At the beginning of Mindful Leadership Training, I do an exercise with participants where we explore the qualities of outstanding leadership. It is always an eye opener for people to fully appreciate that most of these are emotional intelligence skills like: good listener/communicator, courageous, empathetic, respectful, accountable, optimistic, confident, visionary, authentic.
However, when people review their day to day activities, it’s clear that their tendency is to spend most of their time ‘getting things done’ and much less ‘interacting, communication and actually leading.
Leaders are confused about what matters most…
Brett Steenbarger wrote a great article about this for Forbes entitled: ‘Becoming the leader you would want to follow’. (There is a link to the full article at the bottom of this page)
Leaders are confused: Happiness Matters!
In it, he also reveals several other delightful paradoxes…. The fact that happiness precedes success rather than results from it. So, a reminder that ‘state of mind’ is fundamental to everything…
Leaders are confused: Caring about people matters!
and who and how you are as a leader and how you treat people really determines your success. So, an open compassionate approach creates wholehearted engagement and collaboration rather than the more common ‘means to an end’ approach.
