Do School Leaders Really Understand Conscious Leadership?
Conscious leadership has become a widely used term, but do most leaders really know what it means? Consider these quotes:
Singing Image of Fire
A hand moves and the fire’s whirling takes different shapes,
Triangles, squares: all things change when we do.
The first word, “Ah,” blossomed into all others.
Each of them is true.
Kukai
The reason why consciousness exists and why there is an urge to widen and deepen it is very simple, without consciousness things go less well.
Carl Jung
In considering the quotes above, ‘All things change when we do’ is at the heart of what we might mean by ‘conscious leadership’. Just as the swish of a hand reshapes the fire’s dance into new patterns, a leader’s inner shifts of awareness, intention and integrity reshape the outer world. We might say then, conscious leadership begins with self-leadership because when we change ourselves we change the patterns we create in others and in the systems we lead.
Perhaps Carl Jung puts a very practical lens on it when he notes that without our search to deepen consciousness things just go less well.
What is Conscious Leadership in Educational Contexts?
So how do we translate this into the education context? How do we evolve the conscious practice of leadership, a leadership that involves a passion in service of educational mission, not passion in service of your own ambition (Anderson 2024)?
We perhaps know instinctively that our primary influence as leaders is how we ‘show up’, so consider this seemingly simple quote from a research project exploring the nature of the relationship between a Board Chair and Principal (Grice, Day, Moller et al. 2025):
“But the school principal has to do their homework. They have to understand the culture of that school and it’s really their responsibility to make sure that their educational philosophy, that the way they think will align with that school’s values, with their mission, with what they want. You can’t just go into a school and think you’re going to change it. You have to be aligned with the vision and mission and values.”
Belinda, Stakeholder (Grice, Day, Moller et al. 2025, p.55)
This is where the level of consciousness of leaders, their own ongoing inner development, is paramount as the mindset a new Principal walks into a new school with really matters. Kegan (2018) calls a higher level of consciousness, an evolved mindset, ‘the self-transforming mind’ which serves to orchestrate conditions for an authentic, participatory culture where people co-create their living and working environments.
Consciousness
Such conscious leaders prioritise purpose over performance and reflection over reactivity. They ask deeper, generative questions like: What are we really here to serve? Whose voices are shaping our direction? Are we creating the conditions for people to flourish, not just comply?
This doesn’t happen in isolation. Conscious leadership takes systems awareness and an understanding of the influence of the space in between people where transformation can occur. For example, it takes a Board Chair and Principal relationship built on trust, empathy and reciprocal learning (Grice, Day, Moller et al. 2024) for generative insight, intuition and an ability to think systemically to be deliberately developed and nurtured. One Chair captured this beautifully:
“The sweet spot and the point of tension and the point of debate for [the Principal] and I is, how do you meet in the intersection of good governance, real governance, not trusteeship but real management, leadership and how do you collaborate in that space? That’s the key. And so that’s what it is, it’s a dance, it’s a collaboration.”
Chair, Sage School (Grice, Day, Moller et al. 2025, p.41)
This quote reveals the essence of conscious leadership in governance: a dynamic, relational practice that moves beyond role boundaries. The metaphor of a “dance” brings images of mutual responsiveness, synergy and a shared rhythm, qualities that emerge only when both leaders are present, reflective and committed to a shared purpose.
Within such conditions, a Principal allows themselves to know their influence and be vulnerable at the same time in order to question and take risks as part of their own conscious development. This kind of leadership is not just strategic, it’s deeply ethical. It asks us to consider not only how we lead but why and in service of what kind of future.
Building Conscious Leadership in Practice
Conscious leadership then becomes the foundation for sustainable change. Conscious leaders build systems, empowering leadership development in others as part of collaborative cultures and professional learning communities that can sustain improvement over time rather than relying on short bursts of compliance-driven change.
Developing conscious leadership is not about implementing a new framework or model but cultivating a way of working that is intentional and values based. There are three practical ways schools can begin this process.
First, start with yourself. Conscious leadership grows through reflective practice. Leaders who regularly pause to examine their assumptions, behaviours and impact are better able to respond with clarity. Ask questions such as ‘What am I learning about how I lead under pressure?’ or ‘What patterns do I reinforce in our culture?’ It is about a leader knowing that their primary influence is who they are in showing up in any situation. In fact, Anderson (2024) deepens this idea of ‘showing up’ to creatively depict leadership as ‘deployment of self into circumstances’.
Second, prioritise relational learning. Professional learning should include opportunities such as coaching, mentoring or professional companioning (Degenhardt 2013), creating space for school leaders to engage with the deeper dimensions of their work. This is where cultural and ethical capacity is built.
Third, model what matters. When leaders openly embody the values they advocate, take responsibility for their presence and invite diverse perspectives, they contribute to a school culture built on trust. They can hold the creative tension between diversity of views within a shared vision.
Final Thought
There is growing recognition in education of the need to lead differently, more relationally, more reflectively, more consciously. But while the discourse is shifting, the practice isn’t. The daily demands of school leadership, urgency, complexity and constant decision-making, can make it difficult to lead with intention, let alone pause to reflect.
That’s why conscious leadership matters. And just as importantly, so does the support to grow it. Developing the capacity to lead with awareness and purpose isn’t something leaders do alone. It requires time, trust and opportunities for supported growth, especially in cultivating the kind of mindset that can hold complexity, remain grounded in values and adapt with integrity.
At Conscious Education, we see this not as a quick fix but as a long arc of change, one that begins with how leaders show up, how they relate and how they make space for others to grow.
Because when leaders shift, even subtly, the culture around them begins to shift too. And that’s where real change begins.
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References
Anderson B. (2021). The spirit of leadership [White paper]. The Leadership Circle. https://leadershipcircle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Spirit-of-Leadership-Whitepaper-2021-07.pdf
Capitalismo Consciente. (2024). Dialogue with conscious thought leader Bob Anderson [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpMNgsC33js
Degenhardt L. (2013). Professional companioning: Support for leaders in managing the increasing complexity of their roles. Leading and Managing, 19(2), 15–33.
Grice C., Day C., Moller V. & McMillan J. (2025). Successful leadership of governance in independent schools. Sydney School of Education and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney.
Jung C. G. (1960). The structure and dynamics of the psyche (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.; Vol. 8, 2nd ed.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1934–1954)
Kūkai. (Trans. Jane Hirshfield). (n.d.). Singing image of fire. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/sacred-mountains-of-taoism-4123124