Mindful leaders are different. You’ll recognise them by the way they interact with others, how they design their working day and the unflappable way they navigate the corporate world. How do you know if you’re a mindful leader? Well, we could give you a checklist to tick but why not take a look at what they’re not doing instead? Here are 10 things mindful leaders definitely don’t do.
What Mindful Leadership Isn’t
Mindful leaders know that to create a mindful culture they need to start with themselves. To create yours, take a look at the top 10 things that mindful leaders are definitely not doing.
- Starting the day in a panic. Mindful leaders begin the day with an intention to be mindful. It’s on their radar from the moment they wake up until when they leave the office.
- Ricocheting from one task to another. Mindful leaders don’t get caught up in a cycle of constant doing. They make time to stop and ‘be’ creating a culture for human beings not human doings.
- Constantly switched on. Mindful leaders are strategic and create moments in the day for a mindful pause. They’ll use reminders on their laptop, phone or an app to bring them back into the present moment, building their mindful muscle as they do so.
- Neglecting themselves. They recognise that renewal is a crucial part of resilience and that sacrifice will only serve to drain their energy reserves and slow them down. They take breaks, build in downtime and make space for planning and preparation. They don’t run themselves into the ground and expect others to follow their example.
- Creating a blame culture. They recognise that human beings learn by failure and it’s a key component of creativity and innovation. Growth mindset in their approach they look for learning information rather than a metaphorical stick to beat their team with.
- Ignoring their circadian rhythm. Mindful leaders recognise the times of the day when they have high levels of energy and acknowledge when they don’t. Instead of ‘powering’ through energy dips, they take a break, plan low focus tasks or use that time for a quick mindful practice to reboot.
- Lacking compassion. Leaders who are mindful bring compassion to the workplace. They lead with their head and their heart, demonstrating empathy in their interactions with others. They don’t belittle or humiliate others, instead they use compassion to develop people, to motivate and bring the best out in their team.
- Failing to listen. Mindful leaders bring the practice of mindfulness into their conversations paying attention to what people are really saying. They check that non verbal communication is in alignment with the content to listen for isn’t being said. Rather than talking over people or hogging the show they create a space for others to be heard and valued.
- Assuming if things aren’t working it’s everyone else problem. Mindful leaders demonstrate self awareness and are able to accurately self assess. They don’t assume that if something isn’t working they need to find the culprit. Instead they reflect upon their own leadership style and make improvements where necessary to adopt more effective strategies. They’re authentic they know their own strengths and weaknesses and are open to change.
- Ignoring feedback. Mindful leaders listen to feedback. They take it on board and use it to constantly improve. They recognise they’re not necessarily the smartest person in the room and that others also have innovative ideas. When they utilise feedback they make their team feel valued, increasing motivation and employee engagement.
So are you Mindful? Visit our resources page to find out more https://planetpositivechange.com/how-mindful-are-you/
Image courtesy of the talented Massimo Mancini and the brilliant Unsplash
