We are capitalists — from the fine underwear of our subconscious up to our online love dating — as we insist that we get the equivalent, if not more than what we pay for. Such incessant behaviour of constantly over-optimising has become our practice for survival. If people continue to believe in such thoughts, however, there won’t be any future. It is up to us to better understand our behaviour that is impacting so much and so many of those surrounding us. This means we need to offer something much better to those who manipulate us with their current leadership thinking — something they just cannot ignore.

We need to learn new skills and adapt to new mindsets if we are to evolve successfully into the 21st century. It would be safe to say that the 21st century will not be an easy, enjoyable and stress-free period. Without a doubt, this stretch of time offers new possibilities and shows people how to interact differently with each other to better understand and solve future problems. We need to connect with each other’s plights as if we are experiencing them ourselves. This is a positive empathic drive that must be embraced by leadership too.

Most of us may not even regard it as normal to tap into our consciousness when it comes to making decisions. Rather, we default to our knowledge, skills and experience to lead, but without realising that we are actually limiting ourselves this way. We are focusing solely on our mind, which actually hinders us from making the right decisions when we are confronted with unexpected situations; we flounder rather than sharpening clarity about a situation that is foreign to us. At the end, more and more people tend to accept such situations and see these as ‘normal’. We have forgotten what it feels like being surrounded by leaders who are mindful, genuine and intuitive and whom we can trust.

As a former executive, I feel we underrate the importance of our consciousness when it comes to leadership. I am convinced we have more power to comprehend than we have been led to believe.

This is not just knowledge that starts in the mind — everything starts in the mind that is connected to our consciousness. In fact, it is our consciousness that has the capacity to lead us out of the dark, to guide us through difficult and unexpected situations confronting us. What the rational world is ignoring is that our mind-body relationship, emotional connections and sensory experiences give us exponential access to comprehension, acceptance and self-awareness. In other words, we have this ability to get to the root cause of any challenge — if we want to be well-balanced.

So if we change our perceptions, our minds, our beliefs towards society, people and business — we literally change the signals that are coursing through our mind, re-adjusting the function of our cells. Toxic thoughts produce toxic energies and hence toxic chemicals. In short, toxic thoughts produce toxic chemicals. So if we change our thoughts, how deeply can we influence our consciousness and our actions and those around us towards society, teams, and across an organisation? How much influence do we really have? In order for some of us to wake up into genuine inclusive leaders, we need a serious wake-up call.

We must accept that the mind is restricted and so is our knowledge of what is, and that is one of the reasons why many leaders fail to take the right decision when they are challenged with unexpected and new situations. So we need to design the conditions in which we feel safe, secure, inspired, serene and calm, ready to tackle any unexpected and new situation. And then we will find the right approach to tackle these challenges. What really makes us tick is our inner environment. It is the area where we can become our own architect of comprehension and acceptance. We have a natural intelligence that morphs those cells from the embryo to the baby to the adult and eventually to the leader.

We would not evolve without a mechanism which allows us to be challenged. Our immune system, and hence our consciousness, is the way our immune system corrects itself. It is this intelligence — keeping our heart beating and our mind thinking — that runs through the autonomic nervous system. This is probably the greatest inner-compass we could ever have. All we have to do is let go and trust our consciousness.

But it is stress, anxieties, fears and worries that limit us in how to think and in taking the right decisions. These are situations where our foundation is shaken, and yet still more and more people accept this as ‘normal’ and keep on as if nothing ever happens. Until nothing ever happens. And then suddenly we notice that we feel limited in our actions, unable to perform and excel, but then again, why excel when mediocrity is sufficient? It should make us question if we are at the mercy of some random fate, or if there is something else that we just might not be aware of?

As a former senior executive, inclusive leadership mentor and neuro-anthropologist, I am absolutely convinced that the ultimate cause of today’s leadership problems is the stress of not succeeding, the failure to excel, and the feeling of being excluded.

We know that 80% of the worries of most leaders and decision-makers come from emotional stress-related issues. Many live with antidepressants, pharmaceutical medication, alcohol and a host of drugs. The question is, how much energy do we want to make available to overcome? Our stress-related system reacts the same way every time: when we feel threatened or ashamed of being excluded or rejected, cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline are released into our system.

So if leaders keep running with a ‘fight or flight’ response all the time, by definition we are literally mobilising our resources from our gut, from our elimination system, from our immune system and from our brain centres, putting energy in our muscles to fight these challenges. This reflects in our memory when we lose concentration and find it difficult to digest our meals, and fail to digest toxins properly: our immune system is compromised. Stress hormones inhibit the immune system. Unfortunately in today’s world the stress around us and inside us happens 24/7. The result is raw and detrimental: chronic illnesses and disease. These are the consequences of the chemistry of fear, anxiety, worry and shame. And yet, look at the world today! We have turned day-to-day life into a stressful environment that we call ‘normalcy’ and have learnt how to survive by ostensibly accepting it while neglecting to question why we accept feelings of stress.

We need to question our value system. We need to change our morals and values and social behaviour towards ourselves and others, because it’s truly easier. Isn’t stress daunting and tiring? We are about three centuries into the leadership that was predicted from the work during colonisation and intensified by industrialization — that emotions, feelings and empathy are meaningless to leadership and that our brain and body ought to function as a machine that must perform incessantly, over-perform even, to be accepted in society; an approach that suggests that we are not here for any purposeful existence other than to be useful and to excel across all of life. Until today, academia and corporate leadership ignore and deny that our decisions are influenced by energies that surround us. In fact, our perception of what is physical is an illusion, because there is nothing physical at all. All is purely energetic. A long time ago, the word ‘spirit’ meant ‘invisible moving forces that influenced the physical realm’. Quantum physics is taking us way back to a time that said the invisible forces we have been discounting in leadership — the way we find clarity, solve problems and take decisions — now becomes the primary force that controls everything in the way we lead companies, governments and organisational systems. It is our mind, our consciousness.

These are our supreme leader powers — through invisible energy from our mind that not only shapes our body, but clearly shapes our relationships to people, organisations, companies, society and the world in which we live. Can we study the shift when people ultimately transform their social behaviour and leadership skills to become better genuine leaders, intuitive leaders? I have mentored leaders for more than seven years. It all started with a trip around the world, learning from numerous people from different countries. Since then, I have analysed more than 500 leaders and managers and conducted hundreds of in-depth interviews with people from all walks of life. I have defined more than 25 factors that are relevant in leadership. And while not everybody uses all 25 factors, five of these essential leadership factors are evident in all successful leadership transformation.

Today, we have examples of good leaders who use mental and emotional as well as spiritual approaches to become genuine, inclusive leaders. Something no one saw coming.

There is a powerful word in Sanskrit: ’kama muta’. This is an emotion (moved, touched, stirred, smitten, infatuated, entranced, transported, and heart-warmed) that resonates with leadership when bonding and interacting with people. It is that sort of poignant experience that people mention with collective pride.

There is a way to activate our inner-self that reflects in our leadership. Does that mean we all become leaders by tomorrow? Probably not — but we each deserve to be heard and understood, as there is something incredible for us all to learn in terms of how we regard leadership. A frustrating number of people still believe that perfect leadership means graduating from an ivy-league university. But it is evident that many such graduates cultivate ill-driven social behaviour using narcissistic and egocentric behaviours to reach to the top.

This gives us pause to look at leadership differently. While it is surely unlikely for many still, perhaps it opens a window for many to better understand leadership, because traditional so-called leadership no longer has anything to offer for tackling complex, unexpected day-to-day situations. We have cultivated a leadership system in which it is believed that leaders must excel and over-perform to be accepted so they have reason to be overpaid.

We have not really understood leadership yet, as we keep teaching about leadership with the same sort of approach we did 200 years ago — even though we are influenced by many more side factors. We totally ignore the psyche and consciousness of people in terms of how we must lead. In fact, we don’t even understand the causes of why we need to lead differently in different situations as people of different backgrounds, statuses, ethnicities, cultures and beliefs. Too often we neglect to understand the whole person. Traditional leadership is tied to an old, out-dated belief system. We protect the old school leadership model which produces leaders we herald as saviours for tackling current and future leadership challenges such as climate change, social inequality, social exclusion, mass immigration, unemployment and poverty. Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. There are actually very few leadership models that are genuine and evolving — that integrate clarity, compassion, courage and consciousness. We need to embrace more of the mind-body emotional approach to achieve results, anything that influences the experience of mind-body and emotion, to better comprehend and accept. The more we need to deal with unexpected and unknown situations, the more we must apply such an approach, as the quick-fix-model no longer works. We need to get to the root cause if we are going to make a change. The reason why still many are sceptical to access the mind-body-emotion approach is because people are scared of being labelled a ‘softy’. Something is causing us to act and behave in a certain way, to take decisions, which very often stems from an autopilot setting that is not beneficial because it does not resonate from the gut, only from the mind.

The mind, however, is limited in finding answers and that causes a problem. Our mind, our body and our emotions protect us from insecurities and the unknown; that is why we rely on ‘fight or flight’. But accessing our consciousnesses results in better balance and trusting ourselves, and hence bonds us more effectively with other people and their teams. This builds people’s trust in their leader. Turning to nature and consciousness is the path ancient civilisations have been following successfully for thousands of years and indigenous communities still do today. It is an inner-cleaning of our mental condition. If someone’s microbiomes get reduced or killed off for various reasons such as stress, narcissism or egocentric environments, competitive or social comparisons among teams, these microbiomes suffer a rapid reduction. Once we start reducing these microbiomes, we lose confidence.

Over the last decade, the amount of research coming through scientific journals shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is such a thing as a mind-body-emotion connection: thinking, believing and ‘emoting’ all-cause substantial chemical and biological changes throughout the body. Tremendously more is possible when we apply this to leadership. It is fascinating what we see people believe in that make such tremendous changes in them — surely this is not taught enough in business schools around the world.

As a neuro anthropologist, I am truly excited to introduce a new pattern of thinking for how we must look at leadership when we deal with crisis, the unknown and the unexpected. Too often, people are stuck in their thinking, lost and bewildered, even though what they were taught no longer resonates. We have been conditioned to function robotically through all different stages in business and always consider the best case, but we fail miserably when we are challenged with crises, conflicts and complex problems that are unknown to us.

We are so convinced that leaders need to increase the intensity of their authority, power, influence or experience to prevail — but often this worsens the situation.

So how is it that some leaders lead consciously by tapping into their inner-self, listening to their intuition more profoundly than others, acting from clarity and consciousness, becoming more compassionate, and stepping up with more courageous decisions than others? And yet they remain humble and genuine. In stark contrast, others surrender to the thought that they are succeeding with what they were taught from old-school leadership models, when in fact they are heavily programmed by their autonomic nervous system to make their own decision as was taught to them, even though it no longer resonates. But their ‘protectionism’ makes them believe, wholeheartedly, that they will succeed. Again I ask: How is it possible that we continue to apply the same old leadership thinking from 200 odd years ago, when the entire world has changed irreversibly, and we know we are under the weight of tremendous challenges.

We are more and more victimised, but still believe tenaciously that we will succeed, only because this ‘success’ has been introduced by some reputable British economist whose followers are aggressively protecting their centuries-old thinking to safeguard their advantage. While everybody is aware that current times need to be approached with different leadership, we keep teaching the same leadership models and keep protecting the same leadership thinking that now operates in the opposite direction: ’negative belief’ is the way we are approaching leadership, intensifying stoicism and perseverance. Does that mean we must apply more authority, power and dominance to prevail? It is time to break such habits, see how others reflect on our social behaviour, and come into a greater sense of fulfilment.

I wish more leaders would explore and experience their self-awareness, intuition and compassion. I wish we understood that we need to get beyond certain embedded beliefs to evolve grand leaders who overcome their limited thinking.

If it is possible for leaders to do that, more possibilities will open up, more ways we can look at how to solve day-to-day challenges and tackle unsolved problems. All as a result of changing thought patterns and habits and social behaviour. That is when we will see all kinds of magical things occur with becoming a grand leader, the way a leader inspires and bonds with people and their teams that will appear in their personal life as well as their professional life.

Far too often leaders are afraid to tap into their emotions and feelings and observe their own behaviour; but through a gentle process, more is possible for making difficult business situations. That is the power of belief in leadership — becoming inspirational because we are believing and thinking what we attract. The calmer our brain is, the safer we feel and the more we can tap into our inner-self as leaders, the more we can widen our imagination, acuteness, and realisation for expanding more possibilities. This is it — we react in ‘fight of flight’ or we choose to ‘rest and repair’ and it this belief that toggles the switch.

It is the environment, society and organisational culture, family and relationships and friendships that ultimately have a tremendous impact on how we explore and evolve. Take two leader leaders with the same DNA and the same susceptibility to failures, crises, conflicts or challenges — one can be successful and prevail and the other may struggle and fail. One can transform and the other cannot.

All because one optimises environmental factors differently in terms of feeling safe, secure, inspired, serene and calm. There are essential factors that we still insist on excluding from traditional leadership thinking.

To survive we must adapt — but adapting may mean different options to leaders from the way they were previously guided or mentored in their environment, or how they were allowed to explore and discover about themselves. In other words, while the mind should know what is going on in the environment, this awareness is dependent on the nervous system sending information to the mind about the environment. And this ultimately directs how we react as leaders.

Consciousness is an interpretation; a leader’s mind is interpreting the environment. If we change our perception, the mind changes our belief for ways to lead and interact. Hence as leaders, if we change the signals that are going in, we thereby adjust the function of the cells and hence the mind. We monitor the signals that are going in, adjusting the function of the stem cell. This is highly significant: by this ability we change our environment and the ability to change our perception towards our environment and to have control of our social behaviour, interact with people and take decisions. This makes us a master of genuineness and inclusive leadership. The more we understand about our environment, the better we can deal with our perception. The mind is separated into two interdependent yet harmonised elements: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. The consciousness mind engages in thinking, while the subconscious mind simultaneously serves as the default programme — on auto-pilot. We may be focused on a thought while the subconscious is driving away at the same time, so the conscious mind is not really needed all the time. When we ponder the world and our day-to-day business, we are operating predominately through the subconscious mind instead of the conscious.

The programme of our subconscious mind is written primarily from downloading other people’s social behaviours that impact our attitude and presence, influenced initially by our father, our mother, our siblings and the community around us for the first seven years of our life. We cannot discount the importance of these factors as they have a tremendous impact on the sort of leader we will become. Consciousness is not an act that we can pump up as we wish — consciousness means to be ‘aware’. Leaders with low self-awareness focus instead on ‘what they know’ and not ‘what can be possible’ beyond their immediate thinking.

As people, we are essentially an open sponge in our environment, absorbing patterns and social behaviours from all those to whom we are exposed and by whom we are surrounded. So if we are sounded by genuine, inclusive leaders leading with consciousness from having learned to manage their emotions and overcome difficult challenges, these models are powerful. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we tend to escape, quickly opting for ‘fight or flight’ instead of the much more nurturing ‘rest and repair’. Let’s admit it: we are growing up in an environment driven by tremendous competition, comparison and ambition across all walks of life, within families and friendships, society, education, sports, the arts, and certainly not precluding the business environment. Leaders must learn to process emotions and take decisions in any given moment, and that comes from a memory that is not fully formed. We are, to the contrary, finding ourselves in a world environment of conflict, trauma and endless drama.

We feel the same way again and again — every time certain social behaviours get triggered and bounce back, when we are confronted with a person or an unpleasant situation that triggers feelings of shame, anger, fear, anxiety or deceit — as if it was the first time. We can attempt to outrun the subconscious mind the way we attempt to outrun our shadow. But to be genuine and inclusive, we must confront it and face up to it and acknowledge this challenge as a portal, approaching it gradually, recognising that our symptoms and stressors are meaningful and amazingly intelligent in shaking us up. Many leaders I have met do not realise that their mindset is detrimental, exuding their toxic energies into the environment, shaking their system into an unbalanced and hence disadvantageous, careless working environment. Truly, I see a tendency for many leaders to think that they did something wrong only because they fail to tap into their inner-self and feel deeply connected. But that would give them this tremendous ability to inspire and bond with people, making others feel safe and secure. However, if we aren’t aware of our limitations and negative subconscious beliefs, and continue to increase our pace and accelerate our ambition to exceed people’s expectations — we won’t be able to blame ourselves for the world we are mired in today.

Some stress, when managed properly, can be an asset to performance. But constant stress is damaging. Just like with muscles, brain patterns strengthen with use. Given enough reinforcement, these patterns can be ‘locked’ into place, rendering it more and more difficult to return to a neutral, unstressed state. When we are chronically stressed, we underperform at almost everything. Stress affects the tone of the central nervous system, affecting hormonal balance, suppressing the immune system, impairing mental processing and emotional control. Anxious thoughts are damaging to the physiological system, and can present physically in a myriad of ways.

Often we ignore indications of a problem because these initial seemingly minor indications may seem irrelevant and small. But they quickly accumulate, gain momentum, and turn into large, virtually unsolvable challenges. We then react with too much authority, aggravation, control, pressing through with intensity, a fast pace — soon to realise things are getting worse. We ignore the imbalance: our thoughts become toxic and are no longer conscious to take the right decisions. But if we stay conscious, if we keep healthy balanced brain energy, we balance our physiology and psychology even during difficult times. Often we feel a physical response to something that has happened. Denying such emotions day by day allows for a build-up. Such emotional blockages can lead to physical blockages quite dangerously. We are conditioned to pretend that everything is just fine; we let others know we are ‘on top’ of it, while in fact we are not. Thus we carry a huge burden that comes with tremendous mental, psychosocial and physical complications.

Learning how to let go is not always easy. But learning from 15 significant autonomous emotions can help us become resilient and genuine leaders. These autonomous emotions, reflecting in the brain waves, give accurate indications for how we can balance them. Such emotional balance is the ability of the mind and body to maintain equilibrium and flexibility in the face of challenge and change. It is this emotional balance, promoting physical health, which is a prerequisite for personal wellbeing and growth.

As our mind is comprised of a myriad of thoughts and emotions, and our fulfilment depends on us, remaining in a balanced mental and emotional state in imperative.

We all experience negative thoughts and emotions from time to time, but if we stay in any state for too long we lose the ability to return to our balanced, neutral position.

We might find ourselves ‘locked’ in any number of negative states: anger, fear, worry, dissociation, self-sabotage or depression; agitation, impulsivity, anxiety, panic attacks and sleep trouble; lack of drive or motivation; or poor concentration. These ‘stuck’ emotions run just below the level of consciousness, intangible yet overwhelming. These uncomfortable emotions can dominate our thinking process and give rise to inappropriate reactions that impair our abilities to be at our best.

When we feel an emotion, that emotion sends a signal to our brain. The quality of that signal determines what the brain does in response to the emotion. Let us imagine a signal from the heart to the brain that is a smooth series of waves that are matched through an organised chemistry and again release the chemistry that supports life in our body. It is a place where our immune system becomes strong. On the other hand, when we observe the chemistry of stress — when we feel those moments of frustration, anger, anxiety, rage and shame — naturally the signals look different. We witness jagged waves that spike through the brain. When we are in such a state of chemistry, our energy moves into a field of resistance. Our blood is affected which affects our pH and we become more acidic — we are then functioning in a state of stress.

Trying to re-balance stress levels with physical activities such as working out, bicycling, dancing, trekking or running may help in the short term. But this won’t suffice if we don’t change our thought processes. We will be heading down a slippery slope as we escape, still burning down our inner house.

Forgiveness is something we rarely consider important when we talk about leadership. But forgiving helps us to release rancour, resentment and animosity. The leadership-forgiveness process has much to do with ourselves as it is the greatest part of letting go. With forgiveness we start to re-balance ourselves. Forgiveness works for us rather than against us. That is why it is so important that we understand the value of our body, our cells and our DNA responding to the environment and conditions that we feed into ourselves.

As leaders we must learn to optimise our environment by cultivating a genuine and inclusive organisational culture, society and team spirit and continue evolving this environment. It is leaders and people who create safe and calm environments who have the ability to counteract toxic environments. If we treat the planet with reverence, for example, would we accept the level of pollution and contamination that we see? If we truly think about people and global society with reverence, and holding responsibility for the next generations, would we accept many of the conditions that we see today? If we as leaders keep pressing to excel and over-perform because we believe there is no other way to prevail — allowing economic forces to dominate, rather than real humanitarian principles and moral values — we would undeniably enjoy a better environment than that which we currently face.

As long as our nervous system is worried about diving into our deep inner-self, scared to completely let go, we will protect our cultivation of toxic behaviours that harm ourselves and, more importantly, harm the environment.

Anything with stress as the root becomes a major leadership concern, because we question morals, values and ethics and design a pattern that prevails at all costs. Being in constant stress means that even when we relax it is hard to switch into a parasympathetic nervous system, that state of mind that breeds resilience.

Leadership is a far more complex subject than just joining a leadership class or following preordained, prescribed company leadership ethics. It’s about states of mind. Meditating shuts down the ‘fight or flight’ mode and moves us into ‘rest and repair’ in which our brain relaxes into alpha brain waves which stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system of our body: we feel safe and secure, inspired and serene, calm. As we practice such meditative and contemplative tendencies, we get in touch with our core self and our core consciousness. We access and connect with ourselves in an internal process by quieting our minds. Our mind fills with oxytocin, dopamine, relaxant, serotonin and endorphins — everything we need to be a genuine and inclusive leader and better human being.

Our pineal gland, though, that does amazing things which until now we have not considered valuable for leadership. Our pineal gland is activated through meditation. This bioelectric energy is best stimulated when the mind is still.

1. It leads to higher consciousness, overcoming stress, anxiety and worry.

2. It gives us razor-sharp intuition from harnessing wisdom within.

3. It aligns with the ‘Law of Attraction’ to manifest fulfilment.

4. It gives the clarity, courage and consciousness we need to make good decisions.

5. It increases our level of wisdom and insightfulness.

6. It balances our endocrine system.

7. It reduces our level of melatonin to make way for higher consciousness.

8. It helps us bond with people genuinely.

That is why we need leaders who become more and more themselves and make a tremendous impact with their consciousness and awareness, realising the way we are currently running companies and governing nations and institutions is inhumane, that the way we have chosen to exploit, humiliate and manipulate people is unacceptable, careless and very, very wrong. For the first time in history, global society is awakening to the need to reshape (and rethink) our world so that we not only survive, but flourish.

More and more leaders are realising that quantitative achievements are putting society at risk. People are uniting globally to demand better leadership for the future. The fact is that injustice simply cannot be a model for success. It will militate against itself as society realises — and then rejects — its empty promises. Due to such detrimental effects of greed-fuelled economic decisions, we are witnessing ever-increasing serious illnesses and ever-increasing disparity between rich and poor, and humiliation of those who are different and think differently. Ignoring these warning signs will be catastrophic as people are surely realising comparison and competition are sins. For the first time in modern history, society as a whole is finally awakening to what really matters. More voices across the globe are being raised against social and public welfare based on injustices and unfairness.

To learn more, please visit bondingandbelonging.com

We are told that freedom begins in the mind.

Unfortunately, many of us have chosen to spend a lifetime becoming slaves to our own false truth — and end up following the wrong people.

A small group of very influential and powerful dynasties believed to be elite and superior over the rest of the world brutally failed humanity by refusing to release the chains of their past (the ones who allowed them to cleverly put structures in place that benefited them for centuries). This is now being questioned more than ever before. It has to be questioned because humanity is at stake.

If global citizens allow these large-scale criminal acts, we will lose everything we ever enjoyed. It is time for dynasties to let go of what makes them feel small, aiming rather for safety and security, avoiding domination, conditioning and controlling of the planet. More and more people worldwide are finding a sense of comfort and belonging. With the current COVID-19 crisis, a global, invisible trap has indoctrinated us: families will be replaced and people will be enabled to reconnect with the wrong people (those who are unaccountable and not loyal). Such followership reinforces wrong values and replaces freedom, faith, integrity, personal responsibility, moral values and the virtues of selflessness. Meanwhile, it is out of helplessness that this obsessed social behaviour represents a critical piece of global culture that replaces the solid foundation of our families and our society. When ignored, the meaning of life is in severe danger — damaging our very identity in such a way that people may never recover a sense of comfort and belonging again.

I encourage everyone, whatever your beliefs, to question the basic narratives of current leadership models and to collaborate for a mindful, social movement. This will help society foster a sustainable approach towards humanity: creating and sharing the good for a better, more mindful tomorrow. If we understand and accept that reality does not come from thinking, we can comprehend everything. The trouble is that we live in a false perception of reality. In other words, we lose touch with reality but rather choose a world of illusion because it feels better; we are overwhelmed with endless knowledge and high-paced information processes. We get more attached and, ironically, forget to accept ourselves the way we are, the situation we chose and those we are surrounded by. This is a tragedy.

In fact, it is our excessive thinking that made us a self-destructive society and pushed us out of touch with reality. Science and technology have altered our way of life so drastically, particularly in terms of the way we should accept others. We undermine our instincts, impulses, feelings and emotions. We are more often frightened than hurt. We suffer more from imagination than reality.

In other words, we confuse the relevance of image, reputation, position, title or status quo with the real world — especially during a crisis when most would rather have money, tangible wealth and self-imposed recognition. Today, far too many people are blind to reality and only see what they want to see. That only shows how much we have been infiltrated. We are literally destroying humanity: we are so tied up in our minds that we lose our senses. So, what is reality? Reality is simply what we are experiencing now. Period. But too often we ignore this because we ignore what we witness and experience. We don’t like reality or we fail to accept it.

We regularly choose to overvalue ourselves to stay safe, so we can better manage our social insecurities and escape indulgence in meaningless desires and pleasures that are beautifully branded so that we become someone we always wanted to be.

Pleasures and desires may come from illusion. But meaning comes only from reality. We are proud to question anything that cannot be proven scientifically or technologically. We don’t realise how consciously numb and intellectually illiterate we become in the process.

We have allowed ourselves to be blind-folded under false and dominant leadership for centuries. Is it possible that our minds have been so conditioned, so caught up and engrossed in numerous ideologies and ideas that a new mind has been developed? It is not surprising that our old mind, the one we should follow, is tightly bound to authority — assuming we embrace and value authority as knowledge, experiences, talents, skills, abilities and traditions that allow us to enjoy security (inwardly as well as outwardly). Such security may be self-imposed authority. An idea is never a fact, it is a fiction. But because we don’t understand today’s global contest, we accept and follow a formula in a disciplined society to achieve virtue that will help us overcome immorality. This does not work.

They take the right to intervene and infiltrate anywhere and at any given time because we simply let them. Those who manipulate are the ones who fear. It is the sort of fear that occurs to those who are overwhelmed: they no longer have the confidence in themselves and the system they believed in. They choose to manipulate, question and tweak the truth, believing an entire nation — and eventually the world — will unconditionally follow a plan that has been mapped out miraculously. That is, until we encountered the current global crisis and more and more people questioned these efforts.

It is increasingly clear that all this is part of a bigger plan. It takes nothing to join the masses but it takes everything to be real and to stand alone against evil and for humanity. In the 21st century, we still witness human trafficking, human rights abuse, drug trafficking, corruption, organ smuggling and paedophilia. These activities are only possible because we let them be. Leaders of today do not understand the concept of boundaries and humanity because they never overcame their own suffering. Instead, they relentlessly pursue whatever they seek with no regard — and leave people to feel humiliated. We admire a society that craves the overcoming of suffering, which produces a powerful urge to consume more and more. We constantly want to gain, to succeed. That is why many escape, to overcome overwhelming situations many leaders can no longer handle because they simply don’t want to.

We know today that the biological basis of ‘mind’ is a very succinct account of what dopamine does in the striatum. It decreases ‘noise’. There are always a number of competing motor plans — plans of action — vying for enactment. That’s normal noise in the system, and that’s what maintains psychological flexibility. Dopamine inhibits the weaker plans and augments the strongest of the competing plans. It’s a biological mechanism, sort of like focusing our eyes. In the striatum, dopamine narrows the field of potential actions from many down to one. The competition is quashed and now there’s only one goal on the radar. That’s the basis of craving: a narrowing of focus and motivation to one thing and one thing only.

Unfortunately, the impact of drug or alcohol cues on the dopamine system gets stronger and stronger with repeated cycles of craving and satiation so that both the striatum and the prefrontal cortex become quickly attuned (through synaptic shaping) to the promise of relief. That’s how brain science understands craving.

Craving, addiction, is an aberration according to the ideals of our society. But it is a very natural process for our brain, whose job it is to motivate us to achieve important goals.

We must determine our nature and determine who we want to be. We must ask ourselves again what happiness means to us. Happiness may look, sound and feel very different because we seek to satisfy different needs. Aristotle once said “’happiness’ is the elixir of life, but what does happiness truly mean?” Today, we experience happiness in different forms. Aristotle also emphasised the importance of lust, desire and fulfilment but I would argue that if lust is our fulfilment of life — as sexual pleasures, status quo, wealth and consumerism are — does it truly give us ultimate fulfilment? Is this really the true reason to be so protective of what we have and, hence, not share with others?

So I ask myself: what is the reason for intuition? The homo sapien crowning achievement is so strongly shaped by natural science: the ability to measure and to distinguish. But this is not the reason for intuition and the reason for foreboding or wisdom. It is, however, often the presumption of an age-old, rational scientific suitability. “I think, so I am. The only certainty is that man thinks”. On that note, it makes sense why we say: ‘I love’ so I am — and not ‘I know’ so I am. This is because the homo economicus is solely looking out for his own advantage, one of the reasons why modern man is not balanced; this constant effort for survival is not useful in the long run for the individual. Never take advantage of people who do the most for you. Instead, being underestimated is one of the most tactical advantages leaders can have. It shows grace, confidence and self-awareness.

Imagine no handshakes after a deal is signed, no smiles without reflection, no hugs without emotions and no interesting dialogue without intellect. That would be terrible and may lead to an unfinished life. No society can function without trust: for example, going to the doctor and getting diagnosed, which often sounds incomprehensible to us, requires trust. Kant once said that the need to trade goes beyond the possibilities of knowing. That means we act on our knowledge, experience and skills and see how the world presents itself. But this is only partly what we acknowledge. That is why we can only survive when we bond and belong to a certain circle of people and a community; we are not even aware of how much we depend on each other. Dependency, while based on trust, empathy and generosity, is often brutally exploited because it is possible to do so. Across all cultures, we live as social beings. So, I ask myself, what is the reciprocal of shame? We are ashamed because we know what others think about us. Others have the skills to feel us and understand where we failed because they have deep psychic abilities. (Indigenous peoples are among those who foster — for the last 25,000 years — a way to protect themselves through such talents.)

Today, human rights mean that we should take decisions based on empathy and knowledge. As a social order that is a fundamental concept in our day-to-day life, this refers to the way various components of society work together to maintain the status quo: social structures and institutions, social relations and interactions as well as behaviour and cultural features that are cultivated in norms, beliefs and values. We need rights to protect minorities from oppression. Still, in many countries, we witness high social inequality and tremendous social exclusion: for example, governments like South Africa allow the wealthy white elite do whatever they like, which is unacceptable. Certain rights need to be in place (rights that stem from a source higher than the governments) so that their elite are no longer protected. Otherwise, these governments may turn into unstoppable radical anarchies.

Unfortunately, we are witnessing more than ever before that certain CEOs, executives and leaders exploit such rights, putting themselves above rights and order.

Such illusory superiority is a condition of cognitive bias wherein they overestimate their own qualities and abilities in relation to the same qualities and abilities of other people, and seek better and more convenient conditions. The latest Coronavirus is a classic example how many CEOs, executives and leaders proudly claim they did great while, in fact, their governments failed to reinstall order so that all citizens and employees feel safe and secure. Having an entire nation shut down for weeks, spending billions in tax money for rescue, forcing thousands of people to lose their jobs and businesses and witnessing hundreds of thousands of victims and many thousands of deaths are not results that any head of state should be proud of. This havoc is a sign of leadership immaturity and perhaps shows the inability to feel.

We need to ask ourselves with utter seriousness: Is the homo economicus the real steward that we must continually embrace? What kind of spiralled descent do we fall into by being conditioned and hardly noticing the prior? What is the point of endlessly seeking competitive advantages? It may soon turn into a stagnant process that will come with a high price! It is a sign of poor leadership, — if leaders believe they protect themselves by acting like, they don’t have one.

That is why empathy is the elixir we should be cultivating in a crisis. The availability of minerals and resources us changing: production will soon be limited and prices will escalate. Then, consulting, giving and sharing advice and intellect will be in high demand as these things lead to solutions that assure our survival through crisis, conflict and uncertainty — unless we stop seeking advantages and incorporate this new mindset into social equality and global inclusiveness. Right now, we are heading in the wrong direction, idolising the wrong of services by introducing models of rigid efficiency which jeopardise humanity as our mind and imagination are replaced by nano-chips and robots.

Does that mean we should allow algorithms that know more than we do gain a more effective and faster advantage just because competitive advantage is so highly ingrained into the 21st century’s mantra on how to succeed? Do we wish to replace human talents, our skills, our abilities and eventually our emotions and impulses with a super high-tech nano-chip, only to gain more recognition and acceptance? Today, we easily are obsessed with human-to-digital relationships but we fail to recognise and appreciate the beauty of human-to-human relationships. Actually, we should embrace people, serve people and control the digital age because this demonstrates the real hierarchy of values in the 21st century. Services without empathy turn us into a cold-blooded and reckless society: Is this the kind of world we want? What is humanity worth to us? People need empathy because it fosters resilience, trust and personal growth and gives us the tool for creativity, imagination and nourishing connections. Empathy also transforms conflict and supports sustainable, collaborative action and positive social change. Aren’t we capable of empathy and frugality? Who tells us that evolution has to continue, on and on? And why do we listen?

This recipe of new world order policy that was presented in the early 90s sustains advantages for the elite. In other words, do we truly wish to allow parenting that is being monitored and measured by algorithms to design perfect social behaviour and natural behaviour of children so that parenting becomes obsolete? Is this the sort of humanity we will entrust to our next generation? Can we survive without empathy and rather bank on ideal, conditioned humans that are designed in the lab; people who no longer question and no longer doubt but rather follow and live immortally. Companies in Silicon Valley are already working to dismantle humanity, designing humans without the capacity for death. Is this what we want? Under such circumstances there is no need for purpose, meaning or goals; there won’t be any more to achieve other than to ‘follow’. Sadly, it seems that a young, growing audience around the world is seeking such an efficiency-life-model, one that does no longer require empathy.

I think we have all empathy, — we may not have enough courage to display it, because we are lacking of self-awareness. Today we live in uncertain times, — if leader’s abilities aren’t in hand, — if you don’t have self-awareness and if you aren’t able to manage distressing emotions, — if you can’t have any empathy and wish to have effective connections, — than no matter how smart or knowledge you may be,- you won’t going to get far because, you are lacking to bond with people.

If love no longer releases feel-good hormones and neuro-chemicals that trigger specific, positive reactions, then what is the purpose of emotional, mental and psychological well-being? Don’t love, joy and pleasure commit us to respect and dignity? When the 4th revolution removes mercy, kindness, generosity, sympathy and dependency, isn’t that the beginning of the age of human barbarism?

A world without empathy is a social structure that has already been cultivated as ‘normal’ in most industrialised countries because interpersonal relationships, connecting with others, exploring the unknown and learning from other cultures are irrelevant or unimportant in many countries. According to a survey by Internations and the United Nations, the top ‘unfriendliest’ countries, those who do everything to retain their status to serve their own economy, are these:

1. Kuwait

2. Saudi Arabia

3. Denmark

4. Switzerland

5. Norway

6. Sweden

7. Qatar

8. China,

9. Czech Republic

10. Finland

Interestingly, there is a link between these countries because of their high GDP and divorce rate — a link that refers to a broken family structure, high divorce rate and domestic violence. It is the lack of stable family culture, loving upbringing and good parenting that manifests later in adulthood in the kind of leaders people become. Somehow, we have given up mindful thinking and sympathizing and, in the face of the real problems and challenges, are incapable of compromise. Compromise is the most important tool for thinking with the mind and diving into another person’s mind. This is the basis of a healthy intuition, compassion and self-awareness that are, in today’s harsh world, viewed as deficits and weaknesses. Doesn’t that mean we want to count on other people to participate and to cooperate and involve others in the process, so that we solve conflicts, chaos and misunderstandings together?

This all requires independence. Unfortunately, too many seek rigorous advantages for themselves and do not respect humanity. Isn’t it a basic premise of humanity to accomplish great things together? Isn’t it the complete achievement of colonisation and Islamisation that are achieved with vehement dominance and persistence? What did this achieve for humanity? Therefore, the greatest danger is that which people want rigorously, dogmatically, sticking to their own ‘truth’ without compromise, following their own assumptions even if it costs lives. But what is dignity? What is dignity really worth to us if we fall for total digitalisation? I believe that dignity describes human uniqueness. I also believe that it is everyone’s job to make dignity inviolable and to approach every human mindfully. We should not exchange dignity for popularity.

It is not an act of mercy, but rather the claim that corresponds to dignity, because dignity is not a gift; dignity is what we are entitled to. That is why we have rights that are associated with trust, those which created human society. If we give too much importance and power to the homo economicus, society will break disintegrate and humanity will become irrelevant. I believe the most beautiful things in life are visible only when we understand and acknowledge them. And this has absolutely nothing to do with the ‘advantages’ of life.

The greatest aspects of the human being are love, joy and enthusiasm, as these provide fulfilment; and they have nothing to do with cost-benefits. Some indigenous tribes on our planet that have existed for 25,000 years already, value and protect their generosity, social equality and cohesion, security, playfulness, telepathic abilities and self-confidence.

We would do well to accept their special sub-conscious abilities and strive for an inter-linked co-existence. But today’s economists, scientists, academics, politicians and leaders don’t understand this, as the ultimate need for more, higher and further seems to have much greater importance. It sells better.

After the banking crisis in 2008, Richard Fuld Jr., former CEO of Lehman Brothers, defended, “People mustn’t be angry at us because they lost their wealth. They should have known better in the first place…”. If this indeed is the ultimate maxim, I doubt that many people would ever jump on an airplane again, because no one really knows how and why an airplane takes off so smoothly without incident. We believe because we trust. Trust is a feeling that can’t be taught. That is why trust is deeply connected to empathy.

Social engagement and the impact of a company’s or nation’s initiatives creates a shared purpose and cultivates mindful values and virtues, making people and employees feel safe and secure, and giving reason to trust in the future of that nation, society or company. This is what encourages people, employees, to trust in a nation or buy a company’s product or services: it is fulfilling and meaningful. The more an organisation, nation or society is led by inclusive leadership, the higher the trust. Leaders in industrialised places, together with their teams and employees, can improve society and learn from their colleagues in many developing countries. It is a path to gaining respect that is paved with knowledge, tolerance and empathy.

As a CEO and leader this means:

Embrace change, be inspirational and address concerns about personal impact of change.

· Mentor and guide your crew and organisation so they feel safe, secure, inspired and calm. They will bond and be courageous to engage in creativity that solves problems. This facilitates a trust between employees and potential customers.

· Trust in people and empower them. Give them a voice. Create opportunities where they can share their potential.

Trust in people and empower them. Give them a voice. Create opportunities where they can share their potential.

· Start solving problems in your inner circle and expand this practice in your team and organisation.

· Live your values and be genuine. Engage directly, be curious and passionate.

Role models have nothing to do with knowledge, intellect or experience — but rather with empathy. Without trust no society would ever function. Society has more to do with true empathy, empathy that requires that we step outside our own emotions to view things entirely from the perspective of another person. A significant 76% insist that CEOs, executives and political leaders should initiate social and economic transformation. There are signs of hope: we are witnessing women transform into global amplifiers to steer social change. “There is plenty of room in the world for mediocre men but there is no room for mediocre women”, as Madeleine Albright, the late Foreign Minister, put it.

Instead of putting others in their place, put yourself as a leader in their place — and find ways to best overcome uncertainties.

Learn more at bondingandbelonging.com

If we want to survive, we must change our habits and attitude.

In nature as well as in business, — many believe that those who can best assert themselves succeed. But there is something no less natural and ubiquitous, — “cooperation” that is most important in times of uncertainty. It is the level of bonding and togetherness and often closeness what indigenous tribal communities cultivate to overcome fear, anxiety, and the unexpected.

These days, probably most executives realise how little works during a crisis, even things that had worked in the past. Many are scared, feeling fearful about how to overcome these uncertain times. Perhaps this is part of human evolution: that in this century we must face such a fear-inducing crisis to alert and re-shape humanity and to wake us up! Too many leaders are lacking in their instinctual understanding of what information is unimportant and can thus be discarded and what information is essential.

Shockingly, 73% of leaders admit that prior to the current crisis they were ‘unmindful’ most of the time. So, is it surprising that many are lost now? If we had deeper intuition, would we be where we are today? Intuition is the highest level of intelligence. But in reflecting on what has happened so far, many leaders have relied on the judgment given by their experts for making decisions without prolonged reflection about this incredibly unique crisis. An opportunity has been missed when decision-makers act without allowing intuition to guide decisions.

Because, — we are a rational, purpose-driven culture, we cling to what we know and protect what we have. But in crisis, this may not work so well. People of today don’t necessarily want to get rich only — they seek meaning what gives them fulfillment. We have to adapt current working conditions to our purpose of life and not the other way around. Because more social freedom shifts the balance of power between working conditions and our meaning of life.

Interestingly, — research has shown that having a sense of purpose and meaning in life as a leader increases overall mental status. This means seeking meaning in life, rather than just happiness, — leads to increased life satisfaction that improves physical health and enhances resiliency and self-esteem. While happiness is felt in the “here and now”, — it is transient and fleeting just as all emotions are. Having said that, — meaning of life is more enduring. It connects the past, present, and future giving a sense of a more purposeful, cohesive, and satisfying life. Decision-makers who think more about the future or past struggle and suffering have more of a sense and their lives become meaningful. Meaning makes leaders and decision-makers much kinder. Happiness is a state that is only felt when we need to constantly fulfill our desires and needs. In other words, we feel happy when we get what we want. Meaning, — however gives us the sense of compassion and humanity that is now needed in leadership.

This guides us towards life how we make decisions. It influences our behaviour and shapes our attitude, which offers a sense of direction and creates meaning. That why it is essential to understand how we change our habits and adopting attitudes that help us better deal with the unknown and the unexpected. Intense fear and anxiety limit our ability to make the right decisions or even to think and reason. We are left with only our most basic responses, including total immobility, with a body literally paralysed by fear. This paralysis impacts leadership: 65% of decision-makers in industrialised countries claim that even prior to the crisis they frequently failed to complete tasks as a result of such paralysis. Similar reactions include collapsed immobility — or ‘playing dead’ — being apathetic, and dissection, which is spacing out and feeling unreal. These are all signs of high-level fear and anxiety.

These behaviours occur in frogs, dogs, and humans, indicating that they evolved early in the course of evolution. That is why safety is not predictable in our lives. The absence of an obvious threat is not enough to calm our nervous systems, because an unexpected threat can occur at any moment, and our brain may not be prepared. In other words, to our primitive nervous system, every strange and unknown situation is a potential danger, presenting an evolutionary challenge for the brain, because humans benefit from association with other humans, giving and receiving safety cues to engage with others in a friendly way.

To meet this need for socialisation in pairs, families, communities, organisations and among society, a third subsystem is developed: our ‘higher social brain’, also known as the ‘ventral vagal’ complex. They contribute to our ability to feel safe in close proximity to another person or in other social systems so that we can bond. Any self-calming behaviour is helpful in activating our own social safety cues.

The benefits in terms of conflict resolution include the evocation of a calm response and a greater capacity for other people to listen to what we are really saying.

Leaders in uncertain times must apply two important ingredients: empathy and a global mindset, — stepping forward and embracing values and ethics, — showing solidarity towards their subordinates and others. This allows unity to unfold. Solidarity means knowing how to behave with people; it’s a form of social behaviour for the purpose of tightening cohesion and establishing social ties that unite members in partnership with one another. Hence, it is with solidarity that sustainable human development in difficult times takes place, reducing social inequality and social injustice.

What promulgates attitudes of carelessness, negligence, and indifference? Anxiety, fear, or worry? Frankly, these are not behaviour patterns engrained in people’s lives, but rather we are conditioned to cultivate such attitudes to protect our positions, titles, images, and reputations. In fact, countless leaders are no longer curious or enthusiastic but have accepted themselves as they are in their position: it feels far too comfortable to change. So we cannot catapult them out of their habits; rather, they must be guided into new behaviour patterns, assisted in discovering their innate potential, helped to explore ways that are more fulfilling.

Before this crisis, 47% of all people in industrialised countries were suffering from an attention deficit. This number has shot up astronomically. Changing any attitude will only happen through an internal transformational process. This requires courage-makers to gently animate other people mindfully and softly. We develop our potential by converting our skill set so that our curiosity flourishes. This will eradicate the conditioning for complacency that has taken hold in so many companies, institutions, and societies.

Four major criteria will transform attitudes and habits:

Courage

Courage is more important than confidence. Most great business leaders teach themselves to make high-risk decisions. They learn to do this well over a period of time, often over decades. The true courage of leadership means giving others the chance to succeed, even though the leader bears the responsibility for getting things done.

Compassion

Imagine a world devoid of the countless individuals who risked their own lives to save others during this current crisis. If compassion may be perceived as a requisite for a meaningful existence and civilised society, it is indeed a concept worthy of continued discovery. In other words, if leaders are to sacrifice the numbers to save the people. Poor people sacrifice the people they save the numbers. The latest research shows that compassionate leaders, — bonding better with people and becoming more resilient and having a strong immune system.

Clarity

Consciousness

There are conscious people among us who think differently, who can inspire others to release their selfish behaviours. They are humble and adore other people, mentoring those in need, teaching patience, guiding others out of their comfort zone so that they can embrace new habits and attitudes that fulfill not only their personal needs but make a profound contribution towards society at large. Resilience is the capacity to recover from adversity, pursuing goals despite challenges; this helps to survive the worst days of our lives and thrive every day of our life. This behaviour can only take place if we set an example, show openness to discover, desire to be curious, and enthusiasm towards new unknown situations.

It is important as a leader, politician, teacher, educator or parent that we keep cultivating our wisdom, intuition, empathy to guide people through such situations as are occurring with more frequency in the 21st century. It is those people who, with their warm attitudes, make people feel safe, secure, calm, inspired, and bonded. We must insist that such behavioural patterns be applied under the current haste, ignorance, and selfishness that humans are bound to by conditioning.

A change of attitudes and social behaviours comes through a state of mind which is not ordinary. It is a state that is lived within gamma brain waves: 40hz is the highest brain waves. These are pure binaural beats. People with high levels of gamma activity tend to be exceptionally intelligent and compassionate with profound self-control that leads to peak performance. They have vivid and rapid memory recall and their senses are heightened. Their minds tend to be far more sensitive to sensory input, giving a better perception of reality. Studies have shown a significant increase in brain activity in the left prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with self-control, happiness, and compassion. This means that the activity of the amygdala — the brain’s fight or flight center — makes us more resistant to the unknown, to dealing with danger and crisis. In other words, people with high gamma brain waves bear high processes of speed thinking and clear recall about everything and anything memorable. People with high gamma activity are naturally calmer and more peaceful. It is not a good sign when almost the entire global economy permeates our entire life and makes us absolutely dependent on producing more and faster because we strive to believe to become happier. In fact, the global economy is about people, — not about science, technology, and robots. When leaders turn into cowards, clinging to the hope that failure in crisis or dealing with the unknown will never happen, acting sloppy in the face of danger — not because they don’t acknowledge that it exists — but because they are too afraid of how they may look when it occurs, — plays probably the biggest significance why we fail to manage the unknown. This is the reaction evident in most heads of state across Europe, the USA, and most industrialised countries. That should make us think.

Because leaders who don’t exude passion, enthusiasm, and curiosity are literally trapped in their own rat-race, protecting repetitive habits that are not flourishing their inner balance, but rather enlarging their selfishness as they conserve their material — not intuitive — wealth. They are trapped in anxiety and fear, not knowing how to deal with what may come next.

Inclusive leadership gives answers to social development — developing cultural agility. It starts with an open attitude and humbleness which leads to self-awareness, experience, talents, abilities, and skills that assist in comprehending problems by approaching them holistically. Cultivating inclusive leadership is an approach that takes us to levels that were previously closed to many, but with the current global crisis, have suddenly burst open. We gain a new insight, a new and refreshing perspective, capturing the meaningful and making sense because we have no other choice. It is the natural inclination of bringing people together, combining talents, seizing opportunities, overcoming dangers, and managing the unexpected. It is about trusting ourselves and others.

This new approach of inclusive leadership is needed now in this time of severe uncertainty. This is how problems should be solved. When we see a problem, whether the current crisis, loss of revenue, social conflicts or whatever, we first admit, “We have to solve this problem quickly”. But meanwhile, we are constantly producing new problems by the way we go on with our selfish thoughts — instead of looking holistically to create security, safeness, inspiration, calmness, and belonging that will give us, and others, the ability to turn the problem around. This new mindset is not limited. We must understand it and share it among all.

This is how the new leadership concept for the 21st century can be summarised: the traditional model based on a unification of the needs of people and striving for short-term profit-maximisation has come into question in terms of effectiveness in the dynamics of a heterogeneous environment of global communities and companies. Today, the way we do business and lead government requires significant ‘re-think’ for leadership because problems are more complex and linger unsolved, leading to global anarchy. This requires a much deeper and more profound comprehension of problems, no longer allowing for decisions based on assumption and brittle ivy-league-knowledge. In other words, we must develop cultural agility that starts with an open attitude and ends in self-awareness, experience, talents, aptitude, and skills. This means leaders need to be courageous, clear, compassionate, and far more conscious about themselves and others.

Self-empowerment is a personal goal. We look for emotional connection and empowerment in all areas of life, so why do we ignore it in business and politics? There is no doubt we face immense changes in the 21st century that will lead us to query the way we have managed these crises previously. Indeed, this requires a change in our social behaviour and habits, a change in the way we approach crises. It is about cultivating a pattern for dealing better with anxiety, fear, and shame. Closeness, a characteristic cultivated among indigenous people, is desperately needed among people and leaders to improve communication, enhance relationships and stretch imagination and creativity. This is why more global companies will press their organisational structure into a flat hierarchy after the crisis. But such a structure has been cultivated by indigenous people for more than 25,000 years, giving humans a safe haven that cannot be abolished.

Now with our fast-paced life, high expectations, and endless competition more and more companies want to re-invent their organisational structure to be more cost-effective. But they fail miserably because this does not work at all, specifically due to a lack of belonging. Through this combination of minimal instinctive determination and maximum mental development, we humans have finally managed to destroy the abilities of our original nature and the social environment by incessantly praising and greatly overvaluing the ‘I’ and ‘me’, using ‘self’ (rather than ‘others’) as a ‘brand’ to achieve more.

Here are the five essential criteria to overcome uncertainties:

Security

Security is how we feel safe using our ‘social brain’ to improve our connectedness to others, how we can overcome uncertainties. This means as humans, our physiology is highly responsive to potential threats to our safety. It is a human mechanism that allows us to evolve. Our various states of consciousness are directly connected to the ever-changing electrical, chemical, and architectural environment of the brain. Daily habits of behaviour and thought processes have the ability to alter the architecture of brain structure and connectivity, as well as the neurochemical and electrical neural oscillations of our minds.

Safety

Safety is necessary for humans to thrive. If we are constantly unregulated and feeling unsafe, we will also feel anxious, depressed, aggressive, frightened, and unable to attune and attach. Feeling safe is a prerequisite to happiness, health, and wholeness, and to normal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual development. The emotions associated with safety begin in utero and follow us throughout our lives. The element of safety allows us to take risks. Conscious choices, where we evaluate the risk and the reward, lead to stable, mature, mental, and emotional development and opportunities for creativity. When developed properly, a sense of safety results in an inner state of security and well-being and allows for the pursuit of relationships, bonding, and receiving or sharing attributes that generate happiness.

Inspiration

Inspired people are open to new experiences and report more absorption in their tasks. Openness to experience often comes before inspiration, suggesting that those who are more open to inspiration are more likely to experience it. Inspired people are driven to master their work but are less competitive, as they are intrinsically motivated which has a tremendous impact on their psychosocial resources. They believe in their own abilities, self-esteem, creativity, visionary thinking, and optimism.

Calmness

Calmness is a superpower because it is the best antidote to anxiety, fear, and the unknown. Calmness helps create herd immunity from anxiety and panic; it helps groups and individuals remain resilient. Stillness is either totally underrated or overlooked entirely. The ability to remain steady and focussed under fire is the most powerful and highest energy humans can innate to overcome crises and tackle the unknown.

Bonding

Bonding, the formation of a mutual emotional and psychological closeness between people to better overcome crises and tackle the unknown, needs the establishment of additional platforms to strengthen healthy relationships, to strengthen mental, emotional, and even physical well-being. A variety of social bonding helps reduce stress and heart-related risks. Bonding promotes social well-being and prevents crime and deviance as attachments form between the individual and conventional values and beliefs, and conventional agents of social control such as the government, authority, teachers, employers, and peers.

What consequences for people and society will this have? What better quality of life and work will we enjoy during and after this current global crisis? What kind of global ‘win-win situation’ for the rich and the working class and the poor will this lead to? Perhaps more than ever before, material and tangible values rooted in human nature become practically invariable. The same approach is believed by experts, scientists and ‘smart-alecks’ that most people are naturally lazy and passive and will hardly work if material incentives were negligible, or if men were not driven by hunger and fear. Interestingly, this strong dogma will no longer be accepted among people around the world because it undermines the attitude, belief, and mindset of bringing people together — of inclusion.

Anything that changes our morals and values for the better, changes our behaviour for the better as well. We won’t ever overcome this current global crisis if there is no stability. It is time to challenge the narratives of traditional old-school leadership that have been protected for more than 200 years.

It is time for attitudes to change.

Learn more: https://www.bondingandbelonging.com/

If indigenous people ran the world today, we would respect life and humanity.

Freedom is not an absolute condition, but a result of resistance.

Ai Weiwei

We have been catapulted overnight into the midst of an unprecedented global wave of hysteria that is jumbling our day-to-day lives in a way humanity never anticipated, a crisis that makes the 2008 financial crisis look like a Boy Scout picnic. History teaches us that the beginning of the greatest tragedies was ignorance.

Many leaders face questions they cannot answer, simply because they never anticipated this situation or these questions. If we can’t control what is currently happening, — leaders should challenge themselves to control the way they respond to what is currently happening. That is where their leadership potential should be.

When we look deeper, we realise this crisis is not just a pandemic. It is a tool for creating chaos and disorder to observe how the global community will react. It stems from the mentality of a tiny ultra-rich circle, an influential group of people, the 1% dictating to everyone else, stirring this planet into global chaos, turning the world into a “Lust-Game Society”, controlling humanity drastically and changing their mindset. It is believed that the people and the rich are not one and the same. When we cultivate a conditioned global society, — any citizens are lacking dignity, — because their view towards humanity is imbalanced. In fact from the day we got a real taste of dominance, — the rest of the world never taste the same again.

We have, unfortunately, allowed this vicious, merciless circle, — controlled by the 1% to prevent global society — at all costs — from interfering and challenging their rule and reign. The common people are brainwashed into questioning what makes sense, and what the essence of humanity truly should be. If power no longer is cultivated through generosity and confidence, — and if we look away, we are complicit. This is currently under way as we allow that the fundamentals of humanity are being jeopardised.

We live in times where children are victimised, — growing up in dysfunctional families. Innocent children who have absolutely no control over their toxic environment. They grow up with multiple emotional scars from repeated trauma and pain from parents’ stress levels and attitudes. These influenced children will assume various parenting roles at young ages rather than enjoying their childhood. The more categories of adversities a child suffers, the dimmer his or her chances of happy functional adulthood. Parts of their childhood are missing, and this will eventually have a harmful effect that extends into their adult lives.

Consequences include difficulties in forming and sustaining friendly relationships, difficulties keeping positive self-esteem, struggling to trust others, distressing over control loss, and denying their own feelings. Today we know that the level of imagination of three year old is at 92% — and continuously degrades until they are adults and clines to 5%.

Today we are infiltrated by technocrats, made of scientists, information-technology experts, boosting rational academia such as mathematics, educators, physics, economists software-engineers, and data technology experts. They undermine the humanities by manipulating our consciousness and our awareness through smart-technology and science to connect anything to artificial intelligence, that drives and changes the perception of the brain.

A few would argue that the state of education system has plenty of room for improvement — although when we look deeper we realise that our educational system is a model that conditions children to become ultra-competitive for survival at an early age.

The consequences are severe as 55% of children in the EU suffer from burn out which has a tremendous impact on their mental, physical and emotional condition, achieved from ongoing stress or frustration with no chance to relax and recharge. It is a cult manipulating reality that is fundamentally deeply rooted in our psyche that has been turned into a global obsession. It’s done in a way we never anticipated by altering our perception that is followed by our social behaviour. This impacts the way we look at life, relationships, business and what matters. To keep track it has been diversified across any social channel: family, parenting, education, sports, life experience, society, and business.

That is why we will experience a continuously high impact of information flow that is been condition to narratives, accelerating people’s consciousness towards fame, image, title, position, status quo all the time we connect with any of the social channels. It is a way to ignore, escape the unknown whatever its costs.

Lately, the 5G technology that generates on radiofrequency radiation which damages our DNA and leads to cancer, — causes oxidative damage that can cause premature aging and disrupting the cell metabolism and potentially leads to severe stress. It is important to understand that the brain does not think. It makes us feel safe, — to better tackle the unknown and dealing with the unexpected. If we manage to make the brain be calm, — which generally is within 3–12 Hz we are encouraged to tackle the unknown. The more we increase the brain waves the less we are conscious of making decision and realise what the real reality is. We struggle to adapt which is a surviving mechanism. But rather we follow a mechanism that has been indoctrinated into us through stoicism and persistence. The only way to overcome the current crisis is to break our habits. The only way to break is through peacefulness that we gain from oxytocin, — cultivated through trust, empathy, positive relationship, fidelity, and bonding.

Because the great majority of global society is floundering, less conscious and less aware, problems are being designed and presented by our media from a technocratic point of view. This does not allow for any views other than growth, domination, recognition, authority, and influence which bring fear, anxiety, outrage and angst among people worldwide. This is intentional. But if more and more people get chronically, psychosocially stresses we are going to compromise our health. By the end of the day, we have evolved to be smart, enough to make ourselves sick. This is to influence the global society that something must be done against an economic-crash, Islamisation, climate change, famine, and social inequality. It is to receive acceptance from a global society that these situations must change to improve humanity.

We are instructed to undergo drastic surveillance, compliance and other control mechanisms so that centralised artificial intelligence systems dominate our day-to-day life. That is why global climate change is simply one movement among others not actually linked to the good of humankind, because it requires a reinstatement and cultivation of a change of social behaviours that were in place decades ago, even before the 5th Industrial Revolution was ignited.

If this were the case, this world would not become your matchmaker, checker, personal entertainer, guardian of your personal memories, or even your therapist for situations we didn’t even know to have the potential to access your emotional impulse. Armed with this knowledge, we get hammered to compete with knowledge, to get more attached and hence less accepted because we no longer act ourselves. The truth of the matter lays in the way we are currently conditioned to follow the problem-solving process to bring us closer to the motive of the 1% to monopolise a totalitarian “Lust-Pay-Society”. If we no longer know where this world is taking us, then everything seems random.

People must wake up and grasp that this present pandemonium is not a coincidence, but an instrument of a larger plan. Whether it is man-made or not no longer matters. What matters most is that we are ignorant to foresee this global disorder moving forward with unstoppable momentum. Interestingly, many experts predicted this, but the message went unheard.

The ultimate intention of this Coronavirus is to wipe out the simple-minded men and women: the family business, the grocery shop owner, the barkeeper and restaurant owner, the hair-dresser, the farmer, the plumber and electrician, the accountant, the freelancers and many, many other businesses across all industries. In most countries, these account for the majority economic stake. Today there are 125 million formal micro, small and midsize businesses worldwide, including 89 million in emerging markets.

It is not just a coincidence that efficient economies and highly intellectual educated societies have been hit hardest. This was a plan to weaken them so we will see gigantic global corporations emitting the expected tone for how to think and live our lives. For some reason, we have not learned yet what government authorities inform us unless it is proven right.

More and more we are learning that this Coronavirus was intended to collapse the global economy by falsification and misinformation, stirring global mass panic. The outcome of this hysteria is for many now to act stringently to implement severe lockdowns that affect our freedom, our equal opportunities, our immunity, and our intimacy. It is about dismantling our traditional value system.

The central issue is we are developing into a plutocracy. We have as sizeable number of enormously wealthy people who have convinced themselves that they are rich because they are clever and intentionally constructive in exploiting the global system. We are to believe that this current global approach cares about humanity, the young people, the elderly people, the disadvantaged, and all those of different ethics groups, race, and sex. Frankly, they don’t care. It is simply an excuse to lure us into believing that these companies are ‘good’ companies with ‘good’ intentions, so they ramp up their philanthropic activities worldwide. It is a power game to increase the pace toward total control and domination, making the rest of the world look, and act, like Barbie Dolls while dealing with unethical and unworthy living conditions; accepting the offer of minuscule pensions; suffering under miserable health systems; eating unhealthy food because they can no longer afford good nutrition; and breathing polluted air and drinking toxic water diluted with high volumes of sugar which affects the immune system, causes chromium deficiency and accelerates aging. We are living in an ultra-magnetic environment that radiates into our consciousness, instincts, and impulses. Still, we miss the warning signals because we lost clarity.

Whatever the cause of this current crisis, it is this needy image we have of mankind we keep protecting worldwide that has led to reckless and inconsiderate behaviour toward each other. But now it is all catching up with us. There is an attitude that resonates right down through the entire global society where social and environmental costs are high, affecting society, culture and our quality of living.

The simplest reason for this is because we are afraid, fearful and anxious, uncertain of what is next. It is unimaginable for us to accept that we have this incredible capacity within ourselves to comprehend that we can change the situation for the better.

A society that has no dignity for humanity and humour is a society of tragedy.

Whether we call it — instincts, impulse, inclination or intuition — we have within us the basis for problem-solving, imagination, clarity and consciousness. But because many have never relied on personal insightfulness, we rely instead on all sorts of forecasts, collected data and over-analysis — this is keeping a hold on what, deep down, we know is best.

When we put the dots together, we understand now that this crisis was orchestrated many decades ago to weaken the human immune system by the creation of a high-paced, highly stressful global society. When we are stressed, the immune system’s ability to fight off antigens is drastically reduced, so we are more susceptible to infections and viruses. Anxiety triggers our flight-or-fight response and releases a flood of chemicals, hormones, and adrenaline into our system. Weakening our immune system renders us vulnerable to viral infections and frequent illnesses.

We need to understand that ‘mind over matter’ is not simply a catchphrase. It is truth based on what we know to be fact: that the brain, given the right set of directions, the right environment, and the proper stimuli, will always choose healing over disease. It is the almond-shaped brain structure that processes emotions, instincts, and impulses. Under stressful circumstances, the brain sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus, telling the brain to enter into a ‘fight-or-flight’ mode, a sort of escapism. Increased activation of the amygdala has been observed in anxiety, phobias, and PTSD now in industrialised countries and in developing countries.

A study of the world’s 20 most stressed-out cities, conducted by FORBES, found that the ability to fend off illness and disease depends on several factors, some of which are beyond our control, but the way we react to stress and the general health of our immune system are things we can influence. This means if we are not able to change our response to stressors, we will find ourselves in a constant hormonal battle that will result in serious health issues like hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. The brain and the immune system are in constant communication, a delicate balance that can be disrupted by any kind of physical or emotional stress.

Globally, more than one in three people, 35% claim they experience stress each day which is the reason more and more people are depressed, anxious, subject to mood swings, behaving compulsively, or struggling with irritability, low sex drive, memory and concentration problems. Ongoing stress makes us susceptible to illness and disease because the brain sends defence signals to the endocrine system, which then releases an array of hormones that not only get us ready for emergency situations but simultaneously severely depress our immunity. Some experts claim that stress is responsible for as much as 90% of all illnesses and diseases, including cancer and heart disease, because people follow a high-paced rhythm in chasing success and avoiding redundancy. We are lured into a crash capitalist garbage hall from which there is no rescue anymore. If we don’t act, — the danger becomes much stronger.

Freedom begins in the mind, — that is why we must understand and look toward the social behaviour of indigenous people to see how they survive and tackle the crisis, how they deal with conflict and the unexpected and unknown. If the Mursi, a nomadic tribal community that spread across Ethiopia, Northern Somalia and Sudan, would lead the world with their exceptional social behaviour, we would enjoy a better world: various tribal symbols, morals, and behaviours passed down through generations that are practiced by attentive listening and observing one’s body language.

It is their fundamental belief and cultural mode to cultivate a collaborative economy through sharing. Social balance and strong togetherness are lived among the community for survival and protection against enemies and crises such as drought and water shortages. The Mursi disregard competition because they know it leads to segregation and social division and hence to a crisis within the community. That is why they adhere rigidly to their age-set and evolve among their own age-set.

This means all members of the tribal community spend their life together within their age-set, eating together, playing together, hunting together and contemplating and resting together. It is this fundamental tribal mantra that brings unity and togetherness and strengthens their understanding when disagreeing and dialoguing with each other, bonding moments among each other and evolving their trust. The Mursi bear a low level of fear, apathy, guilt, and shame because they cultivate strong togetherness and social unity that bolsters courage to adapt quickly to outer circumstances, making them easier to overcome. It is in their oxytocin, a hormone originating in the brain that influences the behaviour and psychology.

These levels of hormone tend to be higher during stressful and socially bonding experiences — it is the ultimate indicator for social attachment and bonding that is so high among indigenous people because it’s in their survival instincts. It creates feelings of calm and closeness, solidifies relationships and improves social skills that strengthen the bonding. The Mursi have a deep and profound level of generosity that emanates from their trust of themselves and of others, optimism from relying on others to stay resilient. The Mursi tribe does not value haste, efficiency, productivity or comparison.

The Mursi richness is in their generosity to do good among themselves. That is why togetherness and individuality are not antithetical. Nor are unity and uniqueness the opposite of character. Today we know that different types of generosity have different effects on the brain, but one form, in particular, reduces stress and anxiety. Within the Mursi tribe, all individuals are respected equally and yet all contribute to the community. All enjoy freedom and individuality, and yet they all belong together. In our recent neuro-anthropology fieldwork studies in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia, we learned that the energy of peacefulness leads to generosity as a natural confidence builder and a natural repellent of self-hatred. Focusing on what they are giving rather than on what they are receiving, indigenous people live a more outward orientation of life, shifting focus away from themselves and tending to be welcoming, even toward those with whom they have not connected previously.

We recorded that the Mursi level of peacefulness is at an average of 92%, high autonomous energy. This is beneficial for lower blood pressure, lower risk of dementia, less anxiety and depression, reduced cardiovascular risk, and overall greater levels of joy. In our neuroanthropic fieldwork study, such human behaviours were tracked in one of the neurotransmitters — the dopamine. The brain associates the release of dopamine with pleasure, creates a reward system and spills out its hormones when eating together, feeling good and feeling a sense of belonging to a group of people — family or community — that repeats as the dopamine is associated with reinforcement, because the brain feels safe and encourages such repetition. Our assessment resulted in a mobile qEEG of 85% among all test persons.

The Mursi cultivate an intensive level of closeness and intimacy 24/7. It is this in-depth development of trust within community relationships that, as a gradual process, requires social interactions with community members. Practicing our instinct, impulse and emotion in terms of whom we can trust, especially in situations of costly sacrifices by another, is necessary to be responsive.

The Mursi are nomadic warriors: it is their culture to welcome any outsider to their community, making them feel welcome and good. It is their belief in doing good that is bringing good to the community, an instinct to feel safe and secure. It is partly generated from their insightfulness. Gamma brain waves, 40–200 brain waves per second, keep them on a higher level of consciousness and oftentimes catapult them into out-of-body experiences and hyper-concentration which leads to significant levels of focus that resonate to self-awareness and telepathic ability. Response to potential dangers results in an accelerated heart rate and an increase in metabolic rate. We have identified the pineal gland as highly activated by indigenous people, known also as the ‘sixth chakra’ — the energy flow for developing intuition, inner powers, clarity and balance of the inner and outer worlds as well as a personal evolution.

This leads to tapping into psychic abilities as we have witnessed among the Mursi community when the elders practiced such abilities in various ways: the form of divination, an ability to gain insight into a situation using occult means; energy medicine, the ability to heal with one’s own empathic etheric astral mental or spiritual energy; mediumship, the ability to communicate with spirits; precognition, the ability to perceive and foresee future events; psychometry, the ability to obtain information about a person or an object by touching; and telepathy, the ability to transmit or receive thoughts supernaturally.

These abilities are experienced during a Mursi life, having a peaceful and contemplative life, resting in stillness and feeling secure and safe, relaxing throughout the day. How would it feel for us to cultivate some of this indigenous social behaviour? We would look back and ask how we could have ever lived at such a ridiculously fast pace, how we could have compared ourselves to each other, how we could have spent our time wanting to go further higher and faster rather than deeper and calmer. Participation in our current global affairs is not a choice, — it is a human need to nourish humanity. That is why humanity is about our rights, — to question anything. We should never give up fighting. It is a symptom of life.

Who are we as human beings if we don’t shoulder the burden of current global responsibilities Who are we if we ignore the suffering of others? Sometimes the best thing we can do is not to think, not to wonder, not to imagine and not to obsess. But to just be.

To learn more, please visit: https://www.bondingandbelonging.com/

When nothing is sure — everything is possible.

Undoubtedly, — people find uncertainty itself more stressful than all the things they are actually uncertain about. As leaders, we mustn’t try to comprehend with our mind. Because our minds are very limited. Using our intuition instead leads to assurance in better dealing with uncertainties.

That is why we need to leave everything behind we were taught and experienced, — because management models and traditional leadership skills are not made for uncertain times. This requires a different approach to seize assurance, security, inspiration, serenity but most importantly calmness.

Here are the 8 killer criteria to deal with uncertainties:

1. Cultivate curiosity about uncertainty.

2. Challenge prejudices about uncertainty and discover commonality.

3. Seek for dialogue and put yourself in another person’s life.

4. Listen hard and be transparent and open up. People will follow.

5. Cultivate calmness.

6. Be real and transparent.

7. Develop and cultivate an ambition for imagination.

8. Inspire and give direction for certainty.

Naturally, everything begins with doubt, a fundamental part of the ‘real’ and ‘authentic’, to question, to probe, and to experience are necessary dealing with uncertainties, — no longer following any given system or ideology that has been taught over the centuries. Because this is all shared by ‘thought’, not consciousness nor experience. This is very complex, and because most of us choose to escape and have chosen to follow rather than confront oneself this now means we are dependent. And being dependent leads to loneliness because we are lacking trust in uncertainties. In other words, we don’t want to acknowledge a sort of conditioning — being told or instructed what to do while facing uncertainties. But because our mind is driven and programmed by rationality which requires a system, a form, a method or a process, this increases the level of tangibility and hence undermines empathy and intuition. That is why many face anxiety, fear or even anger dealing with uncertainties being confronted with our deepest inner-self and lack of trust in ourselves to deal with uncertainties.

But true ‘being’ is the opposite — it means to be free from all quantitative and qualitative measurements: from comparison, from becoming and from striving. Perhaps it is, at our deepest comprehension, a sense of ‘not becoming’ at all, a putting away of all self-centered activities. So ‘being’ is not to separate something from our day-to-day routines, but to confront, to accept and to trust things as they are. Anything else would be to escape, a notion that today is widely cultivated and accepted.

But real ‘being’ consists of being concerned with one’s behavior, one’s relationships, allowing for a broader mindset about the current uncertain times, as well as about other people’s opinion and reaction, but perhaps rather cultivating acceptance and tolerance. In fact, what we have created today is a definition of ‘being’ that no longer can be accountable, ignorant and righteous that becomes manipulative, unethical, immoral and very unstable. Most feel proud to express pride and stability to lead as a role-model-type of leaders who keep achieving and announcing to the rest of the world just how great they are. They are eager to be driven by ego. Instead what is needed is to be intuitive, offer guidance and mentoring to re-instate assurance and social security.

Intuition is defined as knowing or sensing without the use of rational processes. This negative definition is a sign of our limited understanding of this faculty, — which actually guides us during uncertainties, — but often we ignore it because it is not tangible or rational and most people can’t resonate with it. However, intuition defined in this negative way may involve capacities that are not part of the existing science.

I called being in a state of understanding of oneself and one’s relationships in a much broader circumstance which does not abide by a self-centredness, an escaping of acceptance and boredom and superficiality, to enquire about oneself, with no illusions or motivations other than to accept and to trust oneself. In other words, without self-deception, without imaginative theories, and without seeking escape routes. It is simply about the nature of our inward thinking: why we do the things we do. It is about purpose, meaning and that which makes sense, a deepness which reaches far beyond the day-to-day irrelevance of over-achieving.

That is why we would rather follow, blind to the situation that we are being conditioned into a certain pattern. Cultivating ‘being’ is not something we should practice, but rather something to explore and discover and allow to seep into every part of current uncertainties and accept what is instead. More than ever before we must cultivate acceptance while faced with uncertainties and not shy away and ignore what is. Acceptance is a feeling. It brings assurance, relief, and less pressure. A state that goes with profound intuition is the highest form of intelligence. Intuition is less about suddenly ‘knowing’ the right answer or talking the ideal decision right away but rather connecting with one’s instinctive understanding of what information is unimportant and can thus be discarded. In uncertain times it is our intuition that guides us recognising the need for inspiration and creativity, but treat these as magical gifts and not as a talent that can be developed or neglected.

After all, intuition can be extremely distracting. Instead of focusing minds on the material at hand it leads off in all directions. That is why we need the discipline of focus. But we equally need the discipline of intuitive rambling. We need to give space for and encouragement to both. Formal education almost universally discourages intuitive wandering — that is why many leaders these days fail to deal with uncertainties.

There are three components to developing intuition:

1. Providing oneself material in terms of learning and life experience that intuition uses.

2. Exercising intuitive muscle by using intuition. This should involve both random rambling and focused problem-solving. The problems must always be the ones for which one knows no canned intellectual approach. It is a challenge to create such problems. One cannot give a standardized test for intuition because one can always educate for the test.

3. Finally, there is the need to develop the archetypal images that intuition relies on. The best of fairy tales is one way to do this for small children.

So how can we develop intuition? Simply let it lead the way and yet hold it back from leaping into the abyss. For intuition to become more universal it must become more developed and differentiated. We must know when and how to use it and we must know with some, albeit imperfect, reliability when it leads us too far afield from what is practically possible. Intuition is not as quick as intellect but it is deeper, more profound, and accurate. In uncertainties, intellect can easily grasp things as a series of complex operations — challenging assurance and security that are essential to occur when faced with uncertainties. Of course, there is no intuitive only or intellectual only learning. All learning involves sequences of steps, playing with ideas and relating new ideas to old ones. The difference is one of emphasis.

To learn more about topics of leadership, please visit https://www.bondingandbelonging.com/

Suffering is an integral part of life alongside joy, love, pleasure, and desire. It permeates our existence as we pass from infancy through our adulthood to leaders.

Fear is universal — often we believe the deeper and the more we think, the better we can overcome it. But in fact, it is solely a state of mind. So, it is not what we think but rather how we think. But do we really understand fear as leaders? Do we understand and accept the circumstances under which it is normal to be afraid at all? Constant fears prevent us from letting go and forgiving — which is an essential leadership criterion.

The only place where fear can exist and grow is within our thoughts about the unknown. It is a by-product of our imagination. Causing us to be afraid of the situations that are not present and may never exist. On the other side of our maximum fear are all the best opportunities and options you can ever wish for.

That is why fear is a choice. Anything we thought was impossible, we find beyond overcoming fear.

How do we overcome fear? In peacefulness — the highest human energy we bear in ourselves. Peacefulness is experienced as perfection, bliss, effortlessness, and oneness. It is a state of non-duality beyond any separateness and beyond the intellect, as in the peace that passes comprehension and hence acceptance. It is the illumination of deep insightfulness, a rare human realm that leads to imagination, awareness, ingenuity inspiration, visualisation that eventually is turned into a vision.

So how do leaders overcome the failure of success? How do leaders tackle the fear of being mediocre? How do leaders overcome the fear of success? How do leaders stay in peacefulness and face the fear of the unknown? It is their mental capacity not to think or to seek but to feel and believe in it. Because the way leaders think impacts their feelings and who they become.

Peacefulness is any leader’s seed to overcome fear and anxiety. 99% of people who become leaders never let that seed blossom into anything.

It is the trials and tribulations through their life that either makes them become that seed or not at all. Naturally, we all fall as leaders several times until we realise the importance of that seed. The question is, do we get back on track through peacefulness or rather effort and ambition. That is why it’s ten times more important to experience that feeling of failure and vulnerability than faking or copy it. Because when we are confronted with fear, the sensation of fear will keep limiting us to feel things beyond than rather embrace what we think at that moment instead. This limits our consciousness.

That is why no one ever wants to experience fear but rather fake, escape or ignore it. But behind any fear is your persona — you who simply want to be a leader. Too often we are lulled into believing that success is a marathon of life with the steps going higher, further and faster. The success of leadership is formulated through the experience of overcoming fears, failures and finding peacefulness within oneself. Letting go of the kind of experience, knowledge or teachings you were taught, believed, behaved or even reacted to. Because some former experiences may limit you to see what is instead. In dealing with the inconsistency of the high ups, success, brutal unexpected failures and misery is where true leadership qualities take place. That is where the inner work takes place.

The real challenge in leadership is to be mentally, emotionally, insightfully and intellectually stable when we get knocked down. True leadership growth happens in how we handle such situations.

Ask yourself as a leader, are you going through over and over again and again or are you growing through learning to alter your paradigm that leads to different comprehension? Are you, therefore, bigger and better because of your new paradigm? If yes, do it with grace.

This means through facing your fears you are going deep, deep down. You are overcoming grief, apathy, guilt, and shame. It can’t get any further. Overcoming in peacefulness and insightfulness creates true leaders who become champions.

Today’s true leaders are not defined by success, they define success themselves. They overcome their inner fears and anxieties and create safe and secure havens for all.

As leaders, we must not think anymore, plan or predict anymore, or escape anymore, ignore anymore, blame others anymore or rationalise anymore. Instead, stay in peacefulness, be aggressively determined and move forward all the way.

To learn more about leadership, mindfulness and other topics that will help you lead better, please visit https://www.bondingandbelonging.com/

When we look at loneliness today, we can easily identify London as by far the world’s loneliest city, followed by New York, Dubai, L.A., Sao Paulo, and Hong Kong.

What matters is not whether we live alone or together, or experience dull repetition or pleasant sensations and daily highlights; loneliness concerns how we feel — do we feel alone? Is this what you want?

Clearly, as we decline in human empathy, we now face a global risk of accumulated anger. This is the most terrible poverty — which for some reason we don’t want to acknowledge. But the truth of the matter is that it creates social exclusion and intellectual numbness. It is a feeling of being unloved and lacking recognition. You have accepted a lifestyle that is driven by science and technology, that distracts you from simply being. You don’t really realise that you are continually distancing yourself from your inner self. You are lacking inner connection, restricting your enjoyment of life and discovery of the beauty of life.

This Fourth Industrial Revolution is marked by a sort of blurring of the lines between humans and technology. The result is a tremendous upswing in loneliness, rising polarisation and a corresponding decline in empathy, intuition, and self-awareness. Life is no longer a group effort, it is something you need to battle for yourself because you can’t raise your consciousness through a group effort anymore.

That is why many communities, circles and self-improvement groups have failed in trying to lift you out of loneliness. This means you need to enter the belly of the whale, so to speak — all by yourself — and face all your inner demons by yourself. Not with your best friend; not with your gentle, kind-hearted neighbour; not with your social media followers.

Instead, think about yourself even if you don’t want to look inside yourself. Face what is — head-on. You don’t really need new ways of managing technology because it responds with even more insecurity than you and many others already experience. It is imperative that you connect with your inner self so that you can feel more inner stability, so that you can cultivate self-awareness more profoundly.

You are lonely because you are disconnected from being and lacking self-awareness and disingenuous to your true self. Being is such a grand state that is happening when you are conscious of it. It is the substance of what everything is made of. But you don’t really experience that anymore because you are lost in a landscape of conceptual social behaviour that you think is so necessary for belonging to a certain circle of people to get recognition. You are living in the past for the future — what is between is emptiness.

You need to connect with your inner being, with yourself. Because being and accepting yourself is plentiful for yourself.

The solution is that you need to get serious about your growth. You need to learn how to recognise yourself, face your inner self head-on, expose the unknown in yourself and go through a time of discovering the unknown — the people you never thought you would enjoy meeting; the food you never thought you would find delicious; the traditions and cultures you never thought you would appreciate; and the countries you never thought would amaze you.

Contain your loneliness and connect with your inner self. Centre yourself. The issue of loneliness infiltrates deeper than it seems. Your life is all about you — and only you. There is nothing other than you. So learn to interact with yourself and extend yourself to meet those you probably never anticipated to meet. Go to new places, literally and figuratively. Discover that there is so much more than just what you already know and have experienced so far.

I know it is a collective concern that loneliness and frustration have merged into a new reality known as the ‘age of anger’. This trend, this new anger, poses a significant threat toward humanity by deregulating our day-to-day life.

But what truly bonds us is meaning, essence, and substance that we experience with others from different parts of the world. This meaningful togetherness is now at the forefront of human connection leading us to inclusion.

We need to bring people together, genuinely together, so that they can explore and discover together each other’s diversity, learning to appreciate differences. How do you wish history to remember you? Do you want to be genuinely connected — not lonely? You can limit your loneliness, but you need to understand how this affects all humanity, because our dignity as humans, our ‘human dignity’, is at stake.

That is why you should join us in the struggle to take back our humanity.

To learn more, please visit https://www.bondingandbelonging.com

Acceptance is a feeling. It brings fulfilment, realising you are not perfect, but being kind, humble and simply accepting who you are.

Because your behaviour is accurately being predicted, and sensations that are dropping on you seem uncannily accurate, the more likely you are convinced that you must accept any condition. It seems a dream to imagine a connecting world, space where everyone can have experiences and feel accepted. If this were the case, this world would not become your matchmaker, checker or personal entertainer, or guardian of your personal memories, or even your therapist to advise against situations you are unfamiliar with, given you harbour within you the potential to access your emotional impulse. But in life you get hammered to compete with knowledge, to get more attached and ironically, less accepted, because you can no longer act like yourself.

Here is something I wish to share with you. You have approximately 60,000 thoughts each day, and 90% of those are the same thoughts you had yesterday and will be the same thoughts you’ll have tomorrow.

So if you believe that your thoughts are connected to life, then the same thoughts lead to the same choice, and the same choices lead to the same experiences.

You hardwire your brain, refusing to accept what is, as you only accept what you know. This limits your mindset, or in other words, narrows the way in which you deal with the unknown and the unexpected.

Because science and technology have altered our way of life so drastically, particularly in terms of the way we should learn to accept, we are undermining our instincts and emotions. Consequently, we suffer maladjustment and lack of acceptance. The truth is, acceptance is about how we can contribute to changing our moment. This means simply accepting that others are different than you, in the way they look, feel, think and share. So you don’t really need someone to complete you — but rather someone who can accept you the way you are. This is the road to all transformation for better acceptance.

Albert Schweitzer once said, ‘we are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness’, of not accepting each other the way we are.

So acceptance gives you more insight into yourself and others to be better. But what truly counts is the inner growth and that is what acceptance is all about. It is not about mood issues or behaviour change. It is much bigger than that. That is why I claim a modern term for a paradigm shift, one that requires a mindset shift toward life and the way we all accept and take decisions with relationships, education, society, and life. I wonder, are we truly aware of how feral we have become? I feel we are bearing the testimony of what is currently happening in the universe, devastating us with haste, comparison, expectations, endless high ambition, and perfectionism.

As a former Tibetan Buddhist novice, I spent months in solitude and isolation high in the Himalayas. There I learnt about acceptance, about going deep inside to the bitter end of the things I have been denying. I practiced in stillness to be open, to connect with my inner self, and that became very, very powerful. It is powerful because I had resisted ‘letting go’ for decades without even an awareness of this resistance. Because running away from ourselves is a feeling that disintegrated me — I was not connected with myself but rather rested on what I assumed is and could be. These are conflicting forces to battle for acceptance. So instead I learnt to integrate them into calmness, ‘groundedness’ and acceptance — accepting to explore and learn about things I never knew existed.

Life is not about another new technique or another action that comes into fashion. But in fact, life is all about surrendering and being open to accepting, not by being stoic, hating or disliking what I didn’t know.

I learnt how to learn to like life. Peacefulness, love, joy, compassion, enthusiasm, inspiration and pleasure are strong energies that helped me — and they will help you — to accept.

The art of great leadership is empowering people, not making a situation any more difficult than it already is, but making it easier for all, making people feel safer, calmer, more inspired and more secure. Often, we see the ‘complicated’ as an unattainable simplicity, not realising that the essential ways we think about leadership are lost.

At the end of the day, we are all interested in a fulfilled and contented life; we all have the same aim. But each of us tries to reach this goal from our point of view, a perspective that results in social frictions, cultural conflicts, and even personal misunderstandings. Because we have been taught — and we are deeply convinced that we must protect our way of thinking; this has been permanently hammered into us — we lose confidence in ourselves. We are increasingly tempted by external components. This results in a fatal error which we can only correct with great difficulty over a long period of time.

This is why we increase our intensity, speed and expectations so vehemently, believing that we can achieve success.

Certainly, it is possible, but success this way requires a lot of energy, discipline and incredible strength, so eventually, we will admit that we cannot sustain this forever. We insist on protecting our way of thinking and avoiding the necessary changes, changes that require us to abandon external conditions. Instead, we recruit new teams, increase cost efficiency or change the marketing strategy, turn the organisation upside down. On the surface, this may seem a passable success, but if we are honest with ourselves, we know this is not enough to survive and remain competitive. Because we have focused exclusively on exterior factors, over the years, this almost becomes an ingrained obsession. Surely, we may be able to achieve a great deal and fulfill most requirements — and perhaps even exceed our expectations.

However, something is missing. Now, we are embarking on an intensive search for that certain something — we read books, blogs, and tweets; we attend seminars and retreat to nature. But soon we realise that the only way to proceed is by observing deep within ourselves. Ultimately we acknowledge that our failed attempts connect us only with endless external factors that never really give us purpose — and that is why we have repeatedly failed as leaders and as people!

But, in fact, it’s all about purpose, about how we can better solve problems in the future so that humanity can have a better future together. I think we must do much less than we think. We must do much less — and no longer stand in our way — but spend time alone, in solitude, to contemplate that which is really important and where satisfaction really arises from. These are energies that inspire and thrill people and lead to openness and freedom.

I consider it essential that leaders see clearly what gives them fulfilment — anything and everything else is irrelevant.

We must seriously ask ourselves this: why is it that complicated and complex things make life look easier than simplicity itself? I think it is likely because of the beautiful appearance of ‘complication and complexity’ that somehow better impress people superficially, as this does not require confrontation of critical and complex thinking. But to go beyond ‘simplicity’ requires profundity and discipline, trust that we are fascinated by something. That’s why so many things must be presented so intricately today, to convince us that these are more valuable than the simple things in life. Under these circumstances, the inner quality could no longer be enough to convince us to impress others. So, if something is bloated and comes along with big words, it may well be that this ‘something’ is not that difficult at all but only seems complicated and complex, a packaging strategy that lures and misguides people, teams and societies. It sets new conditions. We no longer notice how frail its purpose and how lacking in reality it actually is.

This should make us think. But instead we continue to be lured into aggressive movements — islamophobia, climate change, artificial intelligence and more — rather than understanding that the ultimate aim of these campaigns is not creating and sharing good, but misleading and conditioning us.

I note: the majority of people cultivate a false perception and hence are more likely to be misled by assumptions. I wonder how is this possible, how we allow this to happen. We may think what we want to do with our lives and education: title, position, status quo, and image are certainly key factors to success. But too much ambition is an absolute delusion, an illusion of having to achieve everything. As soon as we have to achieve something, we are not sure whether we are capable of achieving it. We panic and this triggers stress with inevitable consequences in our thinking and behaviour. As a result, the brain kicks into the alarm mode at 13–40 megahertz. The consequence is that our perception is drastically changed. We assume a rigid look, a look reflecting intolerance, low compassion, apathy and stubbornness.

Such behaviour has fatal consequences for those in a leadership position — for those leaders driven by narcissism, ego, power, dominance and repression.

In fact, our best leadership skill is to be self-aware and attentive. Without attention, we miss the value of others. Our lives can only be what we want to perceive; those whom we pay attention to shape our view as we see them, not as they really are. What we see takes precedence and we want to protect this at all costs to stay safe and secure.

Today is influenced by prestige, image, status quo, reputation, dominance, and power. No doubt we overlook the consequences of what influence does to us as we work to protect superficial things at all costs and we are not even aware that we promote injustice, social exclusivity, and cultural segregation. This leads to rural exodus, mass immigration, social inequality, a comparative society, social exclusion, loneliness and even corruption, a shadow economy, and a high crime rate. Everyone is trying to survive somehow.

When our attention is focused on complicated things, our lives also become more complicated. If we are inspired by simplicity, our lives become increasingly focused on the essentials.

What we focus on, clearly, has profound meaning in our lives: how we run a business, how we lead teams or how we inspire people.

If we look in a different direction, focusing on our attention — that includes a sense of inclusiveness, empowerment, fairness and social equality — we begin to realise that everything transforms without much opposition. It results in its flow with a sense of formation, consciousness, purpose orientation, perception and understanding, connecting people, teams and even societies with one another. It connects people with trust, credibility, and hope and ensures cooperation and empowerment. These are imperative factors ushering in peak performances in organisational systems.

To be attentive is one of the greatest leadership and life qualities of the 21st century.

Attentiveness allows us to identify and better deal with unexpected situations, see possibilities for other solutions that were previously unrecognisable because we had been driven by old habits.

I am firmly convinced that as long as we remain curious and passionate, much is possible. Under these circumstances, it is possible to foster imagination, creativity, innovation and critical thinking. We can become more open-minded, more tolerant and receptive and reach out for holistic solutions together. Thus, ‘real’ solutions are made from a relaxed mode, not a high-strung mode. Every top performance and every surprising idea comes from the right balance of attention and relaxation.

Leading is about finding the right balance to be open to unconventional ideas and thoughts that lead to clever solutions, bringing people together and promoting a contented quality of life for a more mindful tomorrow.

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It all comes down to this basic question as human beings have been for a long time been concerned about transforming their mind. Is there any way in which one’s mind can transform or is this process simply a vicious circle?

You live trapped in a vicious circle, a world of intense difficulties, a world beset by complex problems and challenges, one of which we would be bad enough, let alone a stack of them. But when we add together all the political, social, cultural and environmental issues we face, the world looks appalling. It is this demand to be constantly safe in any relationship, whether socially, economically, culturally or intimately. This breeds sorrow and fear because the seeking for security is inviting insecurity. Because have you ever found security in any relationship other than with yourself? That is why you need to comprehend that being completely insecure and following others will constantly unbalance any system: socially, culturally, politically, economically and even between people and ourselves.

The reason we experience such a global mess is not simply because we have a wrong system for doing things — whether these are technological, political, religious or cultural. But we follow the wrong people assigned to tackle today’s challenges, be it in higher education, the economy, politics or the arts. These self-called ‘accolade-driven’ ‘know-it-all’ would rather evolve and learn from human instincts, telepathy, perception, intuition and gut feeling. But because science is driven by thought and knowledge, with issues required to be scientifically proven to gain acceptance, such an approach is not tolerated. How long can you afford to ignore this?

It might be that our systems are fine, but they are in the wrong hands of the wrong people, as so many are self-seeking, lacking wisdom, lacking courage, lacking clarity, lacking compassion and lacking consciousness fragile people.

They are terribly afraid of failure and social pain themselves but don’t mind if others become victims because they are negligent in terms of understanding what needs to be done. You are unwilling to cooperate, unwilling to open up with others who do not think as you do. But it is us individuals who are wrong.

Because you do not know how to be, you often fail to accept yourself and change yourself to become more comprehensive, creative and mindful. You refuse to be confronted with your inner-self. Instead, you continue craving for more, wanting to go further and higher, failing to cooperate, failing to be humble, and failing to be your true self. You are pushing yourself and keep seeking to learn something more from someone so that you will better understand themselves and to change themselves as they become a more creative and humble person and more cooperative person. Most would love this idea, but as long you cultivate this insane “urge” that you must improve, it will be your biggest obstacle. Why are you in need of constant improvement?

You are burdened by this urgent feeling that you must constantly improve and crave because if you do not, you may feel at risk of being socially, economically and culturally excluded.

This is the critical reason you follow the wrong people. The question of why you need to improve yourself is perhaps more relevant than ever before. If you are in desperate need of constant improvement, you fail to accept how you are or what is real. This undoubtedly prohibits your self-improvement, because it leads to, and repeats, the opposite direction, spiralling us into an endless, vicious circle rather than leading us to a plateau of peace.

Your real self is the spirit that you reach when you are in stillness when you cultivate calmness. How do you do that? You start by observing yourself internally, listening very carefully to your emotions, feelings, impulses, affections, sensitivities and your thoughts that reinforce your inner-separation between yourself and what we experience, until you are no longer driven by your consciousness but are simply witnessing what is happening. That is what I would call real progress for leadership in the 21st century.

But because you are enticed by today’s intangibles — reputation, greed, lust, sex, power, authority, title, position and image — sooner or later these become a burden to you as they can be attained with so little effort. You want to seek distance from yourself because somehow you are disquiet about yourself. You want to get rid of yourself and be someone else.

So then you turn to the arts — literature, history, art, music or philosophy — believing we can derive satisfaction from those pleasures until we realise they are not the answer either. So you creep further to spirituality and psychology, yet soon you realise these are not the answer either. Then you slide to culture and religion, seeking an ultimate reward that is not based on material goods, yet which will never satisfy us.

You keep digging deeper into yet another new territory, but in that quest, you are merely repeating yourself in wanting to be better, because you are not. You are not better, because you truly, simply desire to be.

All these global ‘do-gooders’, both those who do ‘good’ for themselves and those who do ‘good’ for others, are trouble makers, unbalancing the system because doing good things is amazingly destructive. Doing ‘good’ is conditioned, stemming from the lack of comprehension of others. As long as you don’t comprehend, you become followers and crave to be an ideal person. You become pedantic, pompous, academic and righteous, dry and dull.

This progress is unfortunately what most people around the world have chosen to cultivate. Because how do others know what is good for them or the others? If we seek to improve ourselves we do not need to follow. We simply shall improve and trust ourselves. But because we do not trust ourselves we seek assistance to be better. The truth of the matter is we do not know how to interfere with the way the world is as it is a complex inter-related organism. But if we are truly aware of our inner-workings — which is true virtue — we realise there is little we can do to improve ourselves.

And the same goes for the global society. Surely you can demand to change our global society, sharing tremendous enthusiasm and inspiration, believing a new social revolution will initiate changes for the better for each of us. But has there ever been a revolution that ever set anything right? Assume you are stuck and do not know what you can change for the better: that is probably the worst thing the global industrial society could ever hear. But the entire notion of self-improvement is a hoax, another product of ‘global short profit maximisation’. This is not what life is about, is it?

What happens if you acknowledge that there is nothing we can do to be better? For some, this will be a relief. For others, it may be the end.

Accepting that there is nothing you can do to improve yourself or improve the world should give us a breather because you simply watch what is currently occurring in the world, observing what happens socially, culturally, ethically and emotionally. You should question why you keep separating the world socially, economically and culturally. You should not be in a hurry to know what it is, because you won’t know. Such knowledge requires a much more profound understanding because it is not materialistic, it is not spiritual, it is not cultural, nor is it social. It is us, people, comparing, over-analysing, craving, expecting and striving to become better.

But rarely does anyone spend time doing so. If you watch what is happening, you will see that you let the wrong people do far too many things of far too much weight and bearing of importance, placing the world in the shambles it is today. If you question that you are constantly wanting to improve everything and everywhere, — by fixing labels, improving people`s reputation, gradations, judgements — you shall watch what truly happens because the great things you do are happening. We start to realise how we live and what we do to each other. If we give ourselves a chance to free ourselves from constant improvement in our own nature and environment it will begin to take care of itself. Because we are not getting in the way of ourselves all the time and great things in life are beginning to happen.

Once you realise that something is terribly wrong, you see that things begin to rotate on their own without purpose, all because you avoid facing your real selves.

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