What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is defined as: Purposely paying attention to the present moment non-judgmentally.
How might mindfulness impact a work environment?
In the ever changing workplace, managing human dynamics of individuals and teams presents an opportunity for leaders to consider new leadership styles to engage the workforce and impact the bottom-line for the company.
Our Monkey Minds
Our minds have a gazillion thoughts demanding attention that often distracts us from being fully present for the work in front of us. Attention can easily be pulled away from the task at hand, to thinking about events from the past and notions of the future. Mindful leadership skills are reported as those skills that can be reset through default practices to purposely focus on those responsibilities expected from job roles.
Mindful Leadership Skills
- Taking Accountability: Mindful Leaders look to themselves 1st, before assigning blame to others. They may ask, “Have I contributed to this situation? What may I do to resolve it?”
- Patience: Ah, those back to back meetings that occupy our days! Or, a troubling situation at home or on the way to work that continues to demand head space time! Mindful Leaders carefully bring themselves back to the here and now. Conscious breathing, taking a short break and asking how may I contribute positively to the here and now, bring the leader back to the present moment.
- Engage in active listening: Mindful Leaders remain in the present moment through active listening.
- Considering the workplace culture of rewarding risk: Mindful Leaders realize there is uncertainty, especially when considering trying something new. They encourage their teams to innovate and recognize failure is possible.
- Embracing change: While this point is often easier said than done, the status quo is often a “default system” for the masses. Mindful Leaders model variety, accept new ideas and are willing to try different approaches.
- Consider the “human factor”: Mindful Leaders combine humanity with the bottom-line. Awareness of the “human factor” is a powerful factor when motivating employees. Yes, productivity can increase when employees are confident leaders “have their backs” in time of need. Discipline and encouragement can co-exist and may surprise the Mindful Leader and employee when the final results are tallied!
Daily living is a combination of do-ing and be-ing. Mindful Leaders are people first and continually strive for growth. This growth can be contagious, notably in the workplace.
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