What are the benefits of a mindfulness practice for CEOs and business leaders?

The practice of mindfulness meditation is about generating greater mental clarity, presence, and effectiveness so that you can realize more of your potential on a professional and personal level. 

Jon Kabat-Zinn, a leader in the field defines mindfulness as “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” 

Extensive research and studies in the last 50 years have provided us with tangible data on the benefits of mindfulness.

In this article, we’re going to explore the benefits of mindfulness for CEOs, business leaders and employees. 

Mindfulness has been shown to: 

Increase the ability to manage attention and focus. At the core of a mindfulness practice is learning to manage your attention. When you learn how to manage your attention (in effect managing your thoughts) you learn to hold your focus intentionally on what you choose, whether it’s an email, a meeting, a task, or the people you are with. You become more present in the here and now which, ultimately, has a huge impact on your productivity.

Reduce stress: Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress, mitigate the risk of burnout and build one of the most valuable capacities in fast-paced, highly stressful work environments: resilience. Practiced consistently, short mindfulness meditation has been shown to enable the nervous system to move out of the sympathetic (fight, flight and freeze state) and return to a parasympathetic (calm, quiet) state which is deeply rejuvenating and healing.

Calm an overthinking mind: The ability to reduce the “friction” caused by overthinking has a direct impact on the ability to make quick decisions and to see problems or challenges more clearly. In one study, researchers asked 20 novice meditators to participate in a 10-day mindfulness meditation retreat. After the retreat, the meditation group shared having significantly higher self-reported mindfulness and a decreased negative overthinking compared to the control group. (Chambers et al. (2008) 

Boost creativity and innovation: Creativity and innovation are 2 key essential assets that enable businesses to stay ahead of the curve. Researchers at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands, set out to understand the impact of mindfulness on creativity and its capacity to increase a solution-oriented state of mind. The researchers found that a daily mindfulness practice – even if the meditators had no prior meditation experience–  led to a significant increase in divergent thinking which allows new ideas to be generated. They also found that the subjects were able to generate a wider range of creative and innovative ideas.

Improve problem-solving capacity:  Implementing a regular mindfulness practice has been shown to improve cognitive function resulting in increased concentration, reduced cognitive rigidity, faster reaction times, and better memory, 

Increase focus: In a world where we’re bombarded with information and distractions abound, focus is key to staying on the leading edge. Researchers compared a group of mindfulness meditators with a control group that had never meditated before. They found that the meditation group had significantly better performance on all measures of attention and had higher self-reported mindfulness that correlated directly with cognitive flexibility and attentional functioning – the ability to achieve and maintain an alert state. (Moore and Malinowski, 2009). Mindfulness is, therefore, a great tool to help teams focus and become more productive.

Improve relationships + communication skills: A leader’s ability to be mindful is crucial to improve the quality of their relationships. Mindfulness has been shown to improve the ability to be more compassionate, empathic, and communicate better, even during stressful or challenging times. (Dekeyser el al., 2008) 

Lower emotional reactivity: Researchers found that a short, daily mindfulness meditation practice helped people disengage more quickly from emotionally triggering thoughts and regain a calm state of mind more quickly. (Ortner et al., 2007).

Based on this research, we can clearly see that implementing a mindfulness practice will benefit CEOs, leaders, and everyone in the workplace.

Investing in the well-being and resilience of employees is not just the right thing to do, it’s a phenomenal investment that pays out dividends on all levels.

On a financial and performance level, equipping your employees with mindfulness tools offers tangible and significant ROI.

But mindfulness can also affect culture and relationships by creating an environment that promotes well-being over stress, creative thinking, more effortless productivity, and greater innovation. 

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