As an intuitive, I see future trends. Years ago I saw a paradigm shift in the way we do business. I knew there would be a need for transformative coaching with an understanding of brain technology so leaders could get it. This shift is well underway. Companies like Microsoft who are embracing organizational transformation are leading the way, in large part because they are investing in training and coaching. I knew the moment I read one of the first interviews with then-new CEO, Satya he'd been coached simply by his language. He clearly walks his talk and the company is reaping the benefits.
As with most shifts and trends, the transformative age has a new language. Read any article on 'new leadership' and you will find 'buzz' words like, self-awareness, empathy, compassion, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, trust building, intuition, communication, inspiration, self-motivation, resilience, collaboration, cohesion, coherence, visioning, intention, authenticity... and the list goes on. These aren’t just words, they are behaviors. They aren’t nouns, they are verbs. What I'm noticing is that everyone is talking about transformation but to walk your talk, your words must be aligned with your actions.
What most don't know is that the human brain is a sequential match making machine searching for patterns and algorithms every millisecond. If you’re talking a good talk and not walking your walk, make no mistake, everyone notices. If your words and actions don’t match, there’s no alignment so the brain immediately alerts us to this fact.
If you don’t believe me, ask your kids. They don’t care what we say, they watch our behaviors. They pay attention to our actions. If parenting is the ultimate leadership role, what do you think happens to leaders in the workplace? As with our children, we lose credibility respect, and the power to positively influence.
Not only are leaders being challenged to show up in new ways of ‘being’ in leadership, in partnership with organizations, and teams, they are being challenged to learn a whole new way of being. There needs to be a behavioral shift which requires new learning, practice and embodiment. No longer is it enough say a word or to understand context, we have to integrate behaviors to have integrity, and actions to sustain credibility. New learning followed by new actions creates new neural networks which create new brain habits. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Change one thing and some thing changes, change yourself and everything changes.
It's way too easy to talk a good talk, yet talk is cheap and actions speak volumes. Walking the talk requires a great deal of conscious awareness. We live in a time of great transformation where everything changing and shifting requiring us to change and shift with it. We are all being asked to awaken because consciousness is awakening. If you want change, change yourself. If you choose to lead, lead by example and learn to walk in a new way before you walk your talk authentically.
Genele Edey