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Leading with presence
Mindful leadership – what does it mean?
Back in 2015, futurologist Matthias Horx (Zukunftsinstitut) identified mindfulness as a “megatrend”. What does it mean to lead mindfully? And what impact can mindful leadership have?
One of the main founders of the mindful leadership concept is Janice Maturano, former Vice President of General Mills. Maturano (2015, p. 24) describes a mindful leader as follows:
A mindful leader embodies leadership presence by developing focus, clarity, creativity and compassion for the benefit of others.
For Maturano, mindfulness means being present to exactly what is there and unfolding – regardless of what one has hoped for or expected, “not seeing more or less than what is”. Mindfulness therefore requires being “with yourself”, being aware of yourself and communicating authentically.
Making authentic decisions
Mindfulness strengthens presence, authenticity and responsible action.
Mindful managers can embody leadership presence by “living with an open heart” and making decisions with moral integrity in the interests of the company, but also for the good of society and employees. Mindfulness is also relevant for authentic leadership, because only a leader who is “with themselves” can consciously behave authentically towards others.
The benefits of mindfulness in preventing exhaustion and burnout are obvious: if a manager can sense exactly how they are feeling and when they are “at their limit”, for example, they can take appropriate measures and take breaks and time off – which ultimately benefits the company. But mindful leadership is much more than a health and well-being program. Rather, it is one of the basic building blocks for leadership excellence.
Mindfulness in the digital age – being present has become the exception.
Being mindful sounds relatively banal at first: Being with yourself, feeling yourself, communicating authentically. And yet mindfulness – as futurologist Horx describes in his article “Mindfulness as a megatrend” – is diametrically opposed to other developments in our modern society. Here are a few examples:
Digital distraction
Presence is a luxury for managers today
Mobile technologies make it possible for us to be present and absent at the same time (e.g. on the subway, in a meeting, at home with the family), to work and not work or to bring new worlds into our living room, dining room and bedroom at the touch of a button. Being present and engaged (instead of reading e-mails or quickly solving a few problems at work) is not the “normal state” for managers, but a conscious “luxury”.
Sensory overload
Our attention becomes a fleeting resource.
A constant stream of information supplies or floods us with stimuli to which the brain becomes accustomed. Our attention span and tolerance for “boredom” seem to be decreasing. Whether in lengthy meetings, during further training or in personnel selection with assessment centers that last for days: If you don’t like it, you often “switch to a more interesting program”.
Pressure to perform
Emotions are often seen as a disruptive factor in the functional mode of leadership.
The increasing economic uncertainty that is being propagated everywhere is increasing the pressure in many industries to deliver more results faster – to function without complaining, without being ill. Dealing with your own feelings (e.g. exhaustion, excessive demands, back pain, worries…) is often counterproductive for managers who have to “deliver their numbers”. Better to “dive through”, “swallow” or “push away” in order to maintain the required level of performance.
Workshops for more presence, clarity and effectiveness.
Mindfulness has to be learned …
These and many other developments require managers to do exactly the opposite of mindfulness: multi-tasking, constantly paying attention to new information (so as not to miss anything, not to overlook anything), blocking out their own feelings (including physical warning signals) in order to function. Mindfulness is therefore something that managers need to (re)learn.
… in our workshops – individual and practical.
In our workshops, managers have experienced and felt moments of mindfulness and can apply this knowledge in their day-to-day management work. We tailor the design and implementation of each workshop to the specific needs of our customers. If you are interested, we will be happy to present our offer to you in detail.
Well advised
Your contact person
Ana Stagljar
Coach & Supervisor BSO
Expertise in management & communication
Mobile: 077 482 56 04
E-mail: ana.stagljar@xstanding.ch