When I saw this headline on an article in LinkedIn by Bryan Warren, an executive
coach and healthcare consultant, and read the question he asked, “Do you need a
meditation practice to be a "mindful leader", tagging me on the post, I was intrigued.
My first reaction was “probably” – after all, good leaders need to be introspective,
able to get above the fray of the day-to-day cacophony, to see the big picture.
Meditation is a great way to do this.
I’ve been meditating off and on all my life, usually going back when I’m under
stress. Most every time I take the opportunity to clear my mind, I find GREAT
ideas bubbling up, to the point where I keep a notepad with me so that I can jot
those ideas down.
(I’ve had too many times when those ideas floated away never to return if I don’t.
Worrying I might lose the great idea makes it hard for me to stay focused on my
mantra. So I’ve created a work-around where I emerge from meditation briefly to
make a note, and can then dive back in without concern.)
Mindfulness is a valuable leadership skill, when it helps leaders understand their role in creating a healthy workplace
So yes, I am an advocate of mindfulness and meditation.
That said, as Bryan points out in his article, these are only part of the answer to
addressing burnout. They help everyone by enhancing individual resilience. They
don’t address the root cause drivers of burnout which reside in the workplace,
not the worker. But they do help the worker cope with an unhealthy workplace.
Mindfulness is a valuable leadership skill, when it helps leaders understand their
role in creating a healthy workplace and gives them the means to face the
challenges of transforming the organizations they lead from environments
fostering burnout to those that empower professional fulfillment.
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