Mindful Leadership

Mindful Leadership
Thursday, September 16, 2010
posted by jim 8:44 AM

One of my colleagues discovered an article in the Harvard Business Review that provides a thoughtful fusion of Eastern and Western thinking to improve leadership. Here is the Executive Summary:

“Harvard Business School professor William George is fusing Western understanding about leadership with Eastern wisdom about the mind to develop leaders who are self-aware and self-compassionate. An interview about his recent Mindful Leadership conference taught with a Buddhist meditation master.

Key concepts include:

People who are mindful—fully present and aware—can become more effective leaders.

Leaders with low emotional intelligence often lack self-awareness and self-compassion, which can lead to a lack of self-regulation.

Authenticity is developed by becoming more self-aware and having compassion for oneself.

Group support provides nonjudgmental feedback in order to recognize blind spots, accept shortcomings, and gain confidence.”

In times when we are all looking for answers to address challenges most of us have not seen in our lifetimes, this thoughtful fusion of Eastern wisdom and Western thoughts on leadership is great reading. Here is a link to the complete article for your review: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6482.html?wknews=090710