15 commitments

What are the 15 commitments?

Conscious leaders choose to lead from presence, not reactivity. The 15 commitments make that shift practical. Each one names a choice between two ways of being: living below the line, “To Me,” at the effect of your circumstances, other people, and conditions, closed and wanting to be right. Or living above the line, “By Me,” taking radical responsibility for your life exactly as it is, open and curious. Learning to notice which side of the line you’re on, and choosing to shift, is where conscious leadership begins.

Scroll or explore each commitment using the menu on the right.

01 Responsibility

By Me:

I commit to taking full responsibility for the circumstances of my life, and my physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. I commit to support others to take full responsibility for their lives.

To Me:

I commit to blaming others and myself for what is wrong in the world. I commit to being a victim, villain, or a hero and taking more or less than 100% responsibility.

02 Curiosity

By Me:

I commit to growing in self-awareness. I commit to regarding every interaction as an opportunity to learn. I commit to curiosity as a path to rapid learning.

To Me:

I commit to being right and to seeing this situation as something that is happening to me. I commit to being defensive especially when I am certain that I am RIGHT.

03 Feelings

By Me:

I commit to feeling my feelings all the way through to completion. They come, and I locate them in my body then move, breathe and vocalize them so they release all the way through.

To Me:

I commit to resisting, judging and apologizing for my feelings. I repress, avoid, and withhold them.

04 Candor

By Me:

I commit to saying what is true for me. I commit to being a person to whom others can express themselves with candor.

To Me:

I commit to withholding my truth (facts, feelings, things I imagine) and speaking in a way that allows me to try to manipulate an outcome. I commit to not listening to the other person.

05 Gossip

By Me:

I commit to ending gossip, talking directly to people with whom I have an issue or concern, and encouraging others to talk directly to people with whom they have an issue or concern.

To Me:

I commit to saying things about people that I have not or will not say to them. I commit to talking about people in ways I wouldn’t if they were there. I commit to listening to others when they gossip.

06 Integrity

By Me:

I commit to the masterful practice of integrity, including acknowledging all authentic feelings, expressing the unarguable truth and keeping my agreements.

To Me:

I commit to living in incompletion by withholding my truth, denying my feelings, not keeping my agreements, and not taking 100% responsibility.

07 Appreciation

By Me:

I commit to living in appreciation, fully opening to both receiving and giving appreciation.

To Me:

I commit to feeling entitled to “what’s mine,” resenting when it’s not acknowledged in the way I want.

08 Genius

By Me:

I commit to expressing my full magnificence, and to supporting and inspiring others to fully express their creativity and live in their zone of genius.

To Me:

I commit to holding myself back and not realizing my full potential by living in areas of incompetence, competence and excellence.

09 Play & Rest

By Me:

I commit to creating a life of play, improvisation, and laughter. I commit to seeing all of life unfold easefully and effortlessly. I commit to maximizing my energy by honoring rest, renewal and rhythm.

To Me:

I commit to seeing my life as serious; it requires hard work, effort and struggle. I see play and rest as distractions from effectiveness and efficiency.

10 Opposite of My Story

By Me:

I commit to seeing that the opposite of my story is as true or truer than my original story. I recognize that I interpret the world around me and give my stories meaning.

To Me:

I commit to believing my stories and the meaning I give them as the truth.

11 Approval

By Me:

I commit to being the source of my security, control and approval.

To Me:

I commit to living from the belief that my approval, control and security come from the outside; people, circumstances and conditions.

12 Enough

By Me:

I commit to experiencing that I have enough of everything… including time, money, love, energy, space, resources, etc.

To Me:

I commit to a scarcity mentality choosing to see that there is “not enough” for me and others in the world and therefore I have to be conscious of making sure I get and preserve what is “mine.”

13 Allies

By Me:

I commit to seeing all people and circumstances as allies that are perfectly suited to help me learn the most important things for my growth.

To Me:

I commit to seeing other people and circumstances as obstacles and impediments to getting what I most want.

14 Win for All

By Me:

I commit to creating win for all solutions (win for me, win for the other person, win for the organization, and win for the whole) for whatever issues, problems, concerns, or opportunities life gives me.