Mindful Leadership- What All Organizations Need Now!
Executive Summary
Distractions & unpredictability- leading to more stress and lesser productivity are being witnessed as a norm now. But this is neither acceptable from the personal nor the professional perspective. High competition demands an exceptional teamwork, and to foster a better coordination one needs to shift the paradigm and find the ways how a better result can be rendered by a unified approach.
Mindful leaders are what all the organizations need now. Then only a productive management of the projects can be ensured. This discussion paper throws light on this important concept, and delineating the advantages and habit-building practices call for all to join the league of ‘mindfuls’!
Stress, suspicions, and sadness have been on the sharp rise, at the global levels in the past decade. And in 2020, they all reached at their apex!
The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, in 2021, reported that 41.5% of US adults exhibited explicit symptoms of anxiety or depression.
The biggest factor in exacerbating the situation is erratic working hours and chaotic work management. The need to be available and actively participating round the clock and managing the remote employees is taking a toll on health.
Taking a note of the situation, many organizations started to find solution and get something special that can prevent the burnouts.
To find the solution one needs to delve into the details of status quo and attack the root-cause of the problem.
Researches have concluded that such a jittery work environment is translating to perpetual rumination, which makes CXOs lesser productive.
And the solution lies in practicing Mindfulness.
As per the definition proffered by the Mindful Organization- It is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
And practicing this seemingly simple step is offering great results. LinkedIn has experienced better skilled employees, Intel Experienced better well-being, and SAP has witnessed 200% ROI with better engagement and trust on leadership with lesser absenteeism!
Mindful Leadership is a special leadership style in which the team leaders master the art of consciously cultivating a competence in being mentally present in the ‘present’. Being open-minded and compassionate while interacting with team members and showing the same care and compassion which they show to themselves is a part of this leadership style. It’s about shutting down the mind’s “busy mode” to notice and respond to what’s happening in the moment instead of defaulting to reactive patterns.
Mindful leaders never waste the precious time & energy in the fears and are able to handle problems faster because they are backed by teams that have faith in them. Their team is much more effective because they actively solicit ideas and feedback from the people who work for them.
Linking Leadership with Mindfulness
Many of the higher executives brush-aside their well-being in all aspects and place a premium on delivering the desiderata in dreary deadlines. Not only to them but now it is a type of culture of working 24*7 and placing it as an insignia of dedication. But this absent-minded hard work delivers nothing but inefficiencies & inaccuracies.
But if the well-being is worked on then not only the efficiency will increase but all the complexities with ease up. This way the professionals will be able to work better and more in long-term. And, the best part is auto-motivated energized teams that have faith on their leaders.
From the words of Janice Marturano, founder of the Institute for Mindful Leadership and author of ‘Finding the Space to Lead: A Practical Guide to Mindful Leadership’-
“Our journey to develop the qualities of mindful leadership calls us to be present in this moment, to be ‘still in the midst of activity.’ … As we begin to cultivate a practice to develop the qualities of mindful leadership, we begin to recognize the folly of believing that if we could just move faster, we would eventually catch up.”
Attributes of Mindful-Leaders
In my opinion, for the mindful-leaders the specific traits can be defined in term of 5Cs-
1. Composure
The foremost quality of a mindful leader is neither ruminating the past nor fretting for the future- but being totally present with the all the energy and intellect in the present. It is also not about being the careless person but being totally present in a resilient and responsive manner to what needs to be done at the moment.
In the midst of challenging situations, the mindful leader stays calm and brings an inner strength knowing that somehow, some way, things are going to work out and there will be a path forward.
2. Connections
A mindful leader cognizes the fact that for success one needs a team! Each person is unique in it and is blessed with some specialities and some flaws. When there is a team then the diversification of the intellectual capital leads to fix the flaws and in unison contribute for a bigger success.
An understanding of this seemingly simple but strongly sophisticated scenario is what mindful leaders understand, and implement at all costs.
3. Compassion
With the teams, a mindful leader has to deal with lots of diversity and disparity as well. To steer the project to the state of success, they all have to go through with imperfections and opportunities.
Therefore, a mindful leader needs to be gracious & sympathetic towards other members with a sense that they all working with a same goal of unified growth. They see themselves and others with love and kindness rather than with judgmental scrutiny; and seek ways to find the best in others while encouraging others to step ahead into their full potential.
4. Curiousness
Inquisitiveness is the stepping stone of the knowledge base, because this trait makes one go deeper into the subject and learn better. And for a leader this trait not only helps in gaining better refined knowledge but also come handy in an open mind for discussions and avoiding the direct judgement from surmising.
A mindful leader seeks to understand the reality and asks good questions, which help him/her gain new perspectives & possibilities. Mindful leaders are always willing to stay open to a wide range of ideas no matter how different and divergent they seem. They make space for the creativity while incorporating ideas & viewpoints of all team members.
5. Caliber
This aspect is much like the idea of Execution! A mindful leader is never busy in daydreaming about some airy-fairy notion. A mindful leader is willing to take action with the complete research and knowledge, while ensuring the best care possible.
In lieu of the immediate reaction stimulating out of the fear or to outsmart the competition, a mindful leader not only keeps calm but also instils the same feel in the team members and develops a deep trust. Leveraging inner strength and knowledge a mindful leader empowers and motivate the teams to bring better energy at the workplace, and enhancing the level of excellence bring remarkable results in the competitive business environment.
Advantages of Mindful Leadership
Juxtaposition of conventional leadership with the mindful leadership will reveal several advantages of the latter. Major ones can be concluded as:
1. Reduced Stress
If researched deeply then one will find that stress (in most of the cases) never arise out of current situation but is always born either in rumination or fretting for the future. Staying in the present not only saves time and energy to focus on what is required now but also help avoid a lot of stress- which is the root cause of many leadership problems.
2. Better Attention
Practicing mindfulness directs one’s complete focus on the current desiderata. This doesn’t mean that one needs to block all the stimuli around; but with mindfulness one continues to receive signals and evaluate them in real-time without being lured to those enticements.
3. Better Teamwork
A calm mind spreads more positivity, and others are not able to sense this but also start feeling that way. Being open to ideas and the tendency to discuss develops a better trust of team mates with the leaders. This improved relationship renders remarkable results.
4. More creativity and better results
As discussed above, with mindful leader the teams foster a greater trust and a deeper relationship. When the leader respects the ideas and is open to discuss and implement the team members are more confident to put forth their views. This improves the creativity and productivity of the team, which translates to much better results.
5. Respect & Power
Respect is neither sought nor solicited- it is earned! And this applies more in the corporate leadership. Being imperiously bossy all the time might make you feel like a superpower in the room but in reality it is miles behind the ‘reality’. This way a leader will lose respect from the hearts and there will no creativity from team.
On the other hand a mindful leader develops better credibility, empower each member of the team to realize their full potential, take and implement their ideas, and produce something exceptional with the combined efforts of all. This make them more respected everywhere.
Practicing Mindful Leadership
Now the work-life knows no time durations, and the need is to be present with all your energy & mind round the clock. And maintaining a calm mindful approach is really hard in such scary scenarios.
This amazing approach to leadership requires practice and care for you on the daily basis. It is a conscious cultivation.
In my experiences with business consultation, I noticed that the best performing executives consistently practice inner work. Some of the helpful practices in this regards include:
1. Self-Observation
If one wants to grow then one must self-aware first. Putting aside all the judgements and stigmas, realize & believe that there are always ample opportunities to tap. Keep a check on your emotional state and try to look your reactions for other perspectives. Means, try to think the way others would be thinking about you on your activities and reactions. Looking through the lens of others will help in better assessments and more control.
2. Work on your senses
Out of your busy schedule, try to get a small few minute break for looking the beautiful world around you. It is advisable to do this in morning as at that time nature is at its best. Look at those lush green trees with chirping birds, and feel the mesmerizing fragrance and catchy colours. Touch those flowers and leaves and feel the warmth of cool breeze striking against you.
This is will greatly help you in eliminating those perpetuating stressful thoughts and will keep you mind direct in the present. This small tactics is of great help in practicing mindfulness at the workplace.
3. Deep Breath
The stressful patterns arising out of highly hectic schedules make one lost the sense of oneself. In this materialistic world we all are working like machines only. Therefore, to rejuvenate mind and body, take a small break out and in lap of nature (or wherever possible) take some deep breaths.
As we forget this step so ensure some mechanism that can remind you about this. A message or desktop image or screensaver image or anything else- just don’t forget to take some deep breaths. Bring all the attention and focus to your breath and let it fill the entire body. Not only you will feel instantly energized physically but the brain will also be calmed down for better alertness.
4. Practice being present
Habits are made from the thoughts and actions. If you want to make mindfulness a habit you are required to practice it as well. As per this discussion, try to practice mindfulness habit in a meeting. Go there while being perfectly present in the present state only. Discard all distractions and strongly steer all negative thoughts and emotions out. Practice this state as many times as possible, as much as you can and for as long as you can.
Conclusion
As time and work conditions are changing at breakneck pace, and the competition is at the all-time high, the conventional bossy approaches to leadership are no longer relevant. If one needs to survive and thrive then the approaches need an overhaul. For the leadership domain, the mindfulness practice is really the need of the hour.
Ditching the distractions and getting rid of rumination is the challenge now. But an important thing to note is that they never deliver anything good. Moreover, they take our precious time, energy, and mental alertness to do something productive.
Here the mindfulness concept was discussed from a leader’s context, but it is equally important and advantageous for all. Practice it all the time and make a habit of living in the present- mindfully.
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About the author-
Jaideep Parashar is an internationally acclaimed best-selling author, researcher, business consultant, 2X-CEO, and mentor & business developer of myriads of international organizations.
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