In the past 2 years, I have taught 15 cohorts of the Mindful Leadership program to 300 executives and managers.
Invariably, half way through the program, the participants get frustrated at all the “navel gazing” and ask me,
“𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨?”
You see, the first half of the program, is focused on self-leadership skills, like focused presence, emotional resilience, cognitive resilience, and purpose.
And these self-leadership skills are foundational to building the skills to lead others and leading the team.
So when I get that question, I gently remind the participants, that before they can lead others they need to learn to lead themselves.
And here is why.
👉🏽𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫
One of the most frequent reasons for quitting is the poor relationship with the boss.
👉🏽𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬
Humans are hardwired for empathy, so when a leader is stressed the team members are stressed.
👉🏽𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬
When a leader better manages stress, the stress on the team goes down and motivation improves.
So I guide the executives and managers in my program to be curious about this question instead:
🤔“𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙢 𝙄 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 - 𝙥𝙝𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮?
Counterintuitively once we better manage our own thoughts and feelings, we are more aware of the thoughts and feelings of others…enabling us to lead and manage others more effectively.
15 years of searching inside yourself
15 years of searching inside yourself.
From in house mindfulness and emotional intelligence training to a global education platform.
𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟳: 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 (𝗦𝗜𝗬) 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻
⦿ Search Inside Yourself was founded at Google
⦿ The program was exclusively for Google employees
⦿ One of Google’s most popular training programs
𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟮: 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗲 (𝗦𝗜𝗬𝗟𝗜) 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱
⦿ Search Inside Yourself made available to the public
⦿ Institute trains 600 certified teachers across the world
⦿ SIYLI continues to serve community based organizations
𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮: 𝗦𝗜𝗬 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱
⦿ An education platform with digital and in person offerings
⦿ Focus on serving private sector organizations
⦿ SIY Global is intended to be a B-Corp
4 strategic questions to ask your leadership team
The 4 strategic questions the new CEO of an iconic brand asked to lead it back to growth after years of declining sales.
The 4 strategic questions returned the company to five years of top and bottom line growth and doubled enterprise value.
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀...𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼.
So when Chip Bergh started as the new CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. he interviewed the top 60 executives and asked them all these 4 strategic questions.
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟭: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲?
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟮: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲?
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟯: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼?
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟰: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗱𝗼?
Does your business strategy make explicit choices of what to do and what not to do?
Source: HBR July-August 2018; The CEO of Levi Strauss on leading an iconic brand back to growth by Chip Bergh
What are the top 3 priorities CEOs invest their time on every quarter?
CEOs have access to near unlimited resources...tech, capital, employees, partners, ideas. Their only fixed resource is time.
CEOs invest 90% of their time on 3 priorities.
There are just 13 weeks in each quarter in which CEOs (and you and me!) have to deliver quarterly results.
And CEOs have a multitude of priorities, projects, processes, meetings, places, activities and stakeholders to work through.
So where they invest their time matters.
𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗘𝗢𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿?
A study by Harvard Business School gives us valuable insights, on where CEOs of large companies ($2B+ revenues) invest their time every quarter.
𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 #𝟭: 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
Managing external and internal stakeholders and relationships is priority #1 for large company CEOs. These include relationships with customers, vendors, investors, partners, executives, and employees. CEOs invest just over 40% of their time on this work every quarter.
𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 #𝟮: 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀
The CEO has the ultimate responsibility for delivering results, so it makes sense they invest 25% of their time on functional and business reviews every quarter. The reviews help the CEO track and course correct for results.
𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 #𝟯: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀
CEO spend 25% of their time on strategy and operating plans. The work involves setting the long-term direction for the company, making high-stakes strategic and investment choices, and developing the annual and quarterly plans to deliver on long term strategy.
Source: HBR July-August 2018; What do CEOs Actually Do? by Michael E. Porter and Nitin Nohria
Meditation Retreats
There are many different types of meditation (just like exercise)! I started by attending drop in sessions in different traditions (Zen, Insight, Yoga, Spiritual) and after some trial found the meditation type that works best for me (Insight).
Below are 2 retreat centers in North America in the Insight tradition that offer retreats. I would suggest starting with a short, introductory (2-3 days) course at one of these locations. These locations are very well recommended by fellow mindfulness teachers though I have not personally taken a course there. They are very popular and often have a waitlist for courses.
Spirit Rock Woodacre, California spiritrock.org
Insight Meditation Society Barre, Massachusetts dharma.org
-----------------------------
Vipassana
I go to Vipassana centers which offer basic facilities and the 10-day format.
https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/index
Dhamma Siri Kaufman, Texas https://siri.dhamma.org/
Dhamma Dhara Shelburne, Massachusetts https://www.dhara.dhamma.org/
Leadership presence is about more than executive presence
When a manager, receives feedback to work on their leadership and executive presence they often work on improving their communication skills.
That is helpful, but not enough.
Executive presence is about how you show up with others.
To elevate how you show up, you work on communication skills.
In particular if you work on the the intent, the content and the style of your communication, you will undoubtedly see gains in your influence and impact.
But for leadership presence you do much more.
✏︎You refine your self-awareness of who you are and more importantly how you are perceived by others.
✏︎Through practice you build the ability to self-manage in difficult conversations and situations.
✏︎You develop clarity and conviction with what gives you purpose and meaning in life.
✏︎You develop highly attuned empathic listening skills, to better understand the thoughts and feelings of others.
To build leadership presence you must work not just on your communication skills but also your self-leadership skills.
Executive presence is about how you show up; leadership presence is about who you are.
How Managers Take Back Control
Imagine what you could do with 4 extra hours each week.
A Gallup survey says that a typical manager works half a day longer every week, that’s 4 hours more than team members.
That “heavy workload” is likely a cause for stress, anxiety or even burnout and compromises your wellbeing and performance.
You cannot control your work circumstances but you can control and manage your attention, your energy and your time. No one else can do that for you.
Check out this video on How Managers Take Back Control for a simple hack to better manage your productivity, so you are working less in the evenings and weekends.
The One Question Leaders Need to Ask Everyday
Leaders who prioritize their own well-being and performance can better help others prioritize theirs.
By doing so, leaders can create a supportive environment where their teams can deliver their best work.
So the question you need to ask yourself is:
“Am I making my life better - physically, emotionally and mentally?
Like the emergency oxygen mask on an airplane, leaders must first help themselves before doing the same for others. Being an inspiring, empowering and compassionate leader is easier for leaders who are at peace with themselves.
In practice, this means leaders need to develop the daily practices and habits to lead themselves before they can lead others.
To support you in your leadership journey, I am excited to share an opportunity to work with me 1:1 as your leadership coach to help you integrate personal wellbeing with business performance.
I will help you 1) Prioritize the shifts that accelerate your leadership journey, 2) Develop mindfulness-based wellbeing and performance habits and 3) Successfully apply the shifts to your personal and professional context.
White Paper: Peak Performance Under Pressure
Are your teams stressed and not performing at full potential?
Is stress affecting team members' wellbeing and performance?
Are your team members distracted and overwhelmed?
Your team leaders can be the difference.
Download my white paper “Peak Performance Under Pressure” to learn how your team leaders can be the catalysts for resilience, engagement and performance on their teams.
Team leaders are the catalyst for resilience and performance
In this uncertain and complex New World of Work, teams experience a lot of work and personal stress, undermining their resilience and performance.
Team leaders can be the catalyst for team resilience and performance.
I understand the frustration and challenges of being a team leader, having been a team leader for over a decade on global teams.
I know that the answers lie within the team leader.
A deeper understanding of oneself enables us to better understand and influence others.
Team leaders who lead themselves are more inspiring and empowering and positively impact team performance.
Team leaders who build skills to perform under pressure will enhance performance for themselves and their team.
Are you a Hero or a Coach?
Are you good at problem-solving? Are you excited to jump into problem-solving when you are working with your team?
Likely you are successful at work and became the team leader because you are great at problem-solving.
While it may feel reasonable and even necessary to solve the problem on hand, could it be that your strengths are hurting your team?
In superhero movies, it’s great to see the hero come in and help distressed citizens, but that creates a dependency, waiting for the superhero to fly in and fix the world, again and again...no wonder we have so many sequels!
One of the drawbacks of being the team hero is that you’re making your team members dependent on you.
Be mindful if your problem-solving strengths are making your team more dependent on you.
Instead, explore ways to empower them to identify and solve problems on their own.
Immediate Feedback
In my workouts with personal trainers, I notice how they are always giving me feedback on technique during or soon after the workout.
The immediacy of the feedback makes it valuable...it is relevant, it is relatable, and it is actionable.
If the trainer gave me the very same feedback the next day or the next week, it would be less helpful. I will likely not learn or improve as much and definitely not as fast.
This principle of sharing immediate feedback also applies to the workplace.
For example, if a team member was not well prepared for a meeting, it’s vital for the team leader to offer feedback soon after the meeting while the experience is fresh.
There is a lot of value in giving this immediate feedback...it is relevant, it is relatable, and it is actionable.
Hesitating, delaying or waiting to provide feedback till the next performance review reduces the benefit and the impact of the feedback.
Go Deep, Stay Consistent
Leading mindfulness workshops within a corporate setting is quite different from most other training programs.
Mindfulness—and its benefits—is not something you think about or analyze. You must experience it. The proof, so to speak, is in your personal experience.
You have to be aware as you experience what compassion or empathy feel like “in the moment”. What does it feel like when you're emotionally triggered or challenged?
To take this one step further, having such experiences requires you to maintain a mindfulness practice.
It’s ironic that sometimes business leaders are resistant to mindfulness programs because they don’t see the point in “stepping away” from work.
In reality, the opposite is true. Making a commitment to mindfulness equals a willingness to do the hard work to cultivate greater awareness.
Evidence-based Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness leads to greater well-being
The connection between mindfulness and well-being has been a consistent finding in almost 10 years of research. One study found that two weeks of mindfulness training increased well-being, decreased emotional exhaustion at work, and even increased job satisfaction (Hulsheger et al., 2012).
Mindfulness has been found to increase brain cortex thickness and activation in regions associated with emotional awareness and emotion management (Tang et al., 2015)
Mindfulness can lead to more creative and innovative thinking
In a survey conducted by the Institute of Mindful Leadership, 93% of leaders reported that mindfulness training helped them create space for innovation, and nearly 70% said it helped them to think strategically (Institute for Mindful Leadership Survey).
Mindfulness-based emotional intelligence correlates with better teamwork and leadership
Training in the emotional intelligence skill of compassion has been shown to reduce interpersonal stress and improve relationships (Singer 2016; Kok et al. 2013).
Greater emotional intelligence has been correlated with higher manager and leader performance (Kerr, Garvin, Heaton, & Boyle, 2006; Rosete & Ciarrochi, 2005).
SAP: Mastering the Digital Workplace
The SAP Global Mindfulness Practice promotes mindfulness as a means of improving employee leadership skills, productivity, and well-being.
SAP puts the return on investment at 200 percent, measurable not only through participant feedback but also through the increase in the Employee Engagement Index. These values affect business results: SAP’s operating profit increases by €50 million to €60 million for every percentage point increase in the Employee Engagement Index.
Share your joys and sorrows
Growing up (and I haven’t stopped growing yet!) my Mom use to tell me to always share my life stories and experiences, both good and bad with your life partner (or close family and friends). As a deep introvert this is often a challenge for me, especially sharing my troubles.
“Shared joy is double joy; Shared sorrow is half a sorrow.”
The premise is simple, as human beings we are hardwired to be deeply empathetic.
So when we share stories of our joys, happiness and achievement with others it increases our joy as we see others happy around us.
Counter intuitively, when we share our troubles, sorrows and failures they reduce because we sense that others care for us and we are not alone in this human journey.
This is especially important in these uncertain times. We are not alone! We are all going through difficult times, and sharing our stories will help us realize we are not alone and have the support of others.
Don't meditate to improve yourself
If you ever feel like you are not making progress in your meditation practice or feel guilty you have not been practicing consistently, I gently offer a reminder of why we practice.
“Don’t meditate to fix yourself, to improve yourself, to redeem yourself; rather, do it as an act of love, of deep warm friendship to yourself.
In this way there is no longer any need for the subtle aggression of self-improvement, for the endless guilt of not doing enough.
It offers the possibility of an end to the ceaseless round of trying so hard that wraps so many people’s lives in a knot.
Instead there is now meditation as an act of love. How endlessly delightful and encouraging.”
Mindfulness Impact 2020
In 2013, Google spun out its mindfulness-based leadership training program in to the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI), whose CEO, Rich Fernandez was previously head of leadership training at Google.
With the same rigor as Google, SIYLI has been tracking the impact of its program, and earlier this year released a study across 6,100 participants who took their mindfulness-based leadership program.
Focus grew from 51% to 72%
Stress Management improved from 46% to 71%
Resilience improved from 43% to 61%
Empathy improved from 60% to 73%
Compassion went up from 63% to 74%
Leadership went up from 49% to 68%
As a certified teacher with SIYLI, I am happy to see the results and share similar experiences, wherever I have taught versions of this program.
You can read the highlights and full report here…
https://siyli.org/approach/results
Psychological Distress
“The isolation, the fear, the uncertainty, the economic turmoil (of the pandemic) - they all cause or could cause psychological distress,” reported the WHO mental health department.
https://www.who.int/news/item/14-05-2020-substantial-investment-needed-to-avert-mental-health-crisis
Stress Paradox
All of us have experienced the stress of an upcoming project deadline. But have you noticed how stress is also a driver of high performance?
Without the urgency of a deadline or an upcoming client meeting we might find ourselves busy, doing various things except the important work.
But a deadline has a magical effect…it gets us motivated and focused on doing what’s most important.
The pressure and stress caused by a deadline is normal and even helpful.
We know that stress and pressure improve performance by reducing distractions while enhancing focus, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration.
So why does stress get such a bad reputation?
It’s because stress or pressure is beneficial only up to a point…if we experience too much stress for too long it will affect our mental health and our performance.
Extended stressors and pressures can leave us feeling mentally, physically and emotionally depleted and exhausted directly affecting our performance bandwidth.
If the pressures and stress are chronic (i.e., severe and continuing for months) we experience worsening mental health conditions, including anxiety, burnout and even depression.
The longest lasting impact of the pandemic are likely to be mental, and not physical. The isolation, the fear, the uncertainty, the economic turmoil (of the pandemic) - they all cause or could cause psychological distress.
What is your playbook for empowering better mental health and performance for yourself and your team?