Benefits of mindfulness meditation for business leaders
There are so many potential benefits of mindfulness practice for leaders that it’s hard to come up with a concise list. From clinical anxiety disorders to lowering the heart rate, the benefits seem infinite. So we’re going to focus here on why you as a business leader or entrepreneur should engage in the practice.
Perhaps the biggest benefit is that of awareness of ourselves in the present moment. Mindfulness practice creates a small gap between our perceptions and our reactions. Let’s say a colleague says something that angers you. Rather than letting the emotion take over and saying something you’ll likely regret, you’ll find that there is a brief gap in which you can notice the flash of anger and decide what you want to do with it. The anger is still there, but you now have a choice of reacting from a place of anger or choosing a more productive response.
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Victor Frankl, a holocaust survivor, and philosopher
With practice, this awareness can help in so many ways. We begin to notice when we’re making decisions from a place of fear rather than from the heart. We can tell when we’re getting tired and can take a break before we wind up exhausted. And we come to know our opportunities for growth and when we need to pay special attention to our actions and words. Then we can identify patterns of behavior or repetitive thoughts. Once we see these, we develop even greater awareness of our tendencies.
Mindfulness of Emotion
In addition to building awareness of our thoughts, we can also look at our emotions. We’ll also notice patterns here and can learn to recognize when we’re letting our emotions control our actions.
And, we can learn to be OK with the waves of emotion that can seem to overtake us. We learn to see them as changing, never constant, and never permanent. With patience and self-compassion, we can abide by even the strongest emotions, knowing they will pass and change just like our thoughts. Grief may consume us momentarily, but we know it will ebb and flow, and change over time. Fear too will come and go. What we feared as young people may no longer concern us. Our current worries will pass too.
Mindfulness for Leaders – Emotional Intelligence
This really speaks to two very popular topics in leadership today- self-regulation and emotional awareness. With mindfulness as a tool, we can decide how to react. Now, we’re presenting our best selves to others. Our team members will have much more confidence in a leader who is poised and makes conscious decisions.
And, as we come to know ourselves better, we come to know others too. The patterns and difficulties we face are likely common to almost everyone around us. Knowing these patterns allows us to have compassion and empathy for those we work with. This is an essential skill for navigating difficult conversations, managing conflict, and giving and receiving feedback.
Mindfulness of Our Environment
We can also apply mindfulness to our environment. Have you ever known someone who could read a room? Meaning, they can sense tension, wariness, enthusiasm, or excitement in a group? With practice, we can develop that sense and learn to intuitively sense what’s going on. I’m not suggesting we’ll learn how to read minds here. It’s more a matter of paying attention to the small signals. What is the body posture most people are sitting in? What’s the tone of their talking, what are some of the words you can pick out from conversations? Are you objectively assessing these things or are you projecting your emotions into the crowd?
There is so much to cover that I’d like to offer you a free consultation, where you’ll get a custom plan to begin or expand your mindfulness for leaders practice.
Schedule your FREE Introductory Mindfulness Session here!
ICF-Certified Conscious Leadership Coach
You can optimize your impact by exploring your beliefs, behaviors, and language. By shining a light on unconscious patterns, you’ll establish a new way of being that brings self-awareness, emotional intelligence, confidence, and better relationships. These skills will enable you to:
- Embrace vulnerability
- Build trust and psychological safety with their teams
- Clearly communicate individual and team goals, and hold accountability
- Communicate with intention, authenticity, and compassion
- Give and receive feedback that enables learning, development, and deeper relationships
- Solve difficult decisions
- Face the future with optimism, enthusiasm, and energy
- Resolve past difficulties and hurt
When you coach with me, you’ll benefit from my 25 years of corporate experience, with expertise in coaching and organizational development. Leaders at Roche Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Danone, LinkedIn, and many more have benefited from our work together.
I am a graduate of Newfield Network’s Coaching for Personal and Professional Mastery program and am a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation. A longtime meditation practitioner, I emphasize conscious, mindful leadership, and business practices that benefit all.
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