Beyond the Book
In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this book also comes with a free access-anywhere Cheat Sheet that provides top tips on becoming a mindful leader, the most recent research into mindful leadership and developing a leadership approach that works best for you. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Mindful Leadership For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
We also offer further resources that go with this book.
❯❯ Visit the Resources page of www.aheadforwork.com for leadership, productivity and mindfulness resources. You can also use this website to get in touch with Juliet about the programmes offered.
❯❯ Go to www.workplacemt.com to find out more about WorkplaceMT mindfulness training, its research base, teachers and teacher training.
❯❯ Check out The Mindfulness Exchange Ltd. (TME; www.mindfulness-exchange.com). Marina is the owner of TME, which is a spin-off from Oxford University’s Oxford Mindfulness Centre (OMC) that provides mindfulness training for the workplace. You can use this website to contact Marina.
❯❯ To find out more about mindfulness and its research basis and to browse books and resources, check out www.mindfulnet.org, the mindfulness information website.
We’ve recorded MP3s to guide you when you practice the formal mindfulness exercises as detailed in Chapters 8 through 13. Download them from www.dummies.com/go/mindfulleadershipfd.
Where to Go from Here
This book is designed so that you can dip in and out as you please. You’re invited to make good use of the table of contents (or the index) and jump straight into the part or chapter that grabs your attention. You’re in charge, and it’s up to you.
If you’re new to mindful leadership, or not sure where to start, begin with Part 1, and you’ll have a better idea of how to proceed. If you’re ready to start your mindfulness development, start at Chapter 7, and then work through Chapters 8 to 13 in order.
We wish you all the best in your quest to be a more mindful leader and hope you find lots of valuable ideas and information within these pages. Above all, see this book as an exploration with nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Part 1
Breaking the Mould
IN THIS PART …
Explore what mindful leadership is and how it can work for you.
Examine the leadership challenges of the modern workplace.
Discover the potential and limitations of your brain and become aware of your unconscious drivers.
Chapter 1
Exploring Mindful Leadership
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding mindfulness and leadership
Exploring the evolution of mindfulness
Discovering the benefits of mindful leadership
Mindful leadership is about flexibility of thought and actions, breaking out of autopilot and habitual behaviours and being the best you can be in any given moment. Mindfulness certainly isn’t a silver bullet or a quick fix; it takes time and practice. But every great journey starts with one step, and this book will be your companion and guide every step of the way.
Establishing the Facts about Mindfulness and Leadership
In this section, we start with the basics and establish a shared understanding of what mindfulness is and how it can enhance your leadership capability.
Mindfulness is all about your ability to focus attention on the situation at hand with the intention to observe the judgments you make and choose how to respond appropriately. Developing this ability helps you to step away from automatic habitual responses to observe present-moment reality with an open mind and to make smarter decisions.
Everyone has the capacity to be mindful, but like anything worthwhile, it takes time, effort and practice. In the section ‘Deconstructing Mindfulness’ you’ll find a more succinct definition of mindfulness and how to develop it for yourself.
The definition of leadership varies subtly from theory to theory. At its most basic, leadership is a process of social influence where a person (the leader) secures the help and support of others to accomplish a shared task.
In recent years, leadership theory has started to focus on the leader as one human being, leading other human beings. Recent discoveries in neuroscience and psychology have transformed our knowledge of how the human brain learns, reacts to different stimulus, and interprets what’s happening.
On a daily basis, as a leader, you’re involved in changing people’s brains – literally! Everyday ordinary and extraordinary life events are the catalysts for thoughts, decisions and learning, which in turn change the structure of the brain physically. Understanding your brain, and how and why others do what they do, helps you use your brain more effectively. Applying neuroscience to your actions and behaviours as a leader helps make you a more effective, adaptive and resilient leader. You can find out more about this in Chapter 3.
Mindfulness is now recognised as a foundational skill for effective leadership. Peter Drucker once said that we can’t manage others unless we learn to manage ourselves first. Mindfulness increases self-awareness, which enables you to manage yourself better. Mindful leadership combines the practice of mindfulness with practical management and leadership techniques, enabling leaders to engage a wider range of their capacities to the challenges at hand. Check out Chapters 15, 16 and 17 for the practical application of mindfulness to everyday work challenges.
Exploring the Benefits of Mindful Leadership
Having considered the meaning of both mindfulness and leadership (see previous section), you may be asking yourself, ‘What’s in it for me?’ The following sections drill deeper into the role of leadership today, the evolution and modern-day uses of mindfulness, and practical ways to apply mindfulness to your work as a leader.
Ideas about what makes a good leader have changed and evolved dramatically over the years. In the 1920s and 1930s, trait theories argued that leaders were born. From the 1940s to the 1960s, behavioural theories argued