When reduced to quick fixes, mindfulness loses credibility. But when coaches help leaders practise it with discipline and purpose, it becomes a foundation for self-regulation, resilience, and performance under pressure.
Mindful Leadership: The work of inner transformation for ourselves and others
The world is desperate for great leadership—more specifically, for mindful leadership. Suffering abounds in our personal and professional lives. The greatest opportunity for leaders is not to accomplish monumental tasks but rather to alleviate suffering. Given that...
Mindful leaders pay attention
Once a philosopher visited an enlightened Zen master. Eager to get to the heart of the matter, the philosopher asked, ‘What is the essential teaching of Zen?’ ‘Attention,’ the teacher replied. The scholar was taken aback by this unexpected answer. ‘I didn’t ask you...
3 reasons why self-awareness is essential for leadership training
I define self-awareness as an awareness of our thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and environment in the present moment. It is paying attention in the present moment purposefully and non-judgementally. It is experiencing and accepting reality as it really is—not how...
Absentmindedness prevents mindful leadership
Mindful leadership requires presence—being in tune with our feelings, thoughts, and experiences in the present moment. The value of staying present can be brought home by understanding what we habitually do in its place: engage in absentmindedness. Much of the time...
Mindful leadership development is discovering who we already are
When I started my personal transformation journey at the age of 22, I had no idea what I was signing up for. I started taking classes in practical philosophy, depth psychology and mindfulness meditation. I thought this would somehow make me special. What I did not...
Self-awareness in mindful leaders boosts the bottom line
Self-awareness does more than improve leader-employee relations. According to research by Korn Ferry, the world’s largest executive search firm, there is a direct correlation between leaders’ self-awareness and company profitability. The company analysed almost 7000...
Is your expertise preventing mindful leadership?
A professor of Buddhism once visited a Japanese Zen master. After listening to the professor’s impressive level of intellectual knowledge of Zen, the master served tea. When his visitor’s cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and over the...
How mindful leadership makes us more response-able
The story is told in ancient Buddhist literature of a pampered princess who was walking barefoot in her father’s kingdom when she stepped on a thorn. In pain, she demanded of her father’s advisers that the entire kingdom be carpeted. One adviser made her a pair of...
Why self-kindness is a leadership essential
Of all leadership essentials, taking personal accountability is among the most important. Accepting accountability for ourselves can be confronting on the best of days. If we follow up those moments of self-honesty with harsh self-judgement, it becomes a real...
