Abstract
Leadership takes on many forms and definitions. Mindful leadership is a form of leadership that incorporates elements of mindfulness to foster a positive workplace environment through compassion, focus, creativity, and inclusion. The diversity of today's workplace calls for mindful leaders who practice collaboration, motivation, and respect for all individuals. When individuals feel respected and included, motivation and job performance increases. This chapter discusses the concept of mindfulness, benefits of mindful leadership, ways to become a mindful leader, applying results of the DISC self-assessment, and ways to promote mindful leadership in diverse workplaces. Problems such as employee turnover, productivity, and motivation as they relate to employee satisfaction will also be addressed.
TopBackground
Today’s diverse workplaces call for a need to address the personal and professional challenges faced by employees and leaders such as anxiety, stress, unsettling social and world issues, and job security. Added to workplaces stress are personal challenges navigating through uncertain times and demanding workplace responsibilities. Today’s diverse workplaces call for mindful leaders to put knowledge and skills into action for the greater good of the organization and the individuals who comprise the workplace while fostering a sense of balance and collaboration. The concept of mindfulness includes concepts of meditation, self-awareness, compassion, and reflection. Individuals have been practicing mindfulness for thousands of years. The concept has roots in Hinduism and Buddhism as well as yoga and more recently, non-religious meditation (Selva, J., 2017). The are many reasons why mindfulness and mindful leadership have become more popular in diverse workplaces. The recent pandemic, high anxiety, uncertainty of social issues, and an increased emphasis on work/life balance all contribute to an increased application of mindfulness and cultivating mindful leaders. When an individual is balanced, focused, self-aware, and exhibits passion for a profession, the entire organization benefits from a positive and productive workplace.
Employee satisfaction is essential for creating a positive and productive workplace culture. When employees are happy with the work they do, are proud of their performance, and respect their leaders and managers, workplaces are more productive with reduced employee turnover. Leaders and managers set the tone for a department and have a major impact on the morale of their employees. Since March 2020, our way of living, working, and connecting with others has been altered forever. Mindful leaders can promote a secure, balanced, inclusive, and healthy workplace.
Wang (2022) affirms that being mindful makes it possible to shift out of negative thinking to handle challenges more effectively. Increasingly, people are recognizing the importance of emotional wellness in relation to their business tasks. Over the next decade, workplaces will likely undergo a massive overhaul, with additional features designed to increase mental and emotional health, performance, and productivity (p. 1). Wang (2022) also cites a survey by real estate services company CBRE, in which 80 per cent of their employees think that a company’s wellness offerings will be crucial in retaining them in the long run (p.1). These organizational shifts make mindfulness and mindful leadership important in creating balanced and successful diverse workplaces where all individuals feel valued.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Mindfulness: Maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens. Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in each moment.
DISC Assessment: Behavioral self-assessment tools based on the 1928 DISC emotional and behavioral theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston. The tools are designed to predict job performance. DISC is an acronym, the theory describing personality through four claimed central traits: dominance, inducement, submission, and compliance.
Integrity: The skill is often seen as just truthfulness or honesty. However, it also means having—and standing by—a set of strong values. It is behaving honorably, even when no one is watching. Integrity in the workplace often means making ethical choices and helping the company maintain a positive image. All businesses seek to hire workers who have a strong sense of integrity.
Compassion: Compassion literally means “to suffer together.” Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.
Decisiveness: A valuable leadership skill that can help move projects along faster and improve efficiency.
Problem-Solving: Mindful leaders are skilled at problem-solving issues that arise on the job. Effective problem-solving often requires staying calm and identifying a step-by-step solution. A mindful leader can help others in the diverse workplace make quick decisions, resolve obstacles with their team and external teams alike, and ensure projects are finished on time, according to the specifications.
Relationship Building: The skills associated with team building. It requires other leadership strengths, like effective communication skills and conflict resolution.
Dependability: A dependable person follows through on plans and keeps promises. The strong relationships built by a mindful leader in diverse workplaces create a resilient team that can work through difficulties that may arise. Being a dependable, mindful leader means meeting deadlines, being straightforward, coming through obligations or when you cannot meet a promise or a goal, communicating this early on and having a backup plan.
Mindful Leadership: A mindfulness-based management approach that enables someone to focus their full attention on each project at a given time. Plus, mindful leadership does not only benefit the manager, but their team and business.
RAIN: A meditation technique, based on the ancient Buddhist practice of mindfulness meditation. acronym for Recognition, Acceptance, Investigation, and Non-Identification. Since creating RAIN, Michele McDonald has expanded the acronym to RAINDROP, which includes Distraction, Resistance, Obliviousness, and Personification.
Leadership Skills: The skills that help individuals encourage and organize other people to reach a shared goal.