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...
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...
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...
Without total honesty, holding people accountability remains largely a theory. The fear, however, is that total honesty will damage relationships and alienate people—and that means disharmony and disengagement. In my experience, leaders typically feel a tug-of-war...
Leaders are challengers of the status quo. They see what is and what can be, then bridge the gap between them. Therefore, by definition, leadership and change go together. However, change—both personally and organisationally—is difficult. Let’s examine a few reasons...
Mindful leadership is the product of self-awareness. Through self-awareness, we are able to see our limiting behaviours and transform them. You can be mindful of everything you perceive, think, know, intuit and experience (which is vast). But in developing...
