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Mindful Leadership
Time to Grow Up: Adulting Mindfully
By Fleet Maull, guest contributor
We often associate being an adult with burdens and unwelcome responsibility. Perhaps some part of us longs for a Peter Pan life, where we imagine we would be happier if we never had to grow up and deal with the challenges of living life as an adult. Most of us know only too well that a Peter Pan life strategy is actually a prescription for suffering. Nonetheless, truly embracing true adulthood is another matter. Transactional Analysis offers a very helpful f…
Can Critical Dialogue save us from Mindful Fundamentalism?
View our Free Guide - What is MBSR?
By Christa Hogan, guest contributor
Mindfulness is on everyone’s radar these days — and on every magazine cover in the checkout line. The explosive growth of the mindfulness movement in America has inevitably triggered a backlash. Many are criticizing the movement and expressing concerns about its increasing popularity in Western culture:
Are mindfulness programs in public schools merely Buddhist Trojan horses? Does it threaten the separation of church …
3 Ways to Cultivate Compassion Among Nonprofit Leaders
By Wendy Saunders, guest contributor
Nonprofit leaders want to make a difference in the world, and, in many cases, are willing to make less money and get fewer perks than they would receive in the private sector. They often work long hours, carry excessive workloads, and endeavor to meet community needs with limited staffing and other resources. (For a deeper examination, check out “The Plight of the Overworked Nonprofit Employee” in The Atlantic).
Nonprofit leaders also often work closely …
Why do Better Humans make Better Leaders
By Jerry Colonna, guest contributor
As often happens, I hit upon the insight I needed when I wasn’t searching for it. A few years back I was pacing the room, thinking about the talk I was about to give. There were thirty people in stiff, uncomfortable chairs. As usual, my T-shirt was mildly sweaty. As usual, I was shoeless—discalced. I was struggling to explain coaching, struggling to explain why it was that, to help people lead well, I was pushing to help themselves know themselves better.
T…
3 Essential Elements to Creating Harmony at Work
By David Belden, guest contributor
Nearly three decades ago, long before anyone in the business world had heard of mindfulness, I was introduced to the concept in an unusual manner. While running a company in Asia, I had a wonderful guide in all things Buddhist. He helped me deepen my meditation practice, instructed me in Chi Kung, and spent many hours sharpening my beginner’s mind. One day I asked him how I could improve my work/life balance. I remember starting the conversation with somethin…
Why Empathy Isn’t Enough for Leadership
By Michelle Maldonado, guest contributor
With the groundbreaking work of researchers such as Brené Brown and others, we have learned much about the power of empathy at work, at home, and in life as fuel for us to heal, connect, set healthy boundaries, and create psychological safety.
While empathy is a critical element needed to transform leaders and organizations, it (along with sympathy) form the foundation for us to take wise action. Empathy is the building block to develop compassion, thro…
5 Myths about Self-Compassion
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 whif…
Shakespeare’s Secret to Being an Effective Leader
By Michael Bunting, guest contributor
What character trait is most valued in leaders?
To find the answer to this question, leadership experts Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner surveyed well over 100,000 people to ask which personal traits, characteristics, and attributes they looked for and admired in leaders. Their findings have relevance to every leader today.
At the top of the list by a long shot (89 per cent) is honesty. More than anything else, people want honesty from their leaders. But de…
5 Easy Steps to Worrying Less at Work
By Elisha Goldstein, guest contributor
Imagine being able to show up at work feeling more self-confidence and less worry. What impact would that have on your energy level and what you can achieve that day? As humans, we will always struggle with worry and fear. But when we allow them to take control of our thoughts, actions and consequences follow. We might find ourselves procrastinating more often, being less creative, taking fewer risks—all of which affects our level of growth and success.
W…
6 Highlights for Mindful Leaders from Ray Dalio's AMA Session
By Mo Edjlali, Mindful Leader President and Chief Community Organizer
The billionaire Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge-fund, in 1975. His net worth is $18.4 billion. In 2017 tweeted: “Transcendental Meditation has probably been the single most important reason for whatever success I’ve had...”.
On May 7th, Dalio hosted a candid Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), during which people on Reddit could ask him any questions they’d like. He began the Q&A by posting: “I’m Ray…