Mindful leadership is harder to implement than it sounds, since executives and business-owners are some of the busiest people in the world. Suppose you’re CEO of a Fortune 500 company, mother of two, and president of the school board. Wearing all of those hats at once easily gets distracting.

Ask yourself: As CEO, are you present during your meetings? Or are you checking your phone or emails while others talk? Do you truly listen to an employee, shareholder, or director who isn’t happy with the company’s current state? Or are you so caught up in thinking about what you’re going to say in response you barely hear what they’re communicating? (This was me.)

The surprising benefits of mindful leadership

With your own regular mindfulness practice, you can reap the benefits of mindful leadership at work. Here are some of practical benefits of successful mindful leadership in the workplace:

1. Being mindful creates purpose, clarity, vision, intention, and commitment. The state of “being” vs. “doing” creates awareness, connection, and Presence.
2. Showing up and taking action is the premise to results.
3. Being detached from results means to be fully engaged in the process of business in intimate detail, without forgetting we are in business to produce results. Additionally, detachment allows us to let go of substandard activities more easily.
4. Being responsible gives employees power and trust; and being nonjudgmental creates a fuller awareness of the intimacies of business and promotes inclusion.
5. Fostering relationships through service, keeping your word, and listening means you have deep, lasting, trusting contacts through good times and bad.
6. Being in Flow makes employees feel better, be more productive, and connect with other important contacts.
7. Generating profits increases affluence, which allows us to influence our environment, communities, and politics.
8. Being grateful changes employees’ mindsets to be more open and productive; giving generously and being in service of others are the right things to do and enormously beneficial to business.
9. Having employees who accept their roles, are not resistant to what they need do, and who do not constantly complain is an obvious production gain and stress reduction.
10. Taking everything impersonally and letting business events flow through us means we are not making emotional decisions and not emotionally drained by every dip in stock price. If there is something to do about it, do it. If there is nothing we can do about it, accept it.
11. Having beginners’ minds and staying curious allows us to be open to possibilities and to see the enormous potential for business growth.

There is no doubt that following these principles will increase the bottom line, while at the same time improving peace of mind, focus, joy, and important relationships.

7 simple hacks to practice mindful leadership

If you’re new to mindfulness but would like to try it, use these simple exercises to get started:

1. Read ten pages per day from an inspirational book, starting with my new book, Profit with Presence.
2. Journal your dreams and whatever is coming up or bothering you.
3. Journal three things you are grateful for and why to practice gratitude.
4. Set a timer for 1 minute and use that time to practice taking calm, deep breaths.
5. Do a body scan, starting your focus at the top of your head and slowly panning down your body, for 3 minutes.
6. Do simple, mindful movement like taking an easy walk or stretching for 5 minutes, noticing without judgement how your body feels while doing it.
7. Meditate for 2 minutes.

Start by doing one small practice each day, and slowly add onto that practice either by elongating the time spent doing one mindful activity or increasing the variety of mindful practices that you try. By practicing, you will naturally become more mindful at work, and you and your business will reap the benefits.

I wrote a book, Profit with Presence: The 12 Pillars of Mindful Leadership, which goes in to further detail about this topic and more.

Although the world is currently abuzz with the term “mindfulness,” some believe mindfulness is a fringe activity to be practiced before or after the workday, if at all. Too few business professionals take the time needed to be present and aware throughout the workday, which is counterproductive. Mindfulness is not only a path to personal success, but a sound business strategy.  

My hope is to positively impact the world through infusing more mindfulness into business -- and it starts with each of us individually. Together, we can create a future where mindfulness is deeply embedded in our work culture, leading to greater well-being, productivity, and meaningful success for all.

- Dr Eric Holsapple