It seems a lot is being written about Mindfulness. Even the Seahawks talk about mindfulness as important as lifting weights in the gym. This past week we were fortunate to have Dr. Jeremy Hunter from the Drucker School meet with our HRoundtable and discuss mindfulness as a critical foundation for leadership performance. Jeremy teaches this in the Executive MBA program at Drucker.
Peter Drucker was way ahead of his time when he said, "We can not manage others until we learn to manage ourselves first." I was fortunate to attend one of Jeremy Hunter's EMBA classes and it changed the way I think about traditional executive education. It was not traditional and it was entirely inspirational. I observed senior leaders engaged, open and sharing their internal challenges and what gets in the way of managing their "minds."
This is beyond stress management - the practical side of this is that we want to get results as leaders and how can we do that if we don't take care of us first. The 24x7 world or getting emails from your boss at 10 pm with an expectation that you are engaged to respond immediately is just not reality today. Many see that as intrusive and "when can the boss chill?"
There are courses and conversations about intention, focus, awareness, conscious action and all that is refreshing. I think we are reaching the point where something has to give - congratulations to those of you that are learning mindfulness and listening to your emotions, feelings and thoughts in the workplace too.
Thank you HRoundtable (our group of 24 HR leaders in OC) and your openness and desire for building resilience in a chaotic and fast moving business world.