I am facilitating several workshops on mindful leadership. A concept I will be using comes from Janice Marturano, Founder and Executive Director for the Institute of Mindful Leadership.
Let’s begin with a look at what it means to be mindful. When you are mindful of this moment, you are present for your life and your experience just as it is . . .
- not as you hoped it would be,
- not as you expected it to be,
- not seeing more or less than what is here,
- not with judgments that can lead you to a conditioned reaction . . .
but for exactly what is here, as it unfolds, meeting each moment with equanimity.“
(~ Finding the Space to Lead – A Practical Guide to Mindful Leadership)
Now, I ask you to take her words to heart and ponder what that really means to you as a leader.
Let me offer some insights to consider.
Hopes and expectations. When have you become so attached to your hopes and expectations that they become a yoke weighing you down, a burden? As Marturano says, “The environment we live and work in is constantly evolving.” As a result, our initial hopes and expectations may change. But if we keep clinging to them unwilling to adjust in the midst of changes, we waste precious energy to lead in the moment.
Not seeing more or less than what is here. When have you faced a challenging and complex situation, and the temptation has been to make it into something that it isn’t? As a leader, how can you accept what life has placed at your feet? This is not an act of condoning or giving in. As Sheri Boone and Jen Sellers, mindful leadership coaches, state, “We may not even like it. But we are willing to accept that it is. We’re willing to be with it and there’s no urge to push against it. Acceptance is a willingness to be with what is.” (“The Limitless Leader” from 52 Ways to Shift Any Outcome in Less Than a Minute – Practical Mindfulness for Leaders, by Jenn Sellers, Sheri Boone, and Kate Harper). https://pokornyconsulting.com/pause-book-cards/
Not with judgments. As a leader, when plans go awry, you can see it as misfortune which leads to judgment, or acceptance and learn from it. How much energy have you wasted being judgmental about your actions or the actions of others? When you do so, you are not being present in the moment, where your leadership is paramount.
Equanimity. As a leader, you can be present with mental calmness. You bring composure and awareness to the situation to lead with clarity and focus.
As with all mindfulness practices, these shifts in thinking will take practice. The first step is awareness and having an openness to change your mindset.