Key in a search for ‘why is mindfulness good for leaders’ and you’ll get pages of results.
I like to describe it like this. Of all the jobs that a leader has, I believe there are two that are core to all the others:
The capacity to look after yourself and therefore others
Mindfulness practice teaches us how to recognise the emotional and physical changes that thoughts and feelings create. Becoming familiar with these changes is helping us to practice dealing with our thoughts and feelings. This creates headspace to be at ease and to recognise quickly when unrest starts creeping in.
The ability to quickly bring yourself back to a place from which to make wise decisions
A leader spends a lot of time making decisions – the impacts of bad decisions can be far reaching. In high pressure situations it can be very hard to make decisions with an unbiased, level and practical view. Mindfulness practice teaches us how to quickly come back to the facts, what’s here, what’s not and what the best path forward is.
Informal mindfulness practice will help you develop the capacity and ability to get these jobs done. Your development will intensify with regular formal mindfulness practice.
