Deepak Chopra’s thoughts on responsibility and leadership

Hi! Welcome Back.  Today we come to the end of Deepak Chopra’s acronym for leader with the letter r.  I wanted to break Chopra’s acronym down because I felt that he had some very profound ideas to express in each letter of his acronym.  Today’s meaning attached to the letter r mentions the leader’s soul and although I haven’t heard that mentioned a lot went studying the topic of leadership in the past I have come to believe that it is a very important trait in anybody we think of as being a leader.  The soul is to my understanding the essence of a person so it stands to reason that for somebody to become a leader they must on some level share a bit of their soul with their followers.

If you’ve come to my blog site recently and haven’t seen the other thoughts Chopra attaches to the word leader here they are:

L = Look and listen.  Do this with your senses, as an unbiased observer who has not judged anything in advance.  Do it with your heart, obeying your truest feelings.  Finally, do it with your soul, responding to the vision and deep purpose it provides.

E = Emotional bonding.  Leading from the soul means going beyond the melodrama of living in crisis mode.  It requires recognizing and clearing away toxic emotions so you can clearly understand your own specific needs, and those of others.

A = Awareness.  This means being aware of the questions that underlie every challenge: Who am I?  What do I want?  What does the situation demand?  A leader must continually ask these questions of herself, and inspire her team to ask them for themselves.

D = Doing.  A leader must be action-oriented.  In whatever he does, he must serve as a role model, holding himself responsible for the promises he has made.  This requires persistence and tenacity, but also the ability to view any situation with flexibility and humor.

E = Empowerment.  The soul’s power comes from self-awareness that is responsive to feedback but independent of the good or bad opinion of others.  Empowerment isn’t selfish.  It raises the status of leader and team together.

Now let’s conclude Deepak Chopra’s discussion of leadership with his thoughts on R = Responsibility. 

Leading from the soul means taking responsibility for more than the group’s needs.  It means having concern for everyone’s personal growth.  This responsibility begins with your own evolution.  In eight areas of your life you have the power to be guided by your soul: thoughts, emotions, perception, personal relationships, social role, environment, speech and the body.  In all of these areas your behavior affects the people you lead.  If you evolve, so will they.

That’s it for today.  I hope if you’re following me on this blog that you’ll write me a short comment about what you think of it and offer any suggestions for future topics as they relate to organizational and staff development.  Until next time thanks for reading and all my best!  Jer.