We all have our perspectives about how we see, sense and know our world. If we lock into our perspectives and dismiss others, we lose relevance and trust with those we work with. Seeing the world through someone else’s eyes help us to break free from our perspectives. One excellent way to do that is to listen and suspend judgment.
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Reflections from 2016 Mindful Leadership Summit
I attended the third Mindful Leadership Summit in Arlington, VA. earlier this month with over 700 people with 27 countries represented. I had the good fortune to attend Finding the Space Lead workshop lead by Janice Marturano, Founder and Executive Director of Institute of Mindful Leadership and Mark Prior, an instructor.
Here are just a few thought-provoking concepts I gleaned from the Summit about mindfulness.
“Happiness is a state of mind. You can be in heaven in your environment, but hell in your mind.” [Read more…]
Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence are Companions
I recently facilitated a half-day retreat for a school’s community education staff on cultivating emotional intelligence (EI). I want to share several insights that came from their experience.
- Self-awareness is only helpful if you make a change in your behavior. This insight surfaced when someone recognized they were highly skilled in understanding their emotions. However, the challenge for them was to act on that information and make changes in their behavior, which is the self-management EI competency. Interestingly, their highest EI score was self-awareness and their lowest was self-management. Not a surprise.
- To be an active listener is to clear your mind. This insight surfaced when a person stated that they need to take intentional steps to become an active listener. How does one do that?
- Pause before engaging as the listener,
- Be aware of the clutter in your mind,
- Take one or two slow breaths and then announce to the person, “I’m now ready to listen and be present with you.”
Being intentional in our preparation to listen is critical.
- Slow Down. This insight surfaced when a person stated that they realized it takes time to cultivate EI. It takes practice, a change in one’s habits. So, be patient with yourself.
- Ask for Feedback. It is important to ask for feedback about your behavior and the changes you are attempting to make. How do you do that? Know the person(s) you are extending this invitation to; it takes a lot of trust. Be clear about the changes you are practicing and why you want the feedback.
Mindfulness and EI are learning companions. There is no need to compartmentalize them. When you are cultivating EI, you are being present and deeply aware of your surroundings, training your brain to engage in new habits for the purpose of deeply connecting with your inner self and with others. Isn’t that what mindfulness is about?
Exploring the Benefits of Mindfulness
Recently, I discovered a book How to Train a Wild Elephant & Other Adventures in Mindfulness by Jan Chozen Bays. I was drawn to it because Bays lists 53 simple daily mindfulness practices for living life more fully and joyfully. Wonderful.
But here is what really caught my attention. Bays lists six benefits of mindfulness, several I’ve not read before or put in context the way she did. [Read more…]
Being Mindful About Your Unconscious Bias
Unconscious bias is a life reality. We can’t escape from it. It does no good to deny it or to feel guilty or judgmental about it. It’s what our brains do that help us manage our lives and creates short cuts to make decisions.
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On The Air: Unconscious Bias and It’s Impact on Business
Kevin Pokorny and Renee Hardman are on the air! We hope you enjoy the following radio broadcast below from Insight on Business: News Hour with Michael Libbie
Listen in to this powerful business radio program that deals with bias in the workplace and how that impacts decisions and productivity. Even more importantly it also addresses how to recognize bias and how to train ourselves to use positive bias rather than negative bias.
Listen Now: Moving From Unconscious Bias to Acceptance in the Workplace.
No time for Reflection
I had business travel recently. When I fly, I look forward to my time to just reflect, think, maybe nap, read, and just be. No phone or computer. It is a rare gift. [Read more…]
Demystifying Mindfulness
A mindfulness colleague shared with me several months ago the importance of demystifying mindfulness. She said we need to break down the definition of mindfulness and make it real for people, tangible, and relevant.
So, this is what I did in a recent session I facilitated for IT leaders on Cultivating Mindful Leadership. We briefly discussed the core elements of mindfulness: [Read more…]
Spring Time Mindful Reflection
Here is a list of challenging questions for leaders that are as important as the metrics used to measure a leader’s performance
In my work with leaders, I emphasize that our organizations have a climate not unlike our ecosystem. How we care for the climate we live in greatly influences the sustainability and welfare of life. Likewise, how leaders care for the organizational climate greatly influence the sustainability and welfare of people’s lives that work in it. [Read more…]
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