Mindful Leadership: Inner Engineering For A Better World
The external world is a direct consequence of what exists within. When the inner universe is sorted, in terms of being peaceful and streamlined, it brings about a complete transformation on the outside.
The outer self and circumstances are but a reflection of the unfolding within. Individuals who engage in Mindfulness become a superior 'brand' as it were. Just as a company's brand value enhances as more customers start recalling its superior identity and recall, a human being who practices mindfulness enhances his identity, his aura, his influence. This human brand value can be defined in terms of what the person stands for, what he does and how much he ends up inspiring those around him.
A new world order is taking shape post pandemic. And in this changed setup, humanity will require leaders of substance, exhibiting exemplary guile and strength, leaders who are resilient and leaders who empathize. This new normal will require confronting challenges that are beyond what humans faced before. Equally, this will need leaders who can innovative solutions beyond the ordinary.
Such imagination, creativity and ingenuity can only be brought about when the rapid evolution and churn currently underway in the outer world is met with equal adroitness from within. Companies, communities, countries and cohorts seek leaders who are holistic. In other words, leaders who are agile and who can mould themselves to any situation at hand.
The wondrous, therapeutic age old practice of mindfulness ensures the development of all these traits in an individual.
A calm individual as a leader tends to be more proactive than reactive. This helps the team keep their balance even in overcoming situations which may be unnerving or not easy to tackle.
Mindfulness also relaxes the unending stream of thoughts and brings clarity of thought. A leader who has exorcised the demons in his head rubs off this Midas touch to his teammates. A systematic set up results, bringing a focused approach to goal setting and achievement.
Regular practice of mindfulness meditation is known to clear one's emotional and mental toxins, thereby reduce stress. A stress free intellect is a precursor to shaping a robust and balanced inner being which is capable of wise decision-making and approaching any situation or team goals with equipoise.
Mindfulness also promotes compassion in the practitioner. This leads to the leader taking a more sympathetic view of his team member's views, perspectives, personal hurdles and helping them discover and unravel more of their innate abilities. A natural corollary of this is also better team harmony, smoother dynamics and accomplishment of higher than planned targets.
Research has also shown mindfulness to bolster one's information processing speed. What this does is not only make a leader more efficient, a superior people manager, but engenders a firm grasp on challenges and finding the most appropriate response to the challenges.
Increase in stamina and body's energy levels through mindfulness means that a leader has that much more of his personal resources and strength to draw upon and apply to his team and common objectives. Endurance and enthusiasm remaining sky high translates into more productivity and accomplishment of tasks with higher attention and skill.
Mindfulness meditation sparks a natural inculcation of patience, increased focus and tenacity, traits most vital to inspiring leadership.
A team looks up to its leader to draw strength, solace and sanity. In a way, as is the leader so is the team. And when the leader is exuding positivity and attitude of gratitude, forgiveness and greater acceptance of individuality of each team member, there are lessons for the entire team. So when they end up becoming leaders at their peak, they would know how to lead passionately and, more importantly, compassionately.
