Mindful Leadership

by Dr. Tracy Brower, guest contributor

Great leadership has never been easy, especially if you’re doing it well. But it’s arguably harder now than it’s been in the recent past, and it requires a great amount of emotional labor. There are reasons for this—from the climate outside of organizations to mental health issues and the competition for talent. The impact is significant: Leadership requires more skills, capability, finesse, nuance, judgement and art today.

Emotional labor is the work peo…

By Jay Forte, guest contributor

You have likely heard, “people quit people before they quit companies.” Employees want to work for managers and leaders who respect, value, and support them, not for those who bully and bark at them. So, if this is true, why are so many of today’s leaders and managers bullying and barking?

One word: stress. 

Our bodies and minds were built to handle short-term bouts of stress. In those moments, our reactive, or limbic, brain rushes in, helping us to identify an…

By John J. Murphy, guest contributor

In 2013 I wrote a book titled, Zentrepreneur: Get Out of the Way and Lead; Create A Culture of Innovation and Fearlessness. Originally, the book was intended to help aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs “do good” for the world. In other words, turn “healthy, positive thinking” (Zen) into constructive actions and results (Entrepreneurship).

You can probably tell by the title that this is not one of your more typical leadership books. Who writes about Zen in th…

by Brian Lowell French, guest contributor

Leaders are consistently challenged by all of the distractions faced through the day, taking focus away from leading the team and managing the important work. These distractions cause leaders to become scattered, making it difficult to be mindful and intentional as they lead their teams. 

When I wrote my recently published book, Harmonic Leadership – Leading with Inclusive, Mindful Caring, the intent was to provide leaders with practical and pragmatic …

By John J. Murphy

We all know the eternal optimist says “the glass is half-full,” while the pessimist says “the glass is half-empty.” But as the author Simon Sinek says, “People who wonder whether the glass is half empty or half full miss the point. The glass is refillable.” That’s the real optimist. 

Research shows that positive energizers, those who are not only optimistic, but who uplift, motivate, and renew others usually wind up uplifting themselves and their organizations. Their contagio…

by Jocelyn Davis, guest contributor

Command authority is a poor basis for life. Whether you’re atop a corporate jungle gym, reaching for the next rung, or off playing in the sandbox, your long-term professional and personal success is a matter of influence, not dominance.

Some consider influence synonymous with persuasion, but, influence is really the art of getting things done without coercion. More precisely, it’s the ability to engage and guide others in collaborative work without relying o…

By Raj Sisodia & Michael Gelb

What if there was a company whose CEO said, "Let's pay our people as much as possible"? What if that same company showed up to help communities in distress before FEMA and the Red Cross when there was a disaster? What if your company treated your spouse, your children, your parents, and even your pets, as stakeholders, and made it a priority to ensure that you can be present for them? What if there was a company that not only reduced its environmental footprint to …

By Dan Nixon, guest contributor

Between the busyness of our work lives and shifts towards flexible and hybrid working patterns, the ability to remain grounded, and to be fully present, becomes ever more challenging. Add to this the bottomless newsfeeds on our phones and the blurring of home/work boundaries, and it can easily feel as though our lives become a series of “to-do list” tasks and back-to-back meetings, with any spaces in between quickly filled with emails and other updates.

All of t…

By Peter Calin, Mindful Leader MBSR Instructor

The level of stress we’ve experienced in the past two years has increased significantly due to an environment full of uncertainty created by the pandemic, climate change, social unrest, inclusivity and diversity issues, a heightened awareness or concern for work-life balance, and a myriad of other factors.  As a result, the workplace is a fast-paced and stressful environment. How do leaders now lead their organizations in a global market that has c…

By John J. Murphy, guest contributor

In 2009 I wrote a book titled, Beyond Doubt: Four Steps to Inner Peace. Originally, the book was intended to help people in all walks of life live with more presence, confidence, compassion, and abundance. It was the first book I wrote outside of the business and leadership genre, so I was surprised to learn a few years later that it was being used by a “sensei” (master teacher) at one of the world’s largest corporations to train business leaders how to lead…