, “elders are not in pursuit of leadership roles they’re in pursuit of consciousness.” In our Conscious Leadership in Action conversation, Jeffrey talks about the role of conscious elders.

Elders have a calming effect and observe a lot. They observe more than they act, but when they act, they act with precision and efficiency. Elders don’t have to be super old. They could be wise, they could be an old soul. These are people who listen to understand and speak to be understood. They’re patient, they’re more focused on how things are unfolding, as opposed to how should things unfold. They get more tuned in, and understand the wisdom of the natural flow of life and nature. You can yell with a rosebud all you want, but it’s not going to open up any faster. So you’re better off understanding how to create the conditions for that rose to bloom at whatever rate it can. And then you need to be mature enough to deal with that and to let that happen.

When someone is trying to figure out how to begin to take steps on the journey to conscious leadership, just think about the image you have of an elder and think about what they do and why they’re respected, and that will get you headed in the right direction. And the longer you stay in that direction, the more your consciousness will raise.

Learn more about the role of conscious elders and other aspects of Developing the Conscious Leadership Mindset by listening to the Conscious Leadership in Action video podcast with with host Dr. Paul Ward and guest Jeffrey Deckman.