An introduction to the 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership w/ Diana Chapman

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When I stepped away from my operational CEO role at Tribute.co a few years back, I knew I wanted to commit fully to leadership coaching. One of my first priorities was to find a mentor, not just anyone, but someone I felt was truly world-class. I wanted to learn from one of the best coaches on the planet.

Several months after getting clear on that intention, I found myself on a call with Diana Chapman, Co-founder of The Conscious Leadership Group and Co-author of The 15 Commitments of Conscious leadership. Within 10 minutes, I knew: this was the person I was meant to learn from, this was my mentor.

Diana holds depth and levity better than anyone I’ve ever met. She can guide you through profound emotional processing one moment and have you laughing the next. She’ll call you on your shit—and love you unconditionally through it all. She commands the respect of some of the most influential CEO’s on the planet through true mastery and presence.

At one point in our podcast, I thanked her. I told her that the greatest gift she’s given me isn’t her tools or techniques—it’s simply being able to witness how she operates. To me, Diana is the walking example of what it means to live consciously, to respond intentionally, to treat life as an ally, and to become the solution in any situation. Just being around her energy has been transformational. It changed my relationship to coaching and it changed how I operate as a human.

While I strive to master the practices and frameworks that help people take bold action and lead powerfully, I also hope to live so fully that my presence alone becomes a source of inspiration and clarity for others—just like hers has been for me.

Her book The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership is probably my all-time favorite book on leadership. I recommend it to nearly every client I work with and often suggest teams read it together.

In this podcast, I did my best to explore the most impactful ideas from conscious leadership. I hope it gives you a taste of the deep and practical wisdom Diana and her team have developed. Their website is a treasure trove of resources for anyone committed to mastering the art of leadership.

I’ve included a quick breakdown to the 15 commitments below so you can get an idea of what her work is all about…

Listen to What’s The Big Idea on your preferred platform below:

What are The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership?

1. Responsibility
   I commit to taking full responsibility for the circumstances of my life, and my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. I commit to supporting others to take full responsibility for their lives.

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

3. Feelings
   I commit to feeling my feelings all the way through to completion. I commit to feeling my feelings all the way through to completion.

4. Candor
   I commit to saying what is true for me and being the kind of person to whom others can express themselves with candor.

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

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

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

8. Genius
   I commit to creating a life of play, improvisation, and laughter. I commit to seeing all of life unfold easefully, effortlessly, and joyfully.

9. Play and Rest
   I commit to creating a life of play, improvisation, and laughter. I commit to seeing all of life unfold easefully, effortlessly, and joyfully.

10. Opposite of My Story
    I commit to seeing that the opposite of my story is as true as or truer than my original story.

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

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

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

14. Win for All
    I commit to creating win-for-all solutions.

15. Being the Resolution
    I commit to being the resolution or solution that is needed: seeing what is missing in the world as an invitation to become that which is required.

Why This Episode Matters - From reactivity to responding consciously.

We’re living in a time of chronic reactivity—internally, interpersonally, culturally. Diana is here to show us another way.

Through frameworks like the Drama Triangle, the concept of living Above or Below the Line, and the art of speaking unarguably, she’s giving us the tools to stop playing out old reactive patterns and start living from clarity, curiosity, and presence.

At the heart of it, this is a call to full presence: Can you just be here, right now, non-reactive and open to learning?

A Few Highlights

• The surprising origin story of The 15 Commitments

• Diana’s go-to tool for breaking free from reactivity

• Why full emotional expression is the key to conscious leadership

• The “Teach the Class” technique that instantly reveals your unconscious patterns

• The somatic intelligence hiding in your fear, anger, and sadness

• What it really means to take full responsibility for your life

3 Big Shifts for Conscious Leadership

1. The Awareness Shift

Notice when you’re reactive. Ask: Am I above or below the line right now? The goal isn’t to be perfect—it’s to be aware, and honest about it.

2. The Ownership Shift

Radical responsibility means asking: How am I creating this experience? Not in a blame-y way. In a liberating way.

3. The Embodiment Shift

Your body knows before your mind does. Reactivity always shows up as sensation first. The real work? Feel it. Don’t fix it. Don’t explain it. Just feel.

“You cannot shift what you cannot accept.”

Favorite Moments

• The role-play that had me fully being the victim—on purpose

• Diana’s breakdown of the “cognitive-emotive loop”

• Her wildest coaching moment (involving a book, a classroom in Africa, and a whole lot of surprise)

Resources We Mentioned

• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Chapman, Dethmer & Clemp

• No Drama Teams (upcoming)

• WholeBodyYes.com – Diana’s somatic guidance tool

• The Work by Byron Katie

• Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg

Connect with Diana

DianaChapman.com
Conscious Leadership Group

If this episode opened something open in you, send it to a teammate, a friend, or your coach. These tools only work if we live them—and that starts by sharing them.

Thanks for listening.