The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over
again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will. ~William James
Have you ever worked
with someone who frequently became defensive? What about the person whose mind
seems to wander quickly in meetings? Or the colleague who is always trying
really hard but continues to struggle with time management? Have you ever
worked with someone who seemed so focused, clear, creative, and compassionate
in the midst of a fast-paced and complex organization that you wondered if they
could be for real?
All of these scenarios
have something in common – mindfulness. This is what William James described
when he said "voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and
over again." In recent years, mindful leadership has gained momentum. Effective
leadership requires self-knowledge, self-awareness, and centeredness. Research
tells us that the best leaders have some method to manage the barrage of
information, data, possibilities, perspectives, and opportunities to sustain
their presence of mind and overall health.
A mindful leader
trains their mind to turnoff their autopilot, multitasking habits so they can
bring all of their mind's capabilities to the moments of their lives. The American
Psychological Association says "The inability to focus for even 10 minutes
on any one thing at a time may be costing you 20 to 40 percent in terms of
efficiency and productivity."
Here's the really good
news, at least for me, mindfulness can be learned, with practice. One of the
most common ways to learn to become more mindful is through the practice of
meditation. If I just lost you, hold on for one minute. For many of us,
meditation may have been labeled or defined as thinking about nothing. As I now
understand it, that’s not really accurate. Meditation is a practice that
enables just what William James described, the ability to bring your
mind/attention back to center, over and over again. When you meditate your mind
will wander; that doesn't mean you're unsuccessful or doing it wrong. When you
recognize that your mind has wandered and you bring it back to center, you are
very much meditating.
Through meditation,
you learn to become mindful. When you are mindful of something, you are observing
it, not caught up in it, and not identified with it. You release any judgment
about it. By releasing judgment you are able to be more focused, see it with
more clarity, and become more creative because you have no preconceived notion
as to what is.
If you think that
mindful leadership sounds like a lot of gobbledygook, I'd suggest you give it a
test drive for a couple of weeks and see if you can sense a difference. Organizations
like General Mills, Target, Intel, Mayo Clinic, and United Way have invested
heavily in training their leaders to become more mindful.
We brush our teeth
every day because we believe that dental hygiene is important. Our mind and
mental abilities are key to successful leadership; so what are our mental
hygiene practices?
Dr. Kathryn Scanland is the president of Greystone Global LLC, a consulting firm focusing on strategic planning, leadership development and organizational design. This post is republished with permission from Tuesday Mornings.
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