Fostering post-conventional consciousness in leaders: why and how?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to clarify why and how leadership development programs should be used to foster post-conventional consciousness in their participants. Design/methodology/approach - Starting from the observation that current and future organizational challenges may be met with particular efficacy by leaders who operate in the post-conventional stages of consciousness, this paper offers a comprehensive review of the work on consciousness development, the process by which it occurs, the distinctive abilities of leaders who have reached post-conventional stages of consciousness and, finally, two practices which favour the emergence of these stages, namely mindfulness meditation and Bohm dialogue. Findings - The paper shows how these two practices - little-used in the management field - make it possible to reconcile the two main approaches to consciousness development: the recognition of one's cognitive, affective and operative patterns and their suspension in favour of a more direct contact with reality, in the here and now. Practical implications - The paper highlights guiding principles for integrating such practices into leadership and management development programs. Originality/value - Although the value of post-conventional stages of consciousness in management and leadership roles is the subject of increasing discussion, to the authors' knowledge no work has yet thoroughly examined practices that foster post-conventional development per se.