In this episode of Create Like The Greats, Ross offers a transparent reflection on a book that has significantly impacted his leadership and personal growth journey in 2025 — The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp. Ross walks through all 15 commitments outlined in the book, sharing real-life examples and insights from his entrepreneurial journey. If you're striving to lead consciously, foster better teamwork, and level up your self-awareness, this episode is packed with actionable takeaways for you.
Key Takeaways and Insights:
1. Radical Responsibility
Embrace ownership for every situation
Avoid blame, shame, and guilt — they stem from toxic fear
Replace blame with curiosity: "What can I learn from this?"
2. Learning Through Curiosity
Always stay in learner mode
“Above the line” vs “Below the line” mentality
Stay open, curious, and committed to truth—not being “right”
Framework: What I know / What I know I don’t know / What I don’t know I don’t know
3. Feeling All the Feelings
Fully experiencing emotions to completion
Use head, heart, and gut to inform decisions
Yoga, breathwork, and meditation as helpful tools
4. Speaking Candidly
Tell the truth with kindness
Speak unarguable facts and feelings: “I feel ___ because ___”
Avoid conflict avoidance and passive communication
5. Eliminating Gossip
Address issues directly with the person involved
Gossip is rooted in unmet communication and inability to process feelings
Test for gossip: Negative intent or unwilling to say it to the person? Then it’s gossip.
6. Practicing Integrity
Express truth, keep agreements, and take 100% responsibility
Framework for impeccable agreements:
Make clear commitment
Keep it
Renegotiate if needed
Clean up broken commitments
7. Generating Appreciation
Practice giving and receiving appreciation fully
Celebrate the small things and appreciate yourself and your team
Create a culture of gratitude and acknowledgment
8. Excelling in Your Zone of Genius
Identify what you’re uniquely talented at and enjoy doing
Ross shares his own strengths: presenting, writing, people leadership
Reallocate more time to activities in your “genius zone”
9. Living a Life of Play and Rest
Incorporate humor, spontaneity, and celebration into work
Rest is a challenge, but vital for sustainable leadership
Play isn’t frivolous—it’s a leadership asset
10. Exploring the Opposite
Train your mind to challenge your own stories and embrace opposing truth
Ross advocates for intellectual debates to stretch perception
Ask: “What am I not seeing?”
11. Being the Source of Approval, Control & Security
Identify the root wants driving your behavior
Seek internal rather than external validation
Approval, control, and security must be self-sourced, not dependent on others
12. Having Enough of Everything
Abundance mindset vs scarcity
Perspective: Ross shares personal examples of past financial hardship
GRATITUDE = enoughness
13. Seeing the World as an Ally
Every person and situation is an opportunity to grow
Learn from everyone, regardless of status or age
Let go of ego and embrace humility in learning
14. Creating Win-for-All Solutions
Build solutions that serve everyone involved—self, others, organization, and the whole
Ross: “I’m rooting for you, whether you’re at Foundation or not.”
15. Being the Resolution
Don’t just wait for change — BE the change
Leave the world better because you existed
Make an impact beyond yourself
Resources & Tools:
🔗 The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
🔗 Foundationinc.co
— 👋🏾 Let's stay connected —
╰ Subscribe to my channel: @RossSimmondsTV
╰ Instagram: @thecoolestcool
╰ Twitter / X: @thecoolestcool
╰ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rosssimmonds
