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Three Pillars of Conscious Leadership: A Conversation with Aang Lakey
On this episode of the *Two Piers Podcast*, host Erica D’Eramo speaks with Aang Lakey, founder and CEO of Increasing Consciousness. Aang, who has transitioned from violence prevention to diversity and inclusion (D&I), shares insights into the importance of consciousness in leadership, the challenges of intersectionality, and the value of personal growth through career transitions. Together, Erica and Aang dive into what it takes to foster authenticity, accountability, and inclusivity in the workplace.
Aang Lakey’s Background and Career Transition
To introduce Aang, Erica highlights their pioneering work at Increasing Consciousness, an organization dedicated to transforming leadership through a focus on consciousness, reflexivity, and equity.
Career Beginnings: Aang’s journey started in violence prevention and crisis intervention, working with survivors of sexual and domestic trauma. Their work with military and federal organizations on violence prevention programs gave them a front-row seat to the need for cultural shifts to prevent harm.
Transition to D&I: This background led Aang to transition into diversity and inclusion, aiming to address cultural norms and unconscious biases at a systemic level. This shift allowed Aang to pursue their passion for preventing harm by creating inclusive environments.
Founding a New Venture: Exploring consciousness personally and professionally, Aang founded Increasing Consciousness to bring this focus to leadership, helping others cultivate self-awareness and intentionality.
Navigating Career Transitions and Personal Growth
Aang and Erica discuss their non-linear career paths and the challenges they faced along the way. Aang shares their experiences moving across the country, leaving a stable job in social work, and transitioning into D&I work—each step prompting growth, self-reflection, and learning.
Personal Growth: These transitions, while challenging, helped Aang build resilience and navigate the impact of personal experiences on their professional outlook.
Learning Through Fear and Uncertainty: Aang encourages others to embrace the discomfort that comes with change, as it often leads to profound growth and expanded perspectives.
The Importance of Preventing Violence and Trauma
With a background rooted in crisis work, Aang reflects on their motivation to prevent violence and trauma.
Work with Trauma Survivors: Aang’s experience working with trauma survivors highlighted the emotional toll this work takes and underscored their commitment to prevention.
Focus on Prevention: Emphasizing prevention over response, Aang discusses the “bowtie diagram” from risk management, which Erica and Aang explore as a tool for addressing root causes of harm before it occurs.
Conscious Leadership: Reflexivity, Intentionality, and Congruence
Central to Aang’s leadership philosophy are three pillars of conscious leadership: reflexivity, intentionality, and congruence.
Reflexivity: Involves self-awareness, self-assessment, and the willingness to align actions with core values, even when it means asking for feedback.
Intentionality: Calls for leaders to act with purpose, choosing inclusive language and actions that reflect an awareness of others’ experiences.
Congruence: The ultimate goal is for leaders’ actions to match their stated beliefs and values, building trust and authenticity.
Navigating Intersectionality and Leading Diverse Teams
Understanding and embracing intersectionality—acknowledging the multiple, overlapping identities each person brings—is another focus of Aang’s work.
Unique Individual Experiences: Aang emphasizes that every individual’s experience is unique, even within shared demographic groups, and leaders should value this diversity.
Modeling Inclusion: Leaders must set the tone by asking meaningful questions, holding themselves accountable, and addressing discomfort or resistance to D&I.
Challenges and Privileges of Authenticity at Work
Bringing one’s authentic self to work can be both a privilege and a challenge, as Erica and Aang discuss, referencing Jodi-Ann Burey’s TED Talk on the topic.
Privilege and Marginalized Identities: Aang notes that authenticity can be challenging, especially for marginalized identities, and calls for leaders to create environments where everyone feels safe.
Personal Experiences: Reflecting on their own journey, Aang shares how navigating gender identity within traditionally rigid environments has shaped their approach to supporting diverse teams.
How to Connect with Aang Lakey
As the conversation draws to a close, Erica asks how listeners can work with Aang.
Services and Offerings: Aang explains that Increasing Consciousness provides coaching, consulting, and workshops to help leaders embrace conscious leadership. They invite listeners to reach out via their website for more information.
Connecting Online: You can find Aang online through a variety of social media and online learning platforms including the following: LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Brainz, Awakened, Udemy, WGW, and BYOU.
Key Takeaways
Erica wraps up the episode by highlighting the main takeaways from her conversation with Aang:
Conscious leadership requires self-awareness, reflexivity, and intentional alignment of actions and values.
Leaders play a critical role in creating inclusive spaces and modeling behaviors that foster trust and authenticity.
Embracing intersectionality and understanding each team member’s unique experiences are vital to building inclusive teams.
For a deeper dive into Aang’s journey and philosophy, listen to the full episode to hear more about how they are helping leaders increase their consciousness and impact.