How Mindful Leadership Fosters Career Growth

A lot of newcomers to wellness and meditation ask, does mindfulness training really help with leadership development?

Mindfulness training does help with leadership development quite a lot. It mainly focuses on three key areas: metacognition, allowance, and curiosity.

Metacognition is the ability to take a step back to observe at a distance what is happening around you. By doing this, you become more aware of your own reactions to situations.

Allowing refers to being open-minded to what is happening around you without judgment for yourself or judgment of anyone else.

Curiosity helps leaders gain a strong sense of interest, and curious leaders are eager to learn more about their circumstances, opportunities, and challenges.

Developing these areas will help foster career growth along with better performance, better leadership, and better team performance.

Better Performance

By practicing mindfulness, you can perform better as a leader because you will get less distracted by your environment, have the clarity to identify what’s most important and focus on that task. With a clear mind, you’re also more likely to be creative. You’re not judging yourself but allowing new ideas to present themselves.

The first step in making your leadership better is to develop self-awareness. A mindful leader processes their challenges, checks their emotions, and makes logical choices. For example, you can check-in with yourself by going on a walk during the workday. That can be helpful before a meeting, allowing you to gather your thoughts, relax, and think clearly about the task at hand. This technique is referred to as “walking meditation.” You can restart your day with these brief breaks and enter each situation with a positive mindset.

Some researchers have found that our mind tends to wander for almost half of the time that we are actively awake each day. Using mindfulness techniques helps us focus our attention on what is happening right now in our busy lives. One particular workplace case study done by Western Reserve University confirmed that mindfulness could enhance three very important qualities: attention stability, control, and efficiency.

Many organizations are starting to explore and experiment with different comprehensive learning techniques, including mindfulness and personal practices. Some of these practices would include yoga and meditation to relax the body and calm the mind, which helps with facing tasks and overcoming obstacles.

Better Leadership

You can perform better as a leader by maintaining calm through self-management, and you can coach others even better through mindful listening.

When faced with an issue, mindful leaders know how important it is to manage their stress levels. To perform better as a leader, you need to abstract the problem and find the solution. Then lead the team to work on the problem together. That promotes better attitudes in the office since everyone feels supported and not singled out.

It is commonly known that many leading-edge organizations, much like Google, have implemented mindfulness training to help employees manage their tasks and stress, which leads to a more focused and productive workforce.

A study conducted by Harvard researchers found that when someone in a leadership position is feeling stressed, that negativity can permeate through the entire organization. The best way to manage any form of stress is mindfulness. Mindfulness can help to lessen stressful responses and help you think clearer. Improving your response to stressors shows your employees how to respond to their daily tasks better. When you practice mindfulness as a group, everyone can perform at an optimal level, and you will raise the well-being of your organization.

Better Team Performance

By being a good listener and a peaceful presence in the office, you create a safe and stable working environment where everyone is encouraged to voice their ideas, opinions, and concerns. When employees have a voice and feel heard, they perform better. Workers need to feel valued and like they are contributing to the success of the company.

As a leader, it is your primary responsibility to motivate your team to do the best they possibly can. When you exemplify positivity, open-mindedness, and rational decision-making with every interaction, workers will trust and respect you. Since mindfulness helps you concentrate on the moment, you make genuine and informed decisions.

Mindfulness and mindfulness meditation aren’t just for executives either. Mindful leaders are introducing these practices to managers and all employees so that everyone can improve their thoughts and feelings towards work. With your entire workforce taking advantage of their clearer minds, your company with see performance levels rise.

Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation to find our which Ascent Leadership Institute program will help you to foster your career growth and climb to your highest leadership potential.

For other valuable articles on Mindfulness practices, visit our Ultimate Guide to Mindful Leadership.