I admire leaders who are relaxed and calm in the face of unrelenting urgent deadlines. You know the ones who walk slowly in between meetings and take time to connect, even though life is eating them alive. The ones that make you feel seen, appreciated for your part in creating something bigger than all of us.
I didn’t always model this in my own leadership. I can think back to my busiest times when I stampeded around the office in my Johnny Fluevogs like the world was on fire. While Greta might have liked that- I’m sure that my way of communicating both elevated stress and reinforced my attachment to urgency.
With the pace of uncertainty and complexity, our culture of work has bowed down to the cult of urgency that ignores deep work, emotional intelligence, genuine and authentic curiosity of each other that a more grounded and spacious presence affords.
The secret: our friends who exude ‘equanimity’ often practice some form of mindfulness.
The good news is that there are tons of resources to support our development- from free information to teachers and coaches. The challenging news is that we have to recognize and skillfully work with our own resistance to slowing down first.
The mindfulness buzz
There’s a buzz around mindfulness. Thanks to the millennia of wisdom teachers in all traditions, coupled with the recent work of scientists, practitioners and teachers who’ve helped bring it mainstream. People like John Kabat-Zinn, Buddhist teachers, and hip podcasts and apps that digitize the present moment (like Headspace).
Progressive companies, start-ups, and even social movements have been finding ways of incorporating practices of mindfulness into everyday work culture. They’re after (and succeeding) more sophisticated expressions of collaborative abilities to innovate just about anything.
You’re probably familiar with some of them: resilience during years of exhausting culture change, ability to bounce back after failure, curiosity and acceptance of difference, ability to let go of your own perspective and welcome others.
And yet there is still widespread resistance of the practice.
What does your Resistance look like?
As I’ve talked about, resistance comes with our own unique fingerprint and DNA. Resistance includes our conscious and unconscious tactics to stay firmly planted in our comfort zone. We like to stay busy, in movement, in surge mode because we feel valued for our sheer capacity to produce deliverables.
Who am I, if I slow down or just stop?
Resistance to mindfulness also emerges because it’s considered a solo project. A kind of navel gazing and checking out from the world. Like something you do to avoid our urgent social and environmental challenges.
Why slow down when humanity feels like its heading down the wrong path?
Well, I don’t think we’re headed down the wrong path, even though Fox News and CNN might try and convince me otherwise.
In sharp contrast, my experience- and that of so many others- is that the practice of mindfulness helps you get traction on your cause- whether a micro community project, kick-ass social justice advocacy, courageous political platform, or a conscious business venture.
Here’s how.
Mindfulness- Your Superpower
I’ll appeal to your ego, even though paradoxically, mindfulness reminds you there is really no-where to get for your ego or anyone else.
With a regular mindfulness practice, changes to your perspective, attitude and behaviors begin to shift with time. In some ways, its like you become a superhero/ine.
Luckily, they come in all different capes and outfits, and really- whichever one you want to try on, will inevitably up your game.
Drawing upon the work of Unified Mindfulness by Shin-zin Young and Integral Master Coach™ Meg Salter, mindfulness can build a few key capacities that conscious leaders need.
–It helps you concentrate, wherever you place your selective attention. This means you can work deeper and longer, or be more fully present with a team member.
–It helps you develop what’s called “sensory clarity”, where you’re more aware of the detail of your own felt experience (both inside and outside of you). This means you can more readily figure out what you’re experiencing, moment to moment.
-Equanimity– that ability to experience our feelings, emotions, and life without a push/pull is the other big one. The experience of equanimity feels like calm and groundedness in the face of chaos, cultural upheaval, confusion or frustration in our daily leadership work.
Mindfulness for Collective Action
Let’s bring this back to you. I know you’re carrying a lot on your shoulders. As a committed leader- someone drawn to reading this today, you’re likely a visionary, a collaborator across difference, a change-making champion or someone devoted to your own personal development.
You may already have a mindfulness practice that you rely on to deepen your own knowledge of self or to be more skillful at work.
Whether you’re a reluctant skeptic, a beginner on the journey, or a long practitioner we can strengthen our own instrument for broader social change- no matter where we’re at.
What I mean by that is simple.
Through mindfulness practice you can develop the quality of your presence, your openness to new ideas and ways of doing things, and patience during the ups and downs So whether or not you’ve got ultimate authority you can enhance your influence with integrity.
So why not give it a try, and scale a practice so it fits snuggly in your everyday life?
PRACTICE FOR YOU
This week, try out a mindfulness practice that will cultivate concentration, sensory clarity, or equanimity.
2 things: Either try the two practices below and/or watch your resistance to the practice itself (with an attitude of friendliness).
Foundational Breathing Practice: Daily, set your watch to beep every couple of hours. When you hear the beep, stop what you are doing and gently bring your attention to your breath. Change nothing. Spend 2 minutes bring your awareness to the the in and out breaths. Pay attention to what shifts as you place your awareness on your breathing. Things like the length of each breath, any relaxation in your body (shoulders, face, hands), a slowing of the mind…
Mindful Emailing: I like this one encouraged by OnBeing: Practice mindful emailing. 2x/day consider a more mindful way of crafting and sending an email. Write your email, and then take a few deeper breaths once finished. Bring to mind the person you’re sending it to and their potential emotional state upon receiving it. Then, reread your email- and make any changes necessary.If you can, delay sending the email until later that day. If you’d like, revisit again and make sure it conveys the content and tone so that it ‘lands’ well with the receiver.
Play with this one and then scale it up to your whole team.
Mindfulness practice continues to generate deeper capacities in our leadership journey- both at work and at home. Tell me below in the comments how mindfulness practice has helped you become a better leader. I’d love to hear from you- as does our growing community!
Xo,
Jennifer
