By Mary-Jane Liddicoat

Is your leadership conscious? This might not be a question you want to ask in the early hours of Sunday morning after a big night out. But you might ponder it on the following Monday.

What is conscious leadership anyway, and does it matter?

There are actually three types of leadership: conscious, unconscious and anti-conscious. Let's start with the all too common type, especially in Korea. Leaders who are status- and power-hungry, who strive to build on empires and love office politics. Those who work long hours and neglect their health and their families. This is the anti-conscious leader.

The culture of an anti-conscious leader is of good versus bad, right versus wrong. Diverse points of view are not tolerated and possibilities are limited. They are typically autocratic and seek to control everything. The focus on competition as a means to their own ends, rather than collaboration for the betterment of all. Unsurprisingly, the environment around such a leader is toxic and driven by fear and insecurity.

The next type is also common: the unconscious leader. These leaders have usually been appointed to the position and often have a good technical understanding of the system. They are skilled at providing consistency, following rules, maintaining the status quo and cultivating order in the organisation, and are often risk-shy.

The culture of an unconscious leader is characterised by hierarchical power structures, a strong emphasis on quality and process and are very busy with being busy. They have a general unawareness of what is influencing decisions, actions and a general lack of creativity. They are seeking more in life, home and work, but are unsure what or how to effect change. The environment around such leaders ranges from mildly irritating to excessively boring, frustrating and stressful, depending on your point of view.

The third type ― the conscious leader ― is by far the rarest. These leaders are creative innovators who transcend limited circumstances to realise undreamt of possibilities. They maximise opportunities and work easily with risk. They are willing and capable of seeing the big picture from all angles.

The culture of a conscious leader is characterised by integrity, trust, creativity, intuition, innovation, freedom, flexibility and generosity. They operate harnessing trust rather than control, truth rather than fear, equality rather than privileged, and unity rather than fragmentation.

Conscious leaders are comfortable with change and their point of view shifts constantly and without judgement. They listen to and extract from a diverse range of views, thereby increasing opportunities and possibilities. They know that change is inevitable and the only constant, and seek it for a purpose, for the better. Unsurprisingly, the environment around such a leader is electric. They are the innovators and leaders history remembers.

So now you can identify your leadership type, does it matter? You might want to start by asking: what will your leadership contribute to your business, family, health and well-being, and more broadly to Korea's (and the planet's) economic, political, and environmental safety, security and prosperity?

In other words, what will your leadership contribute to your future and is that what you desire? Of course, you can also ask which type provides the most enjoyable and rewarding environment in which to work.

Korean companies are famous for changing their management styles and transforming dynamically to stay ahead of the rest of the world. Can you imagine what they could achieve if they all chose to lead consciously? The possibilities seem infinite...

The writer is Korea country head of LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) Asia Pacific and a director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea. She is also a personal and professional development specialist, and can be contacted at mary-jane@lohas-asia.org.