As you may have seen in our announcement last week, we recently updated our tagline for Chatsworth Consulting Group to more strongly reflect our focus on Thoughtful Leadership. The tagline is: Thoughtful Leadership. Be present. Be intentional. Be authentic. Get results. It speaks to the core of what we believe in and what we know from experience works for successful leaders.
While we love our new tagline, it means nothing without substantive ways to practice and bring to life the principles of presence, intention, and authenticity. Over the next several months, we will share more information, ideas, and insights about these principles and challenge you to incorporate them into your daily life so that you can get results.
To understand the principles of Thoughtful Leadership, you can look to one important concept that is tied very closely to these principles – mindfulness. Mindfulness is the art (or science) of quieting the mind and paying attention to one’s thoughts, emotions, and experiences in a nonjudgmental way. Anyone who has practiced meditation understands the benefits of mindfulness for centering your physical, emotional, and mental states and bringing them into balance. Author and meditation guru Amit Ray wrote, “If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” That is at the heart of being mindful.
There are many ways to practice mindfulness and Thoughtful Leadership. And the good news is that organizations are starting to recognize the benefits of mindfulness practices. In fact, more and more organizations are beginning to introduce these practices within the workplace to help reduce stress, focus on work-life balance, and improve productivity and creativity.
New York Times reporter David Gelles has written a book called Mindful Work to delve into the ways in which mindfulness and meditation have evolved in the corporate arena. This review of his book for strategy + business offers a peek into some of the history and case studies that Gelles shares.
Reading his book will open up possibilities for how you can introduce mindfulness to your organization and demonstrate the value of Thoughtful Leadership. It’s easy to look at this and think, “I would be laughed out of the room if I suggested this,” or “this is just too woo-woo for my team.” However, taking a bold step to test the waters, talking it up, and finding a few like-minded individuals willing to take up the cause with you, will surely get you into action and open the door to a whole new way to engage people at work.
To learn more about how to bring mindfulness to your work, take a look at this recent HBR article that offers great ideas for de-stressing your work environment.
Mindfulness can potentially help bring you and your organization into balance, and it can surely enhance your Thoughtful Leadership and your ability to be present, intentional, and authentic. Find the way it works for you and give it a try.
How can mindfulness and Thoughtful Leadership improve your organization?
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If you enjoyed this post, you can read more like it in our book, The Power of Thoughtful Leadership: 101 Minutes To Being the Leader You Want To Be, available on Amazon.
To learn more about our approach to Thoughtful Leadership, contact Robyn at rmcleod@chatsworthconsulting.com.
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