Mindful Leadership
WHEN IT FEELS LIKE WE ARE IN TOTAL CHAOS
Mindful leadership is about building a trustworthiness with others so they will have the confidence to trust and follow you. Defined by Nina Smiley and David Harp in, Mindfulness in Nature, mindfulness is simply
“a state that involves being aware of our thoughts, feelings and surroundings in any given moment in a gentle, non-judgmental way. ”
The pandemic has brought a tremendous about of fear, anxiety, and uncertain to all of us. We find ourselves leading our lives in a different way. People are naturally more aware of their own thoughts, feelings and surroundings in order to try and make sense of their world. We all are looking for ways to feel safe, to maintain our emotional wellbeing as well as our economic well-being. We have become more mindful.
People in leadership positions need to also be mindful about the health and wellbeing people within their ecosystem. How will we support our employees, our customers and our suppliers. How will we ensure our company will survive over time? How will we ensure we help our communities and be contributors to the well-being of our society? As we personally lead our lives mindfully we all contribute to reshaping our world to deal with the new realities impacting others.
We watched daily (and sometimes hourly to leaders and experts we could trust and have confidence in to follow. During these times of total chaos, we find ourselves depending on government leaders to provide clarity, direction and to lay the foundation to address the immediate crisis. Dr. Bonnie Henry’s approach, in British Columbia had a mantra she offered after reporting COVID 19 results within the province that addressed the cultural needs of her community – be calm, be kind, and be safe. In other words, she was leading mindfully and was asking others to lead their lives mindfully. This offered a high level of trustworthiness for others to follow and it is shown to have impact the positive results in lowering the curve.
As we live our life day to day with this perceived state of chaos from the impact of the pandemic, being mindful means leading with a value- based center.
It also means to being aware and to continue to adapt and evolve and learn to serve all of those around us. It is the role of a leader to lead by example to embrace their own personal vulnerabilities in order to be sensitive to everyone. It is the role of the leader to have the courage act in a mindful way.
People will choose to trust leaders when recognize that they are trustworthy.