Educating for conscious awareness

Abstract

Conscious awareness implies a connection with all of life. Being conscious means acting with more intention, having greater self-regulating behaviour, and demonstrating a deeper awareness of the causes and consequences of actions. This paper describes a course design for the development of consciousness awareness in management education. The purpose of the course, Managing with Spirit, is to encourage students to be more aware of their relationships with themselves, their community, and the planet as integrated wisdom. The three sections of the course (inner leadership, spirit at work, and the science of interconnection) all contribute to developing practices of reflection, mindfulness, and presencing for deeper awareness. From this, students can bring significant skills into the organizational context that include improved interpersonal skills, creativity, adaptability, problem-solving, leadership skills, compassion, and ecological awareness. These skills enable our future managers to be better equipped to deal with the increasingly complex issues that are facing organizations as they understand and appreciate the sacredness of our interconnection with each other and our planet.