Mindful Leadership

By Kristin Neff, guest contributor

What keeps us from being kinder to ourselves?

Most people don’t have any problem with seeing compassion as a thoroughly commendable quality. It seems to refer to an amalgam of unquestionably good qualities: kindness, mercy, tenderness, benevolence, understanding, empathy, sympathy, and fellow-feeling, along with an impulse to help other living creatures, human or animal, in distress. But we seem less sure about self-compassion. For many, it carries the whiff…

By Georgina Miranda, guest contributor

Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world. As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

We can consider these impactful words when it comes to leadership today. Developing the art of leading ourselves, our personal leadership, becomes a critical step before we can lead others on the path to greatness and success. Human…

By John J. Murphy, Guest Contributor

In the book Miracle Minded Manager, I illustrate the concept of “Capital L Love,” a completely different perspective on love than the common ego interpretation. To begin with, capital L Love is unconditional. It is not a feeling we fall in and out of, as the ego understands it, or an attachment to someone or something external to us. Capital L Love is timeless, limitless, and eternal. It is all-encompassing. It is the very essence of life itself. It is a for…

 By Janice Marturano, Guest Contributor

Every day we are asked to make decisions. Some are of little consequence while others can literally change our lives and the lives of others. When those important questions arise, we can find it difficult to choose. We might feel paralyzed by an overload of input from others, or we might feel as though there is no clear "right." So, are there ways a mindful leadership practice can help? Let’s look at 3 Steps to Mindful Decision-Making:  

Step 1: Stop and…

By Joy Reichart, Guest Contributor

I recently spoke to someone who is curious about training to be an Integral Coach. Integral Coaching is a developmental methodology that supports clients in becoming self-generating and self-correcting, moving through all areas of life with greater capacity, spaciousness, and sense of possibility. 

This person’s interest stems from a pattern he’s noticed in his life—namely, breakdowns in leadership in the organizations he’s been a part of. He intends to use h…

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…