I was talking to a friend and mentor today who was frustrated with the upheaval in our economy and how nothing seems to be working the way it used to.

Business deals seem to take longer to come to fruition and opportunities can seem to fade away as fast as they appeared.

Nothing seems stable and everything seems harder than it used to be.

There is mounting evidence that the institutions we have come to rely upon are crumbling as humanity undergoes a consciousness evolution unlike any that has come before. For business, this is the shift from a sole focus on profits to a focus that recognizes profits really flow from a focus on higher values that include people, the planet and our shared purpose. Put another way, this is a shift from a consciousness of power to a consciousness of ethics.

This is a radical shift, one that is very difficult for those of us raised in cultures that celebrate personal achievement where winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

There is good news in all of this.

Companies that are early adopters of this shift have produced consistently superior results.

For example, the LAMP index, created by investment advisor and author Jay Bragdon (Profit for Life), is rigorously screened to include companies that operate with integrity (where the means align with ends), value their employees, and follow the principles of nature. Over the past decade, Global LAMP Index companies returned 98.03 percent, while other benchmark companies collectively lost money.

As we collectively learn how to operate in this new environment, I personally find it helpful to cultivate “ease with uncertainty” as a personal value.

There is no evidence that things are ever going to “return to normal” – to a place of comfort and security that we imagined we held in our past.

The pace of change and globalization is not going to slow down.

We must evolve and adapt because our world is evolving and adapting all around us. A shift in our thinking is required to match the pace of this evolution.

As leaders, we must model that shift and I know of no better way than to express ease with uncertainty. As our institutions continue to crumble around us, we can be alert to the new opportunites that flow from this global shift in consciouness. It is through our ease with uncertainty that we are likely to find our own best path forward.

For an excellent article further clarifying this shift, see: “The Evolutionary Imperative for Business”.