It can be very challenging for leaders to deal with and balance the demands of managing people, procedures, finances, politics, schedules, and technology.
One way to manage all these stresses is mindfulness, which is the practice of focusing awareness on the present moment and acknowledging and accepting the feelings, thoughts, and physical sensations that occur there as a way to calm or clear the mind.
Wendy Quan, founder of The Calm Monkey platform that provides mindfulness training and facilitation to individuals and organizations, says that a few practical mindfulness exercises enable leaders to handle all pressures better and motivate their teams whenever they want, and that practicing mindful leadership pays off in creating a more engaged team.
Mindfulness exercises help you become more aware of your inner and outer world. They also help you break free from the automatic self-control mode, so you move on to another issue after solving the previous one.
According to Quan, who has experience working with big companies like Google, we may be more present in the present if we can let go of our attachment to the past and our concerns about the future. We pay attention to what we are doing right now and concentrate on it. Developing a more engaged team will benefit from conscious leadership and giving subordinates our full attention.
This delivers results ranging from calming to life-changing. She adds that the CIOs and IT leaders I've worked with have been strong proponents of these practices.
Mindfulness exercises that IT leaders can learn
1. Give yourself time to think
When to use it
When your brain is having trouble getting all the things you need done.
How to do it
Stop and ask yourself: Do I need to think about this right now? "This simple question draws your attention to noticing what's on your mind," Quan says. "So, take just a moment to identify your thoughts and what's stressing you out, and then determine which ones are effective over others. Efficient thoughts serve a purpose, like planning a schedule, but inefficient thoughts and actions serve no purpose but cause stress, such as repeatedly recalling a previous conversation.
When you give yourself time to acknowledge and categorize your thoughts, you can consciously choose what to do about them. “If your thoughts are useless, find something else to think about,” Quan advises. For example, instead of thinking about how to deal with a difficult employee, devote that mental energy to something that will benefit you.
Benefits
This method is great for clearing the mind and is one of Quan's favorites for dealing with the "monkey mind," which is a term that describes an unstable, disturbed, or disoriented mind within which endless implicit dialogues take place, causing stress.
2. Feel your body
When to use it
When you're waiting for a meeting to start, making a big decision, waiting for the elevator, or at the airport.
How to do it
According to Quan, mindfulness practices often use the body as a way to manifest, so take advantage of all those short moments of waiting in your day to shift your attention to how you feel in your body in the present moment.
There are several ways to draw full attention to the sensations in your body. First, take several forced deep breaths, starting from your chest and working your way down to your stomach. If you wish, you can count in your mind. If there is not much time to wait, stop there. It's also not a bad idea to take a few deep breaths to help you relax and get your bearings. As Quan puts it, you may smoothly feel your body's weight and contact with the chair you're sitting on or your feet on the floor.
You can also notice your body position; for example, do you feel cramping in your torso, abdomen, or shoulders? Do you put pressure on your jaw? “Feel the areas in your body that are tense and let them relax,” Quan says.
Benefits
Quan says that these techniques can provide a significant physical stress reliever, not to mention that they give your mind a break from a busy day and make you feel more relaxed.
3. Give full attention to a difficult person
When to use it
Especially whenever you have to interact with people you do not like.
How to do it
“The quality of your interactions with others can change significantly when you openly give them your full attention,” says Quan. So, the next time you have a meeting with a difficult person, make an unwanted phone call, or have a discussion with an unhelpful business partner, remove all your preconceived notions about the person in that interaction.
Quan says, “No matter how nervous or busy you are, observe the other person’s behavior, facial expressions, movements, and emotional state. Pay your full attention to make them feel that you are paying attention and listening to them.”
Benefits
Quan says that although being around annoying people is something we don't like, many people report positive transformations in their work and personal relationships once they start practicing this exercise.
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