No matter who you are or what people you work with on a daily basis (at home, work, or anywhere else), those who look up to you will feel your moods and it can have an influence over people, positive or negative, especially if they are empathetic by nature. Moods can be infectious, and stress begets stress, so who better to lead by example than you, the mindful leader? Here are a few ways in which your mindfulness and motivation might influence your team, and some things you can do to make sure you’re remaining mindful and motivated.
I’m sure you’ve had experience with numerous different types of people, leaders included. Some leaders tend to be completely work-oriented, driven, controlling, and demanding… while others are collaborative, inclusive, wise, and make time for breaks (for themselves as well as their employees). These two opposing examples of a workplace “vibe,” if you will, are a good way to gauge what kind of leader you ultimately want to be. They will point you in the right direction, and there are a few key reasons to make it a priority to be a mindful leader.
Five Benefits of Mindfully Leading Your Employees
There are many benefits to practicing mindfulness as a leader, and chances are that the more you practice it, the more successful your company will become.
1. Your business or company is more sustainable with mindfulness than without it. There are many undesirable consequences when leaders choose to be bossy rather than collaborative, controlling rather than compassionate, or assign overtime rather than a much-needed step back. The sustainability of any business depends on the work environment, and one that is based in mindfulness and mindfulness practices tends to have a better chance of succeeding and thriving long-term.
2. Lower employee turnover rates will keep things moving smoothly. Imagine… with a high turnover rate, you have to constantly train new people, get them accustomed to how everything works, and get them into the swing of things. However, if you find and hold on to the people who do well and treat them with love and compassion (mindfulness), you save all of the resources you might have spent on training someone new.
3. Taking 20 minutes a day to meditate (and having your employees do the same) will make your entire company more productive, focused, and successful. Mindfulness practice such as meditation has been scientifically linked to improved focus and productivity, not to mention memory. In a workplace that depends on most people being at their best most of the time, it makes sense to incorporate a daily habit of mindfulness practice to begin improving everyone’s brain function at once.
4. Mindfulness practice can help you and your employees to control your emotions and reactions. Because you become more aware of the space between something happening and you reacting, it becomes easier and easier to stop reacting and start responding logically and with compassion and love. This isn’t just good in the workplace; this is also extremely helpful when you’re a parent with multiple children and seemingly unending tasks to finish before bedtime.
5. Once you begin implementing mindfulness practice for yourself and your employees, your workplace will become more collaborative, people will feel less stressed out and angry, and projects will be completed faster and with more creativity, clarity, and teamwork. Your employees will absolutely love working for you, especially if their needs are met and the work environment is conducive to productivity.
A big part of the reason mindfulness works so well is because of the 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto principle). According to this rule, 20% of your efforts will produce 80% of your results, and vice versa. Sometimes taking a step back is the best thing you can do to get things done more quickly and effectively.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to start each day with 20 minutes of mindfulness meditation with your employees? It doesn’t even have to be that long. It can be as little as two minutes to begin with, just to start getting everyone in the flow without worrying about running out of time. If you’re a mindful leader, do you employ any kind of mindfulness exercise in the workplace? If so, what is it? What positive effects have you noticed in yourself and your employees? Comment below to share your thoughts.
Please check out our YouTube Channel for dozens of videos on mindfulness and meditation.
For more mindfulness tools, resources, and information, please visit:
http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement
