Sit and Be Still
Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.
– Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
Most business books focus on how leaders can achieve more. How can you do more, better…and faster too.
This series of blog posts takes the opposite tack: how and why, as leaders, you should sit and be still. How do your leadership skills benefit when you take time to quiet your mind and simply sit and be still?
Psychologist Daniel Goleman, an authority on emotional intelligence in organizations, calls this the leadership paradox in Primal Leadership:
“For leaders, the first task in management has nothing to do with leading others; step one poses the challenge of knowing and managing oneself.”
This includes:
- Connecting with deep values that guide,
- Imbuing actions with meaning,
- Aligning emotions with goals,
- Keeping ourselves motivated, and
- Keeping ourselves focused and on task.
When we act in accordance with these inner measures, we feel good about what we do. Our emotions become contagious. When we, as leaders, feel positive, energized and enthusiastic about our work, so do those we influence.
Honing the skills of awareness leads to mindfulness—becoming aware of what’s going on inside and around us on several levels. Mindfulness is living in a state of full, conscious awareness of one’s whole self, other people and the context in which we live and work.
Before you dismiss mindfulness as New Age rhetoric, pay attention to the research. Recent studies in management science, psychology, and neuroscience point to the importance of developing mindfulness and experiencing meditation.
Leadership through Mindfulness
Mindfulness meditation has long been practiced by Buddhists and others seeking greater calm and peace of mind. A Buddhist-trained HR executive, Michael Carroll encourages business leaders to take time to sit and be still. Stressed-out executives, he maintains, need a way to reconnect with themselves to become more open and, consequently, more effective.
In his new book, The Mindful Leader: Awakening Your Natural Management Skills Through Mindfulness Meditation (2008), Carroll explores the key principles of mindfulness and how they apply to leading organizations.
Mindfulness meditation addresses a wide range of topics, including:
- How to heal toxic workplace cultures where anxiety and stress impede creativity and performance,
- How to cultivate courage and confidence in spite of workplace difficulties and economic recession,
- How to pursue organizational goals without neglecting what’s happening here and now,
- How to lead with wisdom and gentleness, not only with ambition, relentless drive and power, and
- How a personal meditation practice develops your innate leadership talents.
In times of recession, experts make a strong case against panic and pessimism. There’s no better way to combat fear than to engage in the ancient practice of meditation, which enjoys a longstanding record of success. Even if you tend to shun New Age principles, this may be the time to keep an open mind and learn the tenets of mindfulness meditation.
By taking a few minutes out of your busy day and connecting with your inner self, you will discover a new sense of calm and clarity. Your ability to lead others, be open to new ideas, and effectively reach goals will begin to increase. Try it for one week and take notice of the changes in both your personal and professional life. As always, I’d love to hear about your experiences – you can reach me here or on LinkedIn.
