What Exactly Is A Mindful Leader?

What Exactly Is A Mindful Leader?

A mindful leader embodies leadership presence by cultivating focus, creativity and compassion in the service of others. Leadership presence is a tangible quality. It requires full and complete non-judgmental attention in the present moment. Those around a mindful leader see and feel that presence.

A friend of mine decided to attend a local rally to see if he could get an important health care question answered by presidential candidate Bill Clinton. Of course, when he arrived, he faced a teeming, screaming crowd, but he manoeuvred his way to the police barricade and waited. Clinton soon arrived and began walking along the barricade shaking hands. As my friend stretched out his hand and Clinton took it, he yelled out his question. In that moment, the candidate stopped, faced him, and responded to the question. Later my friend told me, “In those few moments when we spoke together, it seemed as though Clinton had nothing else on his mind. It was as if there was no other person there.“ He felt heard and respected. That's leadership presence: you give your full attention to what you're doing, and others know it. Leadership presence is powerful. In your own life, you can probably recall times when you experienced leadership presence, either in yourself or someone else. It might have been in a one-on-one conversation, or it might have been in an audience filled with people. Presence can be felt even from far away .

You can undoubtedly recall the much more common experiences when you feel only partially in the room, or you feel the person you're speaking with is not really there. Like all of us, even when you have every intention to be focussed, your mind becomes easily distracted ­ thinking about the past or the future, and only partially in the present if at all. In those moments, you are not embodying the innate capacity everyone possesses to be present.

As a beginning, you might recall a moment when you experienced full awareness in a situation. When there seemed to be nothing else but whatever you were noticing. This might have been a momentous moment like the birth of your child. In that moment, time seemed to stand still, and nothing else existed...You were not distracted by the to-do list or noises in the hall. Your full attention ­ mind, body and heart ­ was completely absorbed in that moment.

Or it might have been an ordinary moment; the kind often overlooked and not particularly celebrated. You may have lingered to notice a sunset...or a painting on the wall...Whatever it was, it interrupted the busy mind, and you were living that moment of your life more fully. Such moments ­ when we fully inhabit our bodies and our senses are at work on more than an internal storyline, checklist, or rehearsed conversation ­ are what give life true meaning. Beyond that, for those of us who hold positions of influence, the ability to be present, to embody leadership presence, is not only critical for us as individuals, but it also has a ripple effect on those around us: our families and friends, the organisation we work within, the community we live in, and potentially the world at large. Just as a pebble thrown into a still pond can create ripples spreading throughout the whole of the pond, so too can the cultivation of leadership presence go far beyond the effect it has on us alone.

Om Namah Shivay