“Many of humanity’s problems arise because we don’t have a built-in awareness of our own thoughts.”
David Bohm
Emerging Insights, 23 September 2025
The Hidden Trap That Keeps Leaders Reactive and How to Lead with Clarity (Without Losing Your Mind in a Noisy, Disrupted World)
The Invisible Hand of Thought
David Bohm, a renowned physicist and philosopher, suggested that many of humanity’s problems stem from a lack of awareness of our own thought processes. Or, as I often put it: we don’t have an innate bullshit detector.
Most of the time, our thinking runs quietly in the background, shaping how we see the world and how we respond to it. Because we rarely pause to examine it, we mistake our thoughts for truth. In everyday life that causes misunderstandings and conflicts. In leadership, the stakes are higher: poor decisions, missed opportunities, and the kind of culture drift that can quietly derail an organisation.
The Headache of Leadership in Today’s World
Now layer this lack of awareness onto today’s business environment.
Leaders are expected to make sense of AI-driven change, constant digital disruption, global uncertainty, hyper-interconnection, and unrelenting complexity.
Here’s the painful reality:
- It feels like walking on nails. Leaders are under pressure to respond instantly, which leaves no space to reflect. They default to autopilot thinking and repeat old solutions that no longer fit.
- It sounds like static in the brain. Competing demands, constant notifications, and market noise drown out clarity. Thought races, and reactivity masquerades as leadership.
- It looks like teams out of sync. Misunderstandings spread, silos form, trust erodes. Organisations move, but not always in the right direction.
The result is leadership exhaustion. Leaders are not only managing disruption, they are also being managed by their own unexamined thoughts.
A Quieter Place to See From
This is where a new vantage point makes all the difference. Leadership transformation does not begin with a new tool or clever framework. It begins with how you relate to your own mind.
When you find a quieter place to see from, thought shows up as thought. Not as truth. Not as identity. Not as command. From that vantage point you can:
- Notice your thinking without being swallowed by it.
- Loosen the grip of old assumptions and stories.
- Orient from presence, where clarity and wisdom naturally arise.
This is not about positive thinking or forcing control. It is about realising you are not your thoughts and, in that realisation, discovering space to lead with calm and conviction even when the environment is noisy and unstable.
The Relief and the Payoff
Imagine the pain subsiding.
- In yourself: Pressure is still there, but your nervous system steadies. You can breathe. Clarity replaces the mental fog.
- In relationships: Instead of rushing or reacting, you truly listen. People feel seen, not managed. Trust begins to flow again.
- In leadership: You make decisions from calm presence, not panic. Your steadiness gives others confidence in uncertain times.
- In impact: The ripple is unmistakable. Your presence shifts the tone of your team, strengthens culture, and sparks new possibilities.
The headaches of complexity, disruption, and uncertainty do not disappear, but you lead through them differently. You become the calm in the storm, not another storm inside the storm.
Stepping Into a New Vantage Point
Bohm was right. We do not have a built-in awareness of our own thoughts. But we can cultivate one. And when we do, we gain a vantage point that changes everything.
From that place, leadership is not about control but about clarity. Not about ego but about presence. You stop being pushed around by noise, complexity, and disruption, and start shaping how you respond to it.
If this speaks to you, let’s explore it together. Reach out and let’s talk about what collaboration could look like and the impact it could make for your self-leadership, your leadership with others, and the world you touch.
With gratitude,
Mike
P.S. When you pause and watch your thoughts instead of being swept along by them, a quieter, clearer mind emerges. That’s where your best leadership – and your deepest impact – starts to take shape. 🌱
“Mike Schwarzer’s book, ‘VANTAGE POINT: cutting through the bullsh*t of a complex world,’ serves as both the torch and compass that illuminate the way and guide us as we step into uncharted territory, embark on new explorations, and pioneer innovative paths.
”Gabriella Sprott, Director & Co-Founder @ Yardner, Australia
VANTAGE POINT’s essence lies in preparing leaders for the unfolding challenges and future developments, not just in the realm of AI, but also in all the contributing factors that shape our complex world. It’s about elevating human consciousness, transcending the limitations of our ego-minds, and giving us hope to make our world a better place.
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About Mike Schwarzer
Mike is a Transformation Facilitator and Learning Leader who is passionate about helping leaders and organisations to solve the problems that they have not been able to solve elsewhere.
He works with the underlying mental, behavioural and deeper innate dynamics that drive people’s and organisations’ thinking and actions. He creates and holds the space where they learn how to tap into their inner and outer capabilities in transformational ways and lift their perceptual abilities to see their world, its problems and emerging solutions with fresh eyes.
At the organisational level, Mike’s approach challenges the status quo and hierarchical thinking. He takes you into the world of living ‘open & adaptive’ systems and their self-organising nature. From there you will be able to create a workplace culture that naturally draws from the collective wisdom of all its people and that is highly adaptable to the changing winds of a complex world.
For more information about Mike visit www.mikeschwarzer.com.