Leadership & Mindfulness - Mobius Executive Leadership

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessattention, mindfulness is also beingincorporated into executive programsat several business schools includingHarvard Business School, the PeterF. Drucker School of Management,IMD in Lausanne, and the Universityof Cape Town. 46 The WeatherheadSchool of Management at Case WesternReserve University has set up theworld’s first executive program onMindfulness for Enhanced Performance,which includes modules onmindful awareness, cognitive agility,mindful communications andmanagement practices for enhancingmindfulness. 47 And the world ofexecutive coaching is also embracingmindfulness. According to DouglasRiddle, Director of the GlobalCoaching Program at the Center forCreative Leadership, mindfulnessoffers a new paradigm for individualand organisational change, “a powerfulalternative to the coercive andlinear assumptions that have dominatedour thinking.” He believesthat it could lead to radical improvementsin the quality and impact ofcoaching, as “mindfulness practicesprepare coaches to really help insteadof just trying to be helpful.” 48These are still very early days inthe development of mindful leadership,a time of great creativity andinnovation in the development andapplication of ideas and approaches.We are seeing the birth of many newleadership models that emphasisethe importance of mindfulness, includingBoyatzis & McKee’s ResonantLeadership, 49 Kofman’s ConsciousBusiness, 50 Wilber’s Integral Leadership,51 Heifetz’s Adaptive Leadership, 52Scharmer’s Theory U, 53 McKinsey’sCentred Leadership, 54 and severalvarieties of mindful leadership 55 andauthentic leadership. 56 The benefitsof mindfulness have been provenfor stress management, developingemotional intelligence and cultivatingawareness and focus. And thebusiness and financial impacts of lessstressed, happier and more engagedemployees are becoming harderfor senior executives to ignore. Asinnovation in the organisational applicationof mindfulness continuesand as best practices are established,it seems likely that the momentumtowards more mindful leadershipwill continue to grow.Mindfulness, ethics2 and wisdomThe enthusiasm for mindfulness iswell justified, as its benefits are realand important. Most of us couldbenefit from paying more attention,being more present and savouringlife more. Our workplaces andhomes would be better places if wewere more skilled at emotional selfregulation,so were not as negativeand reactive when feeling stressed orcriticised. Many of us would like tobe able to show more patience andkindness to the people who mattermost to us. And, as the positive psychologymovement has reminded us,we could probably all benefit fromcultivating more inner peace andappreciation of life. 57 But if we limitour understanding of mindfulnessto this, then we will have missed themore profound role that mindfulnessplays as a transformational path, andin particular its potential contributionto leadership development.There is growing recognitionof the challenges presented by theunprecedented pace of change, complexity,and turbulence of businessin the 21st century. “Leaders tell usthey are operating in a bewilderingnew environment in which littleis certain,” says Dominic Barton,Global Managing Director of McKinsey.“The tempo is quicker, and thedynamics are more complex. Leadersworry that it is impossible forchief executives to stay on top of allthe things they need to know to dotheir job. Some admit they feel overwhelmed.”58 There is a need for newapproaches to leadership. Nick Petrieof the Center for Creative Leadershipargues that it is no longer enough tocome up with models of best practice,but instead we need to respond to “thedevelopment challenge – the processof how to grow “bigger” minds.” 59In particular, we need more than“horizontal development” of competenciesand the incorporationof new information into existingframeworks. There needs to begreater emphasis on “vertical development”that fosters progressionthrough developmental stages andresults in transformational changeof the leader’s ways of knowing andbeing, 60 and this development needsto include the cultivation of ethicsand wisdom. “Leaders who do nottake time for introspection and reflectionmay be vulnerable to beingseduced by external rewards, suchas power, money, and recognition,”says Bill George of Harvard BusinessSchool. “Or they may feel a needto appear so perfect to others thatthey cannot admit vulnerabilitiesand acknowledge mistakes. Someof the recent difficulties of Hewlett-Packard, British Petroleum, CEOs offailed Wall Street firms, and dozensof leaders who failed in the post-Enron era are examples of this.” 61The US Army has long placed anemphasis on developing leadershipcharacter in its BE, KNOW, DOapproach to leadership (that is, character,competence and action), 62 andother organisations are realising thebenefits of this approach. In termsof mindful leadership, this meansbroadening the focus from stress reductionand emotional intelligenceto include questions of character,ethics and wisdom.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 7

jects and experiences of similar typesinto categories. “Just as mindlessnessis the rigid reliance on old categories,”she says, “mindfulness means the continualcreation of new ones.” 71 This inturn requires opennessto new informationand awareness thatthere is always morethan one possible perspective.She reaffirms the Buddhistnotion that there is no intrinsic identityto phenomena, noting that “every idea,person or object is potentially simultaneouslymany things depending on theperspective from which it is viewed. Asteer is a steak to a rancher, a sacredobject to a Hindu, and a collection ofgenes and proteins to a molecular biologist.”Buddhist teacher Thich NhatHanh offers a more poetic descriptionof the process: “For things to revealthemselves to us, we need to be readyto abandon our views about them.” 72Since there is no “correct” framing, theability to choose the most appropriateand helpful framing in any situationbecomes an essential leadership skill.As leaders become more mindfuland aware of the mindsets andmental models that influence theirthoughts, emotions and behaviour,they gain more capacity in choosingwhich mindset to apply. This in turnincreases their capability and choicein governing their actions and decisions.Peter Senge, Professor at MITSloan School of Management, haswritten about the importance of cultivatingawareness of mental modelsin his groundbreaking book The FifthDiscipline. 73 Similarly, Bob Kegan,Professor of Adult Learning at HarvardUniversity, has laid out a modelof cognitive development in whichindividuals grow by increasing theirawareness of the mindsets and narrativesthey hold around things likehow they see themselves as individuals,their values, and the purpose andmeaning of their lives. 74 Likewise, BillTorbert, Professor of Management atthe Carroll School of Managementat Boston College, argues that what“Many business leaders have spoken of the needto think deeply about values and ensure thatactions remain aligned with intentions”differentiates leaders is not so muchtheir philosophy of leadership, theirpersonality, or their style of management.Rather, “it’s their internal“action logic”—how they interprettheir surroundings and react whentheir power or safety is challenged.” 75Ron Heifetz, Co-founder of theCenter for Public Leadership at theJohn F. Kennedy School of Governmentat Harvard University, hasperhaps come closest to a leadershipperspective that incorporatesthe mindfulness of mindsets. “Fewpractical ideas are more obvious ormore critical than the need to getperspective in the midst of action,”he writes with his colleague MartyLinsky. “Buddhists call it “karmayoga,” or mindfulness. We call thisskill “getting off the dancefloor andgoing to the balcony,” an image thatcaptures the mental activity of steppingback in the midst of action andasking, “What’s going on here?” 76If they are to avoid simply gettingswept up in the flow of events, leadersneed to be able to move backand forth between the balcony anddancefloor. They need to make interventionsand observe their impactin real time, and then return to theaction. Heifetz and Linsky talk aboutthis as “reflective practice,” where thegoal is to come as close as possible tobeing in both places simultaneously,“as if you had one eye looking fromthe dance floor and one eye lookingdown from the balcony, watching allLEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessthe action, including your own. Thisis a critical point: When you observefrom the balcony, you must see yourselfas well as the other participants.Perhaps this is the hardest task of all– to see yourself objectively.”Developing thecapacity to see oneselfobjectively, especiallyin real time, is indeeda very hard task. However, for over2500 years the mindfulness and wisdomtraditions have developed andrefined ways to cultivate this capacity,and their relevance and importancefor leadership has never been greater.In summary, mindset-based approachesto leadership developmentare becoming increasingly influential.However, there is not yet widespreaduse of practices from the mindfulnessand wisdom traditions to develop realtime,“on the balcony and in the dance,”awareness of these mindsets. Furthermore,work on mindsets has not yetbeen integrated with the mindfulnessbasedapproach to leadership comingfrom Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR tradition.This opens up a fertile opportunity todevelop a new generation of tools andapproaches for mindful leadership.Mindfulness: an integratedapproachWe have seen that there are twoapproaches to mindfulness in theWestern scientific tradition: Jon Kabat-Zinn’s approach of paying attentionto physical sensations, emotions andthoughts in the present moment;and Ellen Langer’s approach of payingattention to our mindsets, whichin turn frame our relationship to oursensations, emotions and thoughts.These two forms of mindfulness arerelated to the two selves outlined byNobel laureate Daniel Kahneman inhis book Thinking Fast and Slow, “theexperiencing self, which does the liv-www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 9

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessing, and the remembering self, whichkeeps score and makes the choices.” 77Both are important to our happinessand success. By taking an integratedapproach that combines both forms ofmindfulness, we come full circle to theoriginal teaching by the Buddha in theSatipatthana sutta. 78 In that text, mindfulnessisn’t seen as a unitaryphenomenon, but rather asan awareness operating at fourdifferent levels: body, feelings,thoughts, and dhammas. Thefourth level, which is based onthe Pali word ‘dhammas,’ maybe translated as ‘phenomena’. 79 Just asin Ellen Langer’s work, Mahayana Buddhismholds that the phenomena we seeand experience are determined by ourmindsets. So an integrated approachto mindful leadership would includemindfulness of body, feelings, thoughtsand mindsets. Many of the necessaryelements are already in place, and thedevelopment of tools and approachesthat incorporate the four foundations ofmindfulness offers an exciting agendafor the future of mindful leadership andtransformational leadership programs.“As we develop richer and more accuratemental maps, our capacities for practicalreasoning and intuition improve, openingup the possibility for us to make better –and wiser – decisions”ConclusionMindful leadership is emerging froma hugely creative encounter betweenBuddhism and modern science that hasbeen underway for more than 30 years.It offers powerful, evidence-basedmethods to reduce stress, developemotional intelligence and increasepersonal effectiveness. Leading organisationssuch as Google, Genentech andthe US Army have confirmed the benefitsof cultivating greater mindfulness inthe workplace, and awareness is spreadingto executives in other organisations.Meanwhile, innovative workis being done at the frontiersof leadership developmentto integrate mindfulnessinto new ways of buildingtransformational leadership.Although much has alreadybeen accomplished, the dialoguebetween Buddhism, science and leadershipis still in its infancy. There isevery reason to look forward to a muchbigger role for mindful leadership inthe years ahead. ■Notes1. Bill George (2012) “Mindfulness helps youbecome a better leader,” Harvard Business Reviewonline, www.hbr.org, 26 October 20122. Peter Bregman (2012) “Take Your Life Back,”Harvard Business Review online, www.hbr.org, 23October 20123. Tony Schwartz (2010) Be Excellent At Anything,New York: Free Press, p.34. Robert Yerkes & John Dodson (1908) “Therelation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habitformation,”Journal of Comparative Neurology andPsychology, 18: pp.459-4825. David Diamond, Adam Campbell, CollinPark, Joshua Halonen, and Phillip Zoladz (2007)“The Temporal Dynamics Model of EmotionalMemory Processing: A Synthesis on the NeurobiologicalBasis of Stress-Induced Amnesia, Flashbulband Traumatic Memories, and the Yerkes-DodsonLaw,” Neural Plasticity, 2007:60803, 28 March 20076. Derek Dean & Caroline Webb (2011) “Recoveringfrom information overload,” McKinseyQuarterly online, www.mckinseyquarterly.com,January 20117. Jennifer Robison (2010) “DisengagementCan Really Be Depressing,” Gallup Business Journalonline, www.businessjournal.gallup.com, 2 April20108. Michael Chaskalson (2011) The MindfulWorkplace, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p.599. Tom Rath & Jim Harter (2012) “Unhealthy,Stressed Employees Are Hurting Your Business,”Gallup Business Journal online, www.businessjournal.gallup.com,22 May 201210. Rich Fernandez (2012) op. cit.; TowersPerrin (2008) Global Workforce Study 2007-2008,TP531-08; James Harter, Frank Schmidt & CoreyKeyes (2003) Well-Being in the Workplace and itsRelationship to Business Outcomes: A Review ofthe Gallup Studies; Corporate Leadership Council(2004) Driving Performance and Retention ThroughEmployee Engagement, London: Corporate ExecutiveBoard11. Kenneth Freeman (2011) “To Create Long-Term Shareholder Value, Start with Employees,”Harvard Business Review online, www.hbr.org, 12October 201112. Mara Der Hovanesian (2003) “Zen and theArt of Corporate Productivity,” Business Week, 28July 200313. Rich Fernandez (2012) “California Screamin’,”presentation on mindful leadership at SearchInside Yourself Leadership Institute, San Francisco, 11December 201214. Jon Kabat-Zinn (1994) Wherever You Go,There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in EverydayLife, New York: Hyperion15. Thich Nhat Hanh (2011) The Long RoadTurns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation, BerkeleyCA: Parallax Press16. Mark Williams (2011), quoted in JulietAdams (2012) The Business Case for Mindfulnessin the Workplace, www.mindfulnet.org, p.12; MarkWilliams & Danny Penman (2011) Mindfulness: APractical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World,London: Piatkus17. Anonymous (1936) “Book Review: ‘BuddhistMeditation in the Southern School,’ by G.Constant Lounsbery,” Psychiatric Quarterly, Vol. 10,Issue 3, pp.524-525, July 193618. Joel Stein, David Bjerklie, Alice Park, DavidVan Biema, Karen Ann Cullotta & Jeanne McDowell(2003) “Just Say Om,” Time Magazine, 4 August 200319. Aimee Groth & Kim Bhasin (2011) “Here’sWhy We Ranked Steve Jobs the Best CEO inAmerica,” Business Insider, 25 August 2011; MortenHansen, Herminia Ibarra & Urs Peyer (2013) “TheBest Performing CEOs in the World,” Harvard BusinessReview, January-February 201320. Walter Isaacson (2012) “The Real LeadershipLessons of Steve Jobs,” Harvard Business Reviewonline, www.hbr.org, 3 April 201221. David Gelles (2012) “The Mind Business,”Financial Times, 24 August 2012;22. Der Hovanesian (2003) op. cit.; David Gelles(2012) op. cit.; Kevin Roose (2011) “Pursuing Self-Interest in Harmony With the Laws of the Universeand Contributing to Evolution Is Universally Rewarded,”New York Magazine, 10 April 201123. David Gelles (2012) op. cit.24. Paul Grossman, Ludger Niemann, StefanSchmidt & Harald Walach (2004) “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Health Benefits: AMeta-Analysis,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research,57, pp. 35-43; Ruth Baer (2003) “Mindfulness Trainingas a Clinical Intervention: A Conceptual andEmpirical Review,” Clinical Psychology: Science andPractice, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp.125-14325. UK Mental Health Foundation (2012)“MBSR Evidence,” Mindfulness, www.bemindful.co.uk/mbsr26. David Vago (2012) “BG 262: The EmergingScience of Mindfulness Meditation,” Buddhist Geeks,www.buddhistgeeks.com, 31 July 201227. Ed Haliwell (2011) “Making a Business Casefor Mindfulness,” Mindful, www.mindful.org, 11 October201128. David Gelles (2012) op. cit.29. Daphne Davis & Jeffrey Hayes (2011) “WhatAre the Benefits of Mindfulness? A Practice Reviewof Psychotherapy-Related Research,” Psychotherapy,Vol. 48, No. 2, pp.198-208; Dan Siegel (2007) Themindful brain: Reflection and attunement in thecultivation of well-being, New York: W.W. Norton;Rich Fernandez (2012) op. cit.; Michael Chaskalson(2011) op. cit., p.510 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulness30. Chade-Meng Tan (2012) op. cit., pp.18-1931. Barry Boyce (2009) “Google Searches,” ShambhalaSun, September 2009, pp.34-41; Juliet Adams(2012) op. cit., pp.25-2632. Daniel Goleman (1995) Emotional Intelligence:Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, New York: BantamBooks; Daniel Goleman (1998) Working with emotionalintelligence, New York: Bantam Books; Richard Boyatzis& Annie McKee (2005) Resonant Leadership, BostonMA: Harvard Business Press33. Chade-Meng Tan (2012) Search Inside Yourself:The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness(and World Peace), New York: HarperCollins; BarryBoyce (2009) op. cit.34. Rich Fernandez (2012) op. cit.35. Barry Boyce (2009) op. cit.36. Pamela Weiss & Todd Pierce (2012) “GrowingPeople: The Heart of the OrganizationalTransformation,” Management Innovation eXchange,www.managementexchange.com, 30 January 201237. Polly LaBarre (2011) “Developing MindfulLeaders,” Harvard Business Review online, www.hbr.org,30 December 201138. US Army (2006) Army Leadership: Competent,Confident and Agile, FM 6-22, October 2006, p.5-139. Thom Shanker & Matt Richtel (2011) “In NewMilitary, Data Overload Can Be Deadly,” New YorkTimes, 16 January 201140. Jon Kabat-Zinn (1990) Full Catastrophe Living,New York: Delta Books; Paul Grossman et al(2004) op. cit.41. Amishi Jha, Elizabeth Stanley, Anastasia Kiyonaga,Ling Wong & Lois Gelfand (2010) “Examining theProtective Effects of Mindfulness Training on WorkingMemory Capacity and Affective Experience,” Emotion,Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.54–6442. Amishi Jha et al (2010) op. cit.; Vanessa Gregory(2010) “Meditation Fit for a Marine,” Men’s Journal, November201043. Patrick Hruby (2012) “Marines expanding useof meditation training”, Washington Times, www.washingtontimes.com,5 December 201244. Jon Anderson (2010) “Train Your Brain,” ArmyTimes, 15 November 2010, p.445. Patrick Hruby (2012) op. cit.46. Beth Gardiner (2012) “Business Skills and BuddhistMindfulness,” Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com,3 April 2012; Emma Dolman & Dave Bond (2011)“Mindful leadership: Exploring the value of a meditationpractice,” The Ashridge Journal, Spring 2011, www.ashridge.co.uk47. Weatherhead School of Management (2012)Professional Development - Mindfulness for EnhancedPerformance, www.weatherhead.case.edu/professionaldevelopment/subjects/mindfulness48. Douglas Riddle (2012) “Three Keys to MindfulLeadership Coaching,” Forbes, 23 January 2012; DaphneDavis & Jeffrey Hayes (2011) op. cit.49. Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee (2005) op.cit.; Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee(2002) Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of EmotionalIntelligence, Boston MA: Harvard Business Press50. Fred Kofman (2006) Conscious Business: How toBuild Value Through Values, Boulder CO: Sounds True51. Ken Wilber (2001) A Theory of Everything: AnIntegral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality,Boston MA: Shambhala; Ken Wilber (2007) TheIntegral Vision, Boston MA: Shambhala52. Ron Heifetz (1994) Leadership Without EasyAlex Trisoglio is a leadership advisor to CEOsand executive teams, with over 20 years’experience working with leading global businesses,professional firms, and internationalorganisations. He has served clients on all fivecontinents and in a wide range of cultural andindustry contexts. He is also a Khyentse Fellow,and he has been a teacher of mindfulnessand Buddhist philosophy for over 20 years. In addition, he is asenior consultant and executive coach at Mobius.Answers, Boston MA: Belknap Press/Harvard UniversityPress; Ron Heifetz & Marty Linsky (2002) Leadershipon the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading,Boston MA: Harvard Business Press; Ron Heifetz,Marty Linsky & Alexander Grashow (2009) The Practiceof Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for ChangingYour Organization and the World, Boston MA: HarvardBusiness Press53. C. Otto Scharmer (2007) Theory U, CambridgeMA: Society for Organizational Learning; Peter Senge,C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski & Betty Sue Flowers(2008) Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of theFuture, New York: Crown Business54. Joanna Barsh, Josephine Mogelof & CarolineWebb (2010) “How Centered Leaders Achieve ExtraordinaryResults,” McKinsey Quarterly online, www.mckinseyquarterly.com, October 2010; Joanna Barsh,Susie Cranston & Geoffrey Lewis (2011) How RemarkableWomen Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Workand Life, New York: Crown Business55. Chade-Meng Tan (2012) op. cit.; MichaelChaskalson (2011) op. cit.; Michael Carroll (2007) TheMindful Leader, Boston MA: Trumpeter56. Bill George (2012) op. cit.; Bill George & PeterSims (2007) True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership,San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass; Jim Collins(2001) Good To Great, New York: Harper Business57. Martin Seligman (2003) Authentic Happiness:Using the New Positive Psychology to RealizeYour Potential for Lasting Fulfillment, New York: FreePress; Jonathan Haidt (2006) The Happiness Hypothesis:Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, NewYork: Basic Books; Sonja Lyubomirsky (2007) TheHow of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the LifeYou Want, New York: Penguin Press; Tal Ben-Shahar(2008) Happier: Can You Learn to Be Happy? NewYork: McGraw-Hill58. Dominic Barton, Andrew Grant and MichelleHorn (2012) “Leading in the 21 st century,” McKinseyQuarterly, June 201259. Nick Petrie (2011) Future Trends in LeadershipDevelopment, Center for Creative Leadership WhitePaper, December 201160. Grady McGonagill with Peter Pruyn (2010)Leadership Development in the U.S.: Principles and Patternsof Best Practice, Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung61. Sean Silverthorne (2010) “Mindful Leadership:When East Meets West – Q&A with Bill George,”Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, 7 September201062. US Army (1999) Army Leadership: Be, Know,Do, FM 22-100, August 1999, section 1-4; Frances Hesselbein& Eric Shinseki (2004) Be, Know, Do: Leadershipthe Army Way, adapted from the official Army LeadershipManual, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp.8-2163. Patrick Hruby (2012) op. cit.64. Slavoj Žižek (2001) “Self-Deceptions: On BeingTolerant and Smug,” Die Gazette, www.gazette.de, 27August 2001; Mark Vernon (2011) “Buddhism is thenew opium of the people,” The Guardian, www.guardian.co.uk,22 March 2011; Will Buckingham (2006)“Western Buddhism and Other Capitalist Avatars,”thinkbuddha.org, 8 April 200865. Richard Eskow (2012) “Buying Wisdom – TheArt of Mindful Networking,” Tricycle, www.tricycle.com, Fall 201266. Walpola Rahula (1974) What the BuddhaTaught, revised edition, New York: Grove Press67. Bill George (2010) “Leadership’s Lost Decade:Will It Breed Better Leaders?” Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com, 3 February 201068. Bill George (2012) op. cit.69. Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse (2007) WhatMakes You Not a Buddhist, Boston MA: Shambhala;Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse (2003) Entering the MiddleWay: A Commentary on Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara,www.siddharthasintent.org70. Barry Schwartz & Kenneth Sharpe (2010) PracticalWisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing, NewYork: Riverhead71. Ellen Langer (1989) Mindfulness, CambridgeMA: Da Capo Press, pp.62-6372. Thich Nhat Hanh (2005) Being Peace, 3rd Edition,Berkeley CA; Parallax Press73. Peter Senge (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Artand Practice of the Learning Organization, New York:Doubleday74. Robert Kegan (1982) The Evolving Self, BostonMA: Harvard University Press; Robert Kegan (1994) InOver Our Heads: the Mental Demands of Modern Life,Boston MA: Harvard University Press75. David Rooke & William Torbert (2005) “SevenTransformations of Leadership,” Harvard Business Review,April 200576. Ron Heifetz & Marty Linsky (2002) op. cit.,pp.53-5477. Daniel Kahneman (2011) Thinking Fast andSlow, New York: Doubleday78. Satipatthana Sutta: The Discourse on the Establishingof Mindfulness, MN 10, translated from the Paliby Thanissaro Bhikkhu (2008), www.accesstoinsight.org; Maha Satipatthana Sutta: The Great Discourse onthe Establishing of Mindfulness, DN 22, translated fromthe Pali by U Jotika and U Dhamminda (1986), www.buddhanet.net79. Alexander Berzin (2002) “The Four ClosePlacements of Mindfulness According to Mahayana,”(based on explanations by His Holiness the FourteenthDalai Lama, compiled and edited by Ven. Thubten Chodron),Berzin Archives, www.berzinarchives.comwww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 11

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulness• The Eleven Thieves are the obstaclesyou can expect to meet on the path.• The Eight Laws of Meditation arethe rules.• The Seven Meditation Paths are thesignposts.• The Seven Sages are the wisdom ofothers.>Try This Now: Perfect CalmClose your eyes and remember atime of perfect calm in your life. Feelthe sensations, hear the sounds, andsee the scene. Now declare “I radiateperfect calm to all I meet.”Let me give you an example.The heartMeditation is simply a way to get toyour heart. We can represent this inthe diagram below. This diagram isa rough approximation at best, but ahelpful guide. There are many othermodels of how we are structured.The circumference represents thephysical body—the body you cansee, feel, taste, hear, and smell. Itrepresents the surface of your being,like the surface of the ocean. There isquite a dense, solid, and heavy qualityto it.Your heart is at the center of thecircle and represents the deepest partof your being. Studying this diagram,you can begin to see how your bodyis similar to the surface of the ocean,and that your core lies deeper thanthis.Said another way, your center remainsstill and calm—undisturbedby the surface events, noises, and distractionsof your life. In the same waythe depths of the ocean remain calmand unaffected by surface storms.In this way, meditation allows youto shift from chaos to calm, noise tosilence, activity to stillness.Let’s deepen this experience. Asyou sink deeper inside yourself, younotice two other “bodies,” other thanyour physical body. These are yourthinking body (or mind), which isyour capacity to think, and youremotional body, which is your capacityto experience emotion.In this diagram, the mind is seenas “deeper” than the physical body,indicating that it belongs to the innerworld. Once you leave the surfaceof the ocean, you journey into yourinner world. For example, a thoughtis still a “thing.” It is distinct. It is asan object in that you can perceive it,but it has a different quality to it thanthe external world. It is not somethingyou can pick up. It’s quality ismore subtle, more etheric. A thoughtis simply a subtle form of energy.The same with emotions. You certainlyknow you have emotions, andthey are “real” in that sense. However,because they belong to your innerworld, they have a more subtle, lessdense, less solid quality than an objectin the physical world.Meditation is your journeythrough the layers of mind andemotion. Your journey to the core,therefore, is a journey from dense tosubtle, from solid to subtle, from thephysical world where you need yourfive senses (sight, touch, taste, hearing,and smell), to your core, whichcannot be perceived by these fivesenses.Imagine you are swimming inthe ocean. Imagine lying on yourback on the surface looking up atthe sky. Imagine allowing yourself tosink-—away from the surface, fromthe sunlight, from the gentle breeze,from the sound of the wind—anddrift down. The first thing you wouldexperience is the world of thoughts—often millions of thoughts racinginside your mind. As you continuedto drift further inside, you would findwhat feelings and emotions were insideyou—those of which you maynot have been aware when you werelying on your back on the surface.This is the layer of emotions. Meditationis sinking deeper beneath boththese layers into the still, silent placewithin you that is always calm.Storms can rage on the surface,but your center is always calm.The following diagram illustratesthat meditation is the path to yourheart.The endless journey and thecenterless centerThe more you journey to your center,the more you discover that yourcenter is not a single destination. It isnot one specific geographical place.The more you dive into the ocean,the more you discover that the edgesof who you are, are less rigid thanyou thought. The deeper you go, themore you see that who you are isactually bigger than you thought. Atyour deepest, there is no differencebetween who you are and who others14 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessare. The experience of being separatestarts to disappear. The idea of “you”and “me” becomes blurred. From thisspace, the seeds of compassion arise.Any action that would be detrimentalto another is experienced as beingdetrimental to the whole.The diagram on the next page isthe same diagram above seen from adifferent angle. The same three bodies(physical, mental, and emotional)are there, but the destination of “yourcenter” has a question mark next toit. Like trying to find the center of theocean, we find there is no such place.There is simply a vast and endlessdepth into which you dive further, adepth in which the journey becomesan end in itself. The journey becomesthe destination. The true nature ofyour core is that it is vast and endless.No matter how many times youexplore your heart, there is alwaysmore. It has no center because it’s toovast and extends into all things.One of my teachers asked a holyIndian saint about his experience injourneying into his heart. This profoundsaint replied, “There is alwaysmore. Today at eighty years of age,and after journeying to my heart inevery moment since I was twelve, Ican honestly say that the journey isendless.” My teacher was amazed tohear such a response.Hold on—what’s it like at the center?Why would we want to journeythere in the first place?As you journey to your center,eventually the qualities that existthere (wisdom, love, inspiration,creativity, intuition, calm) start toflow out into the world. It’s as if thefrequent journey into your heart createspathways that allow the center toflow outward—effortlessly.Like a river, the qualities fromyour heart can flow powerfully fromthe inner to the outer world. Imaginewhat it would be like if your deepestlongings, strongest intuitions, fiercestloves, most passionate desires,bottomless compassion, wildestdreams, highest truths, your corevalues flowed out into the world.When you meet people, compassioncould be the quality you exuderather than self-interest. As the ideaof separation starts to melt, narrowself-centeredness becomes less of anoption. You get to be heart-centeredrather than self-centered. As you siton the subway, the qualities of yourheart can be available to you. Whenyou meet people for the first time,your heart can speak rather thanyour judgments. Your words canhave the quality of depth, love, compassion,and wisdom all because ofyour connection to your essence orheart. Decisions at work can comefrom your core values, rather thangrasping self-interest. The way youare at work, from your relationshipwith your boss to your relationshipwith clients, can come from a deepersense of teamwork, service, and emotionalintelligence.What does this mean for theSuper Busy? When you talk on yourcell phone, you can feel the qualityand energy of your heart. Whenyou walk down the street on yourway to work, you can feel the currentof your heart, like the currents,tides, and swell of the ocean. Whenyou meet people, you can connectwith their hearts. Perhaps inspirationmoves you in new ways. Maybe creativitycomes alive in you in ways thatyou couldn’t imagine. Can your relationshipsbe colored by the texture,fibers, and fragrance of your heart?Could your relationships with yourloved ones deepen the quality of lovethat you’ve always known was insideyou? Can love finally flow freely, nolonger blocked by the surface dramaof your days? The still, quiet powerof your heart gets to move about inthe world, creating its blessings for allyou meet. Maybe people sense something’schanged in you, although theymay never know what that is. Thescent and fragrance of your heart, itsuniqueness, its rare quality, can flowout into the world.This is my experience of the Tao—being in the flow, following The Way.It is the way of the heart, your heart,no longer a forgotten phrase, but adaily experience.Then you transform:Limited ----> UnlimitedBound ----> BoundlessOrdinary ----> ExtraordinaryFinite ----> InfiniteThe more you journey inside, themore you access deeper parts of whoyou really are—unlimited, unbound,extraordinary, and infinite. Parts ofyou that have always been there.“Knock and you find you havebeen inside all the time.”RUMIBe honest. On some level, youknow this already. Most people intuitivelysense this is true—that at theircore they are love. At their essence,they are deeper and bigger than whatwww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 15

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnesstense, muscles taut; there is a goalto achieve.Meditation is the opposite of effort.Meditation is much more likeslipping into a warm luxurious bubblebath—you can feel the warmth ofthe water, smell the fragrance of thesoaps, hear the running water. Asyou slip into the bath the only questionis “Mmmmmm … how long canI enjoy this?”The journey to the ocean of calmneeds to be easy—otherwise, ifwe had to struggle, fight, and battleto get there we wouldn’t be calmwhen we arrived.If you find your body becomingtense and tight, remember this law.Take a deep breath and allow the tensionin your body to release. In thetechniques section of this book, thepractices associated with the Path ofthe Open Body have useful tips tobuild the feeling of relaxation whilelearning new tasks.The Power of Relaxed AlertnessA woman who went to yoga threetimes a week came to a meditationmaster and complained, “I don’t getit. I’ve done yoga for years, and I’mtrying really hard at meditating butit’s not working.”The master replied, “You need relaxedalertness rather than tense andcontracted effort. You think you needto ‘work hard to learn.’”Can you remember the time youfirst learned to giggle? Or the firsttime your body really shook withlaughter? Remember those times.Now, allow a smile to appear, andthen start the practice again.The harder you try, the less yousucceed because the First GoldenLaw of Meditation is “Relax.”LAW NUMBER TWO:A SENSE OF PLAYFULNESSTo really understand the first law, itis useful to approach your meditationpractice with a playful attitude,which is the second law of meditation.Often we remember the thingsthat were a pleasure to learn. Withoutplayfulness we risk making our bodiestense and tight, which moves us inthe opposite direction of the first law:Relax! Once you understand this law,the journey to your heart is quickerand easier.Study a kitten playing with a ballof wool; see how focused and attentivehe is. Alert and watchful, yet heknows it is just a game. He is notstriving to be the best ball-playingcat on the block. He is not strivingto win the Cat Olympics ball playingcompetition. His game has the qualityof delight and innocence. He caneasily be distracted by some othergame and then return to playingwith the ball of wool, not beratinghimself for having forgotten topractice. Let your practice have thequality of softness, playfulness, innocence,and delight; not rigidityand hardness.LAW NUMBER THREE: GENTLENESSRemember a time you saw a motherholding a newborn child. Rememberthe exquisite gentleness and tendernesswith which she caressed thechild? This is the same way you needto treat yourself, with great gentlenessand care. Super Busy peoplehave enough rules at which to fail,enough hardness on themselveswithout creating a new set of rulesat which to fail. Understanding thislaw powerfully moves you throughtimes of frustration when learninghow to meditate. It doesn’t meanyou “don’t give a damn” or should becareless.>Try This Now: The Calm CommuterTake a breath in. Close your eyes.Count to three. Exhale for a countof three. Ensure there is no pausebetween your in- and out-breath.This circular breathing increases theamount of energy you feel.LAW NUMBER FOUR: THE OPEN BODYImagine your physical body is a hosethat carries water. If the hose is kinkedand blocked, then less water getsthrough. In the same way, your physicalbody carries energy. If your bodyis blocked and contracted then lessenergy can be carried. The diagrambelow shows that when the physicalbody is tight and unrelaxed, it is difficultto journey to the ocean of calm.Your attention gets caught on the surface,and cannot drop deeper. Yourbody needs to be relaxed and open.Remember, I said we could go from:Chaos ----> CalmNoise ----> SilenceActivity ----> StillnessEffort ----> EffortlessnessThe first four laws allow us torelax, be playful, be gentle, and havean open body. We get to be effortless.Effort works in the opposite directionfrom getting to your core.But how can you build calm, deepenit, and protect it?>Try This Now: Scanning the BodyFocus on the following musclegroups: • Small muscles around youreyes • Muscles in your forehead •Your abdomenal muscleswww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 17

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessThe Serene SubwayClose your eyes. Imagine your spineis a tube of pure white light. Imaginethe light glows brighter and moreintense. The light represents healingand clarity.Summary of the eight lawsof meditationThe Eight Laws allow you to transformeffort to effortlessness, to powerthrough difficulties with ease, and tomultiply the amount of calm in yourlife. Remember them before startingeach meditation.You Are Effortless 1 Relax2 Be Playful3 Be Gentle4 Open BodyYou Build Calm 5 Use Attention toFocus on CalmYou Deepen Calm 6 RepetitionYou Maintain Calm 7 The ChainAnalogyYou Find CalmEverywhere 8 Hidden GemsSUPER BUSY: THE UPSIDEHere’s the good news. Busy peopleuse the same skills to create successthat the Dalai Lama uses tomeditate. That’s why busy peopleare the perfect students to learnmeditation. Let me give you someexamples.Successful people have the capacityto focus. One of the mostimportant, if not the most important,skills that underpin thegreatest meditation practices(vipassana, mantra, breath, concentration,and contemplation) isthe ability to focus. When the DalaiLama repeats a mantra, or places hisattention on the space between hiseyebrows (or third eye), or focuseson his heart, he uses the amazingpower of focus.In the same way, the Super Busyknow all about narrowing their focusonto one topic; whether that personis a lawyer preparing for a case or acurrency trader focusing on the Reutersscreen, the outside world andall distracting issues are ignored.The currency trader blocks out alldistractions and secondary priorities—thedesire to phone his wife,start planning a family holiday, talkto his friends, read the paper, finishhis tax return, talk to his staff. All ofthese worthy priorities are put aside.It’s exactly the same skill the DalaiLama uses.The only difference is that theyfocus on different things—the lawyeron his case, the currency trader onthe markets, the Dalai Lama on hismantra, third eye, and heart. All cankeep their attention tightly focusedregardless of distractions.So powerful is the capacity tofocus that if there is only one thingyou learn from this book, let it be theawesome power of mastering yourattention.Successful people can do twothings at once. Most of us can talkon the phone and check our email.We can “split” our attention. We candrive a car and mentally run throughlists of tasks for today. Nearly all ofus can walk down the street and betotally lost in stressful thoughts. Wecan be talking to someone, listeningto that person’s conversation,and be focusing on our own train ofthoughts. This capacity to split ourattention on two things at once canbe used to profound ends.The Dalai Lama and all great masterskeep part of their attention ontheir center. For example, you canwalk down the street and have part ofyour attention on the ocean of calmrather than stressful thoughts. Youcan talk on your cell and have part ofyour attention on your heart, and sobuild up the quality of heart energy.You can check your PDA and havepart of your attention on masteringyour breathing as a way to still themind.Attention is lightning fast, automatic,and instant; it all depends onwhat you use it for.Successful people overcomechallenges. Successful people thriveand grow through challenge, makingthem perfect candidates for masteringmeditation.Meditation masters are mastersbecause they overcome the obstaclesand challenges in meditation in spiteof distracting thoughts, or feelingsof frustration. Meditation mastersrecognize that these obstacles willnot master them. Great meditatorsare those who stick to the practiceregardless of the challenges and hurdlesthey face.“There is no enlightenmentoutside of daily life.”THICH NHAT HANHSuccessful people mastersubtlety. At peak performance,superior athletes understand thecritical importance of subtlety. Letme give you an example. The SwedishWinter Olympic team returnedhome with zero medals from the1998 Winter Olympics. They calculatedthat if they had improvedtheir performances by 5 percentthey would have won the majorityof the medals. Small changes makebig results.Meditation masters are obsessedwith subtle movements. They focustheir attention on subtle shifts intheir breath to see how present theyare. They are obsessed with smallshifts in body posture as an indicatorof how present they are.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 19

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessZen storyAfter one year in a monastery,a Zen monk complained, “All Ihave learned about is breathing.”After five years in the monastery,the monk complained, “All I havelearned is breathing.” When hereached enlightenment the elderlymonk smiled and said, “Finally, Ihave learned about breathing.”Successful people know abouttraining. In business, knowledgeis power. To maintain their edge,successful people are keen to improvetheir skills via courses,executive coaches, and learningfrom role models. The Dalai Lamaand all spiritual masters realizethat, just like learning to play tennis,golf, or any sport, the quickestway to improve is through training.Training is a key part of allmajor spiritual disciplines.You have all it takesto succeedThe most profound meditators sharea similar skill set to the Super Busy.Ability to focus. One of the crucialskills is harnessing and controllingyour power of focus.Can do two things at once. Thismeans you can have part of your attentionon your heart while doingmundane activities like walkingdown the street, commuting, andtalking with others.Can overcome obstacles. Greatmeditators, like successful businesspeople, have great perseverance tocomplete their tasks regardless ofdistractions.Can master subtlety. Attention tothe small details differentiates mastersfrom apprentices.Know the value of training. Just aswhen learning a sport, finding greatteachers/coaches is important. ■Mark Thornton is the former Chief Operating Officerfor JPMorgan Private Bank in London. Since 2004,Thornton has dedicated his life to creating the world’sfirst management consultancy that does one thing:teach Leadership and ethical reflective practicesto elite business schools and corporate leaders.The result is MBA, EMBA and Executive Educationgraduates with less stress, increased productivity,improved health and stronger ethical foundation.Thornton’s clients include elite global business schools, among themWharton Business School and the Leadership Development Program for1st and 2nd year MBA students, McGill International Executive Institutefor Executive Education and New York University; as well as corporateorganizations such as JPMorgan, Deloitte Touche, Morgan Stanley, TheNew York Times; and thought leaders from TIAA-CREF, Rio Tinto Alcan.Thornton has presented keynote speeches to the Hedge Fund TradersConference at the Time Warner center in New York, The American BarAssociation, The Exchange Traded Funds 2nd Global Annual Awards,Global Capital Acquisition Annual Meeting, The Bar Association ofBuenos Aries, The University de Saviour in Argentina, and many others.He has clients from the UK, Australia and Latin America.He has appeared on national TV shows including Fox Business News,ABC TV, CNBC, MTV as well as more than 60 national and regionalradio shows: ABC Radio, Air America, Sirius, XFM, The Joey ReynoldsShow, Martha Stewart Living Radio, The Good Life show with JesseDylan, WBZ 1030 AM, The Ed Walsh Show on WOR 710AM, KOW 850AM “After Midnight with Rick Barker,” ABC affiliate KBUR 1490AM, CBSaffiliate KSMA 1240AM, The Jordon Rich Show WBZ 1030AM, The FoxFM 99.7, WQCD 101.9FM and more than 50 other regional stations. Hisarticles have appeared in CEO Magazine, The Chicago Daily Herald, TheNew York Times, Yoga Journal, Body & Soul Magazine, Diet & NutritionMagazine and Perfil, Argentina’s equivalent of The Economist.While we were putting the finishing touches on the Mindfulness section of thisnewsletter the New York Times ran an article on a closely related topic.Check it out as you can:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/jobs/teaching-meditation-techniques-toorganizations.html?_r=1&20 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

Managing Stressby Daniel Goleman Host, Leadership: A Master Classfriend told me, “My worst time could take on anything – the left prefrontalarea lights up.A at work was just after a mergerwhen people were disappearing The Davidson group found thatdaily, with lying memos about whathad happened.” She added, “Nobodycould focus on their work.” Thesedays what was just an episode for herhas become a chronic reality in toomany businesses.Ups and downs of the economyaside, organizational life is rife withtoxic moments – impossible directivesfrom headquarters, unreasonablepeople in positions of power, abrasiveworkmates, and on and on. So, howcan we manage such constant stress,or outright distress? One strategy formanaging our reactions to hassles andupsets takes advantage of another dynamicbetween the prefrontal area andthe amygdala circuitry.Richard Davidson, who directs theLaboratory for Affective Neuroscienceat the University of Wisconsin, hasdone seminal research on the left versusright prefrontal areas. His researchgroup has found that when we're inthe grip of a hijack or under the swayof distressing emotions, there are relativelyhigh levels of activity in the rightprefrontal cortex. But when we're feelinggreat – enthused, energized, like weeach of us has a left-to-right ratio ofprefrontal activity (measured whenwe're just resting, not doing anythingin particular) that accurately predictsour typical mood range day to day. Thisleft-to-right ratio gauges our emotionalset point. People who have more activityon the left than right are more likelyto have more positive emotions, andthe more positive their emotions dayto day. Those with more activity on theright are prone to having more negativeemotions.There is a “Bell Curve” for this ratio,like the well-known upside-downU curve for IQ. Most of us are in themiddle – we have good and bad days.Some people are at the extreme right– they may be clinically depressed orchronically anxious. In contrast, thosepeople at the extreme left on the BellCurve bounce back from setbacks withextraordinary rapidity.Davidson has also done researchon what he calls “emotional styles” –which are really brain styles. One brainstyle tracks how readily we becomeupset: where we are on the spectrumfrom a hair-trigger amygdala – peopleLEADERSHIP & Mindfulnesswho easily become upset, frustrated orangered – versus people who are unflappable.A second style looks at how quicklywe recover from our distress. Somepeople recover quickly once they getupset, while others are very slow. Atthe extreme of slowness to recoverare people who continually ruminateor worry about things – in effect,who suffer from ongoing low-gradeamygdala hijacks. Chronic worrykeeps the amygdala primed, so youremain in a distress state as long asyou ruminate.Given the many realistic stresses weface, those first two styles – being unflappableand capable of quick recovery– are the most effective in navigatingthe troubles of the world of work.The third style assesses a person’sdepth of feeling. Some people experiencetheir feelings quite intensely, somepeople quite shallowly. Those who havestronger feelings may be better able toauthentically communicate them morepowerfully – to move people.There's another piece of suggestivedata about the left-right ratio. BarbaraFredrickson at the University ofNorth Carolina finds that people whoflourish in life – who have rich rela-Daniel Goleman lecturesfrequently to businessaudiences, professionalgroups and on collegecampuses. A psychologistwho for many yearsreported on the brainand behavioral sciencesfor The New York Times,Dr. Goleman previously was a visiting faculty member at Harvard.Dr. Goleman’s most recent book Leadership: The Power of EmotionalIntelligence – Selected Writings (www.MoreThanSound.net) is acollection of his key work on the topic from his books and his articles inthe Harvard Business Review. His book Emotional Intelligence arguedthat human competencies like self- awareness, self-regulation, andempathy add value to cognitive abilities in many domains of life. Thebook was on The New York Times bestseller list for a year-and-a-half,and has since been translated into nearly 40 languages. He was aco-founder of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and EmotionalLearning at the Yale University Child Studies Center. He’s currently cochairmanof The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence inOrganizations, based in the Graduate School of Applied and ProfessionalPsychology at Rutgers University. He is also a member of the board ofdirectors of the Mind & Life Institute. Dr. Goleman has received manyjournalistic awards for his writing, including two nominations for thePulitzer Prize for his articles in the Times.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 21

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnesstionships, rewarding work, who feelthat their life is meaningful – have atleast three positive emotional eventsfor every negative one. A similarpositive-to- negative ratio in emotionshas also been documented intop teams, where it’s five-to-one; theratio for flourishing seems to operateat the collective level too.When we're pitched into an amygdalahijack, whether intense or lowlevel but ongoing, we're in sympatheticnervous system arousal. As a chroniccondition that’s not a good state. Whilewe’re hijacked, the alarm circuits triggerthe fight-flight-or-freeze responsethat pumps stress hormones into thebody with a range of negative results,such as lowering the effectiveness ofour immune response. The oppositestate, parasympathetic arousal, occurswhen we're relaxed. Biologicallyand neurologically this is the mode ofrestoration and recovery, and it is associatedwith left prefrontal arousal.If you want to cultivate greaterstrength of activity in the leftprefrontal areas that generate positiveemotions, you can try a few strategies.One is to take regular time off from ahectic, hassled routine to rest and restore.Schedule time to “do nothing”:walk your dog, take a long shower,whatever allows you to let go of leaningforward into the next thing inyour on-the-go state.Another is called mindfulness;Daniel Siegel has an elegant analysisof the brain areas this involves. Inthe most popular form of mindfulnessyou cultivate an even-hoveringpresence to your experience in themoment, an awareness that is nonjudgmentaland non-reactive towhatever thoughts or feelings arise inthe mind. It’s a very effective methodfor decompressing and getting into arelaxed and balanced state.“Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction,”the method Jon Kabat-Zinndeveloped, is widely used in medicalsettings to help people manage chronicsymptoms, because it alleviates theemotional suffering that usually attendsthem, and so improves patients’quality of life.Richard Davidson teamed up withKabat-Zinn, then at the Universityof Massachusetts Medical Center, tohelp people at work learn how to getinto a relaxed mode via mindfulness.Kabat-Zinn taught mindfulness topeople working in a high-stress setting,a biotech start-up where theywere going all-out, 24/7. He taughtthem an eight- week program wherethey practiced mindfulness an averageof 30 minutes a day.Davidson did brain studies beforeand after the mindfulness program.Before, most people’s emotional setpoint was tipped to the right, indicatingthey were hassled. After eightweeks of mindfulness, they had begunto tip back to the left. And their ownreports made clear that with this shifttoward the more positive zone of emotionstheir enthusiasm, energy, and joyin their work surfaced.Mindfulness seems a good choicefor strengthening the dominance ofcritical zones in the prefrontal cortex.Davidson tells me – this is good news– that the biggest bang for your buckfrom mindfulness in terms of shiftingthe brain’s emotional set point comesat the beginning of the practice. Youdon’t have to wait for years to feel theimprovement – though you probablyneed to continue practicing daily tomaintain the shift.Along with this shift toward a morepositive mood range comes anotherneural tool for managing stress: a fasterrecovery time. Traditionally peopleend their daily mindfulness sessionwith a period of loving thoughts towardother people – the practice oflovingkindness. This intentional generationof a positive mood enhances“vagal nerve tone,” the body’s ability tomobilize to meet a challenge and thento recover quickly. The vagus nerveregulates the heartbeat and otherorgan functions, and plays a majorrole in calming down the body whenwe get distressed. Better vagal tone enhancesour ability to arouse ourselvesto meet a challenge and then to cooldown rather than staying in high gear.Having good vagal tone helps usnot just recover from stress, but alsosleep better and guard against thenegative health impacts of chronicstress in life. The key to building bettervagal tone is to find a method weenjoy, and practice it daily – like aworkout for the vagus nerve. Thesemethods include everything fromsimply remembering to count slowlyto ten when you are starting to getticked off at someone, to systematicmuscle relaxation, to meditation.Sometimes when I talk aboutmeditation – a topic I’ve been writingabout for decades – I’m asked if wemight get the same effects throughpsychopharmacology. I prefer to usethe mind to intervene in brain states;it’s a natural way to manage ourbrain. There are many kinds of meditation,each using a different mentalstrategy: concentration, mindfulness,and visualization, to name a few.Each meditation method has specificimpacts on our mental states.For example, visualization activatescenters in the spatial visual cortex,while concentration involves the attentioncircuitry in the prefrontalcortex but not the visual area. A newscientific field, “contemplative neuroscience,”has begun mapping exactlyhow meditation A versus meditationB engages the brain, which brain centersit activates, and what the specificbenefits might be. ■22 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

Book Excerpt from Search Inside Yourselfby Chade-Meng Tan, published by Harper Collins, April 2012LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessOptimize ThyselfThe aim of developing emotionalintelligence is to help you optimizeyourself and function at aneven higher level than what you arealready capable of. Even if you arealready outstanding at what you do(which everybody in our class atGoogle is), sharpening and deepeningyour emotional competenciescan give you an extra edge. We hopethe training in these pages can helpyou go from good to great. Whenpeople come to a course such as oursthat advertises itself as an “emotionalintelligence course,” most peopleexpect it to be a purely behavioralcourse. They expect to be told howto play nice, share candy, and not bitetheir co-workers.Cultivating EmotionalIntelligenceWe decided on an entirely differentapproach, focusing primarily onexpanding the range and depth ofpeople’s emotional abilities. We beginwith the insight that emotional intelligenceis a collection of emotionalskills and, like all skills, emotionalskills are trainable. We created acourse to train those skills. We feelthat if we develop skills, behavioralissues automatically go away. Forexample, if a person acquires theability to skillfully manage his ownanger, then all his behavioral issuesinvolving anger are “automagically”solved. Emotional skillfulness freesSearch Inside Yourself is a NY Times bestseller andthe official guidebook of SIYLI. SIYLI is a nonprofitorganization that develops business leaders byoffering trainings in emotional intelligence usingmindfulness and science. SIYLI’s flagship programwas developed at Google and SIYLI is now bringingthis course and its offerings to businesses worldwide.SIYLI lives at the cutting edge of mindfulness, science, and business.We also care deeply about happiness in the workplace. Learn more atSIYLI.org.us from emotional compulsion. Wecreate problems when we are compelledby emotions to act one way oranother, but if we become so skillfulwith our emotions that we are nolonger compelled, we can act in rationalways that are best for ourselvesand everybody else. And we will playnice, share candy, and not bite ourco-workers.Emotional intelligence is trainable,even in adults. This claim is based ona fairly new branch of science knownas “neuroplasticity.” The idea is thatwhat we think, do, and pay attentionto changes the structure and functionof our brains. A very interestingexample of this comes from driversof traditional black cabs in London.To get a license to drive that cab,you need to navigate the twenty- fivethousand streets of London and allits points of interest in your head.This is a difficult test that can taketwo to four years of intense trainingto prepare for. Research has shownthat the part of the brain associatedwith memory and spatial navigation,the hippocampus, is bigger and moreactive in London cabbies than in theaverage person. More interestingly,the longer someone has been drivinga cab in London, the larger and moreactive her hippocampus. 9One very important implicationof neuroplasticity is that we can intentionallychange our brains withtraining. For example, research by myfriend and fellow Search Inside Yourselfteacher Philippe Goldin showsthat after just sixteen sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT),people with social anxiety disorder areable to increase activity in the partsof their brains associated with selfregulation,linguistic processing, andattention when working with theirown negative self- beliefs. 10 Thinkabout it, if we can train our brains toovercome even serious emotional disorders,just imagine the possibility ofusing it to greatly improve the qual-“Stability is found in freedom — not in conformity and compliance.It is individual freedom that creates stable systems. It is differentness that enables us to thrive.”—Margaret Wheatleywww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 23

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessChade-Meng TanMeng is Google’s Jolly Good Fellow (which nobodycan deny). As one of Google’s earliest engineers,Meng helped build Google’s first mobile searchservice and headed the team that monitoredGoogle’s search quality. After a successfuleight-year stint in engineering and two years asGoogleEDU’s head of personal growth, he currentserves Google’s talent team. Meng’s job descriptionis to “enlighten minds, open hearts and create worldpeace.” To learn more, go to www.siybook.com.ity of our emotional lives. That is thepromise of the science and practicesdescribed in these pages.Train AttentionHow do we begin training emotionalintelligence? We begin by trainingattention. This may seem a littlecounterintuitive at first. I mean, whatdoes attention have to do with emotionalskills? The answer is that astrong, stable, and perceptive attentionthat affords you calmness andclarity is the foundation upon whichemotional intelligence is built. Forexample, self-awareness depends onbeing able to see ourselves objectively,and that requires the ability toexamine our thoughts and emotionsfrom a third- person perspective, notgetting swept up in the emotion, notidentifying with it, but just seeing itclearly and objectively. This requiresa stable and clear, nonjudging attention.Another example shows howattention relates to self- regulation.There is an ability called “responseflexibility,” which is a fancy name forthe ability to pause before you act.You experience a strong emotionalstimulus, but instead of reactingimmediately as you normally would(for example, giving the other driverthe bird), you pause for a split second,and that pause gives you choicein how you want to react in thatemotional situation (for example,choosing not to give the other driverthe bird, which may save you a lot oftrouble because the other driver maybe an angry old man with golf clubswho turns out to be the father of thewoman you’re dating).That ability depends again on havinga quality of attention that is clearand unwavering. To quote ViktorFrankl, “Between stimulus and response,there is a space. In that spacelies our freedom and our power tochoose our response. In our responselies our growth and our happiness.”What a mind of calmness and claritydoes is to increase that space forus. The way to train this quality ofattention is something known as“mindfulness meditation.” Mindfulnessis defined by Jon Kabat- Zinn as“paying attention in a particular way:on purpose, in the present moment,and non-judgmentally.” 11 The famousVietnamese Zen master Thich NhatHanh defined mindfulness very poeticallyas “keeping one’s consciousnessalive to the present reality,” 12 which Ireally like, but I found Jon’s definitioneasier to explain to the engineers,and I like the engineers. Mindfulnessis a quality of mind that we all experienceand enjoy from time to time,but it is something that can be greatlystrengthened with practice, andonce it becomes sufficiently strong, itleads directly to the attentional calmnessand clarity that forms the basisof emotional intelligence. There isscientific evidence showing that improvingour ability to regulate ourattention can significantly impacthow we respond to emotions.An interesting study by neuroimagingresearcher Julie Brefczynski-Lewisand colleagues revealed that whenexpert meditators (those with tenthousand or more hours of meditationtraining) were subjected to negativesounds (for example, a womanscreaming), they showed lesser activationin the part of the emotionalbrain called the amygdala comparedto novice meditators. 13 Furthermore,the more hours of meditation trainingthe expert had, the lower theactivation in the amygdala. This isfascinating because the amygdala hasa privileged position in the brain—itis our brain’s sentinel, constantly scanningeverything we see for threats toour survival. ■Footnotes9. Katherine Woollett, Hugo J. Spiers, Eleanor A.Maguire, “Talent in the Taxi: A Model System forExploring Expertise,” Philosophical Transactionsof the Royal Society 364, no. 1522 (2009): 1407–1416. There is also a BBC News article, availableat: http://siybook.com/a/taxibrain.10. Unpublished data. Philippe Goldin, Ph.D.”Cognitive reappraisal of emotion after Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Social anxietydisorder.” Presented at the annual conferenceof the Association of Behavioral and CognitiveTherapy November 2008.11. Jon Kabat- Zinn, Wherever You Go, There YouAre: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life(New York: Hyperion, 1994).12. Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness:An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation(Boston: Beacon Press, 1999).13. J. A.Brefczynski- Lewis, et al., “Neural Correlatesof Attentional Expertise in Long- Term MeditationPractitioners,” Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of the United States ofAmerica 104, no. 27 (2007): 11483–11488.24 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

Leading with Authenticity and Presenceby Susan Skjei, MS, MALEADERSHIP & MindfulnessWhen you meet a person who hasinner authentic presence, you findhe has an overwhelming genuineness,which might be somewhatfrightening because it is so true andhonest and real. You experience asense of command radiating fromthe person of inner authentic presence.Although that person might bea garbage collector or a taxi driver,still he or she has an uplifted quality,which magnetizes you and commandsyour attention.These words from ChogyamTrungpa, paint a powerful andintriguing picture of an essentialquality of leadership that often goesunacknowledged but is desperatelyneeded during this time of social,economic and environmental turbulence.The primary practice ChogyamTrungpa taught for discoveringbasic goodness was meditation.However, he considered all of life’schallenges to be opportunities topractice and incorporated the variouselements of everyday life intorituals for waking up. He emphasizedthe importance of decorumin everyday life, including how oneeats, wears one’s clothes, and speaksto others. All of these practices wereintended to invoke the openness,fearlessness, and tenderness thatis the hallmark of the Shambhalawarrior. The path of warriorshipprovides an inspiring and upliftingjourney toward greater wholenessand authenticity.Discovering AuthenticityThe definition of authenticitywithin the Shambhala traditionrefers to a state of awakened presencein which the individual hasaccess to the profundity of basicgoodness as well as appreciationof his or her own uniqueness. TheTibetan term for this awakenedpresence is wangthang, translatedas “authentic presence” or “fieldof power.” Although authenticpresence is inherent, disciplineand rigor are needed in order toaccess it. According to Trunpga,“The cause of authentic presenceis the merit you accumulate andthe effect is the authentic presenceitself.”Merit or virtue comes from emptyingout and letting go—the abilityto empathize and exchange oneselfwith the suffering and aspirationsof others. It is a result of gradualdevelopment as well as instantaneouslyletting go of the habitualmind.Although these qualities ofauthenticity are familiar to us,Trungpa said, most people onlyexperience them in glimpses. Inorder to sustain the glimpse, thereis a need for discipline. This can beaccomplished through the practiceof meditation. There are two meditationmethods that can assist withthe journey toward authenticity.The first is called shamatha, whichin Sanskrit means “development ofpeace.” First the practitioner mustbe able to simplify external stimuli,and thorough a simple technique,such as following the breath as itgoes in and out of the body, bringhis or her awareness into the presentmoment. The goal is not to tryto think happy or pleasant thoughtsor to think about peacefulness,per se, but through the process ofacknowledgingthat oneis thinking,and lettinggo of specificthoughts, peacecan naturally arise. According toTrungpa, “It doesn’t really matterwhat thoughts you have in thepractice of meditation, whether youhave monstrous thoughts, or benevolentthoughts, all of them areregarded purely as thinking. Theyare neither virtuous nor sinful.”The second meditation disciplineis called vipassana or clear seeing.It is not enough to have stabilityof mind. One must also cultivateclarity and the ability to see theinteraction of cause and effect thatcan result in insight. The meditationtechnique involves opening upto the environment or “space” andnoticing what happens when thepractitioner attempts to rest his orher mind in this. Trungpa also emphasizedthe value of meditationfor learning to synchronize one’sbody and mind.This method of synchronizingyour mind and body is trainingyou to be very simple and tofeel that you are not special, butordinary, extra-ordinary. You sitsimply, as a warrior, and out ofthat, a sense of individual dignityarises. You are sitting on the earthand you realize that this earth deservesyou and you deserve thisearth. You are there—fully, personally,genuinely. So meditationpractice in the Shambhala traditionis designed to educate peopleto be honest and genuine, true tothemselves.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 25

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessROUSING UNCONDITIONALCONFIDENCEThere are many aspects to the Shambhalateachings, but perhaps the onethat is most important for leadershipdevelopment has to do with howto rouse unconditional confidence,regardless of external circumstances.This is called raising lungta or “windhorse.”It involves tuning in to one’sbody, emotions, and mental state,fully acknowledging and synchronizingthem, and then letting go. In thisway, a leader can learn to access theenergy, or wind, of a situation andengage with it powerfully, as if ridinga horse. By practicing this in avariety of ways, in both formal andinformal settings, it is possible for theleader to develop strength and presence,or “merit” as it is known in thistradition.LEADERSHIP PRESENCEThe importance of courage andleadership presence in the midstof difficult situations has beenwell documented in the leadershipliterature. Warren Bennis andRobert Thomas have said that goodleadership is about making soundjudgments when confronted withcrucible moments. Bill George,former CEO of Medtronics, usedthe same term and emphasized theimportance of moments of truth forauthentic leaders. Similarly, JosephBadaracco described moments ofcourage or defining moments. Allof these refer to the turning points atwhich a leader faces a challenge andthen responds with the sum total ofwhoever he or she is at the time withwhatever level of training and experiencehe or she has at that moment.Many leadership experts havesought to analyze and evaluate theactions leaders take in these criticalmoments in order to recommendadditional training to help them respondmore appropriately in thefuture. This is certainly helpful, butit doesn’t address the inner experienceof the leader and how awarenessimpacts not only what the leadersees, but how he or she responds tothe situation. As Bill O’Reilly, CEOof Hannover Insurance said, “Thesuccess of an intervention is determinedby the internal condition ofthe intervener.” When a leader facesan emerging, complex challenge thatis different from anything that hashappened before, he or she mustinnovate on the spot. These momentsrequire the leader to access adeeper level of authenticity, coherence,resourcefulness, and presenceto respond appropriately (or at all). Itmight be said that authentic momentsare those when we are most at homewith ourselves or at one with ourselves.However, leaders cannot takethese moments for granted. In orderto understand authentic momentsmore fully, a deeper exploration ofleaders’ lived experience is needed.This is what Chogyam Trungpaoffered the world through his teachingson authentic presence—both anunderstanding of authenticity and apathway for cultivating it.WORKING WITH FEARThe biggest obstacle to authenticpresence is fear. Leaders cannoteliminate fear, but must get to knowtheir fear intimately in order to knowhow to work with it. Bravery is notthe absence of fear but the ability totake wise action in spite of the fear.Pema Chodron, a Western studentof Trungpa’s who became a monastic,wrote, "To the degree you faceyourself and face your fear, you knowwhat it triggers in you and all of theways you try to run away from it,and trust the potential that you andall other beings have to open up, bewakeful and be kind, you don’t rightaway discover courage, but you discovertender vulnerability."The antidote to fear is not a brittleconfidence born of certainty, but thevulnerability of an open heart. Thusthe Shambhala path emphasizes theimportance of gentleness and vulnerabilityas well as fearlessness andconfidence. The authentic leaderbalances these two qualities with discernmentand intelligence. ■Susan Skjei is a managementconsultant specializing in organizationalchange, coaching, andleadership development. Formerlya vice-president and chief learningofficer in the high-tech industry,she designs and facilitates participativeapproaches to strategicplanning and organizational transformation.Susan also teachesmeditation workshops for leadersin the United States, Canada, andEurope. She is currently a PhDcandidate in the School of Humanand Organization Developmentat Fielding Graduate University.Susan is a founding board memberof the ALIA Institute and has beena Summer Institute module leader,coach, and meditation presenter.She is also the founding director ofthe Authentic Leadership CertificateProgram at Naropa Universityin Boulder, Colorado.26 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessthat you need to focus so you don’tget lost driving to a meeting, you’rebeing mindful.”Recent neuroscience research hasfurther confirmed what meditatorshave known for millennia: that thereare two fundamentally different waysof interacting with the environment.One is centered in a self-referentialprocess (“ego” or “me” or “personality”),which neurosciencecalls the “narrative circuit”—it is the brain circuitry andinformation storehouse thatholds together a personalnarrative based on past experience,which then actsas a filter and interpreterfor what is happening in thepresent. The other is called “directexperience” by both scientists andmeditators. In this case, several differentbrain regions become moreactive and you are able to experiencesensory information in real time. Youare not just overlaying the experiencesof the past onto the situation of thepresent.Mindfulness not only allows youto notice the difference betweenthese two modes, but also givesyou the choice of which circuitryto be using. Further, the more youswitch over to direct experience, the“thicker” and stronger this circuitrybecomes.Now stepping outside the frameworkof neuroscience and into oureveryday experience, we can also saythat direct experience heals fragmentation.We get out of our “head” andinto the mind-body system that isalready connected to the larger energeticsystem of the environment. Wereconnect with a wholeness that hasbeen in the background. We drawfrom a larger energetic field, and webecome more attuned to the subtlesignals within and around us.A traditional Buddhist metaphorfor our usual thinking mind is thatof a monkey trapped inside a house.The monkey keeps running fromwindow to window, which representthe senses. Obviously the monkeydoesn’t have a very complete or integratedview of the world outside. Noris there a lot of freedom in the monkey’sworld.“Depending on the source of attention andawareness we operating from, we effectand facilitate different social dynamicsand patterns. ‘I attend this way—therefore things emerge that way.’ ”–Otto ScharmerMIT researcher Otto Scharmeralso describes the limited, narrativemind as being enclosed in a“me” bubble, which could also be“my organization.” Scharmer describesa movement of attentionfrom the middle to the edge of theboundary, where you begin to lookoutward from the periphery of yourboundaries; and then a movementto outside the boundary, where itis possible to see directly what isoutside. Finally, he describes presenceas an orientation that comesfrom the space, or the “field,” itself.Scharmer then concludes, “Dependingon the source of attentionand awareness we operate from, weeffect and facilitate different socialdynamics and patterns. ‘I attendthis way — therefore things emergethat way.’”In other words, the result we getdepends on the type of attention, orawareness, we are employing. Thisis the radical thesis at the heart ofBuddhism and Theory U,and which is increasinglysupported by neuroscience.Mindfulness is a leadershippractice that we cando over and over, everyday. The more we do it, themore likely we will reconnectwith mindfulness inthe midst of chaos, pressure, andconflict—in other words, at thetimes when we most need to bepresent and when we are most likelyto have defaulted into a habitualpattern of response. Moreover, wewill be cultivating the capacity tobe fully present to the richness anddepth of our lives. ■Susan Szpakowski isExecutive Director of the AuthenticLeadership in Action (ALIA) Institute,which integrates mindfulness intoleadership development.Susan Szpakowski is a founding member of theALIA Institute and is currently its executive director.She is author of ALIA’s Little Book of Practice,which chronicles key principles, stories, andpractices from ALIA’s first ten years. Susan hasa lifelong interest in learning and education thatengages all aspects of the human journey. Shehas been a one-room school teacher, editor for theNaropa Institute (now University), and curriculumdeveloper for the Nova Scotia Departmentsof Health and Education. She has also been actively engaged indeveloping ALIA’s model of leadership education.28 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

Mindful Leadership:Discovering Wisdom Beyond Certaintyby Susan SzpakowskiEverywhere we hear the drumbeatof change. Organizationsand communities must becomemore innovative, resilient, adaptive.As leaders we are increasingly calledto reinvent our strategies, companies,even entire social systems, whileinspiring others to do the same.We are also called to reinvent ourselves—tolet go of familiar habits,stretch in new ways, rise to meet acceleratingchallenges. But even themost adventurous and risk-lovingamong us have our limits. Too muchuncertainty and our survival mechanismkicks in and we are at the mercyof fight-or-flight impulses.Both change and resistance tochange are facts of life. Any livingsystem is constantly balancing thesetwo imperatives. As we lead throughsituations of high complexity andheightened uncertainty, how do wemanage the deep-seated resistance,fear, and impulse towards retrenchmentthat inevitably follow?DefaultIt is not as if we can dismiss this resistancelightly. It seems that our brainsare programmed to continually createas much certainty as possible. In hisbook Your Brain at Work, David Rock(2009) cites evidence from neurosciencethat this impulse exists even atthe level of perception:You don’t just hear; you hear andpredict what should come next.You don’t just see; you predictwhat you should be seeing momentto moment.... The brainlikes to know what is going on byrecognizing patterns in the world.It likes to feel certain. Like an addictionto anything, when thecraving for certainty is met, thereis a sensation of reward.... Whenyou can’t predict the outcome ofa situation, an alert goes to thebrain to pay more attention. Anoverall away response occurs.(pp. 121-122)Thus the tendency to move towardscertainty, or to fabricate it whenit isn’t there, is one of the brain’s primaryimpulses.Anyone who has studied Buddhismwill recognize parallelsbetween these conclusions and thetraditional Buddhist understandingof how the mind works. In both cases,insights into our default responsescan offer much-needed guidancefor today’s leaders. For these leadersmust learn how to linger in a stateof not-knowing, facing the anxietythat arises, rather than holding on tocomforting certainties that are ultimatelyblinding and deceptiveEgo’s craftMuch of my own understanding ofBuddhism comes from my yearsstudying with the Tibetan teacherChögyam Trungpa, who arrived inNorth America in 1970 as a youngbut already accomplished meditationmaster intensely committed to makinga genuine link between Western cultureand the wisdom tradition he hadinherited. He shed his monastic robesand became immersed in the language,idiom, and questing minds of his newWestern students. As a teacher he wasdelightful—inquisitive, magnetic, wise,playful. This was my first and mostpowerful encounter with a leader operatingfrom a place beyond ego.LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessAccording to the Western Buddhistdefinition, ego is the process offabricating certainty. A sophisticated,moment-to-moment process freezes,judges, anticipates, and assumes whatis going on, driven by an unconsciousanxiety that something is missing,something needs to be secured. Butreality can’t be secured; ego’s missioncan never be accomplished. Thus,ego’s process is the source of misunderstandingsfrom the most trivial tothe most profound and is at the rootof a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction.While this process is ongoing, anyindication of threat sends it into highgear, producing elaborate self-justifications,fantasies, and fears. Tryingto suppress, rationalize, or overrideego’s process just adds to the struggle.According to Buddhism, the primaryantidote is to relax the momentumby establishing a different kind ofground, one that is not ego-based,through the practice of mindfulness.While many leaders practice formalmindfulness meditation as anongoing support for their work, noteveryone is motivated to adopt sucha practice. However, anyone can applythe foundational principles of meditationto their everyday leadership.GroundingOne of Trungpa’s early teachingswas on the Four Foundations ofMindfulness, a traditional Buddhistinstruction on how to meditate.Trungpa (1991) described the firstfoundation, mindfulness of body, as“connected with the need for a senseof being, a sense of groundedness” (p.28). Bringing one’s attention to thephysical sensations of the body createswww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 29

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessa simple, dependable reference pointthat side-steps ego’s tendency to createfalse ground by churning out reactivethoughts and emotions, which depletefocus and energy. In sitting meditation,the posture of straight back, relaxedfront, shapes one’s mind in a way thatis stable, open, and available.The psychosomatic body is sitting,so your thoughts have a flat bottom.Mindfulness of body is connected withthe earth. It is an openness that has abase, a foundation. A quality of expansiveawareness develops throughmindfulness of body—a sense of beingsettled and of therefore being able to affordto open out. (Trungpa, 1991, p. 31)Mindfulness of body can be practicedin any context, at any time of theday. At our desk, we can set a time totake a break, sit straight, and let themind rest, anchored by a general senseof body awareness. When we find ourselvesdistracted, we simply return tothe experience of body. We can also cueourselves to come back to mindfulnesswith a physical gesture or activity we doregularly, such as answering the phoneor walking across the office. The activityitself—the sensation of one’s handon the receiver or feet on the floor—becomesa reminder to tune in to the body.A regular physical activity such asrunning, sports, dance, yoga, Aikido,or taking a lunchtime walk also helpsus stay grounded and increases thelikelihood that we will come back tomindfulness of body many times duringthe day.All these ways of paying attentionto body can help provide a base thatincreases our chances of being able to“open out” our attention and be expansiveand accommodating without beingoverwhelmed or triggered by anxiety.Recognizing and releasingThe second foundation, mindfulness oflife, addresses the survival impulse evenmore explicitly. Mindfulness of lifeinvolves recognizing and releasing thetightness, struggle, and distraction thatcharacterize obsessive thinking. Whenwe find ourselves preoccupied, we letgo and come back to the body, the outbreath,the present moment. Trungpadescribes this process as “touch andgo.” Rather than dismissing, suppressing,or judging, we simply “touch”the thought, as well as the energy andimpulse behind it, and then we “go,”let go, into the next moment. We don’tfeed the momentum with more attentionand energy.Touch that presence of life beinglived, then go. You do not have toignore it. “Go” does not mean thatyou have to turn your back on theexperience and shut yourself offfrom it; it means just to be in itwithout further analysis and withoutfurther reinforcement.(Trungpa, 1991, p. 36)When touch-and-go is an ongoingpractice, we become intimately familiarwith the particular ways we try tomanage uncertainty, because we have“touched” them with mindfulnessmany times. This familiarity makesrecognition easier.Other frameworks can serve thesame purpose. In Your Brain at Work,David Rock (2009) reflects:I noticed a surprising pattern whileputting this book together. I sawthat there are five domains of socialexperience that your brain treatsthe same as survival issues. Thesedomains form a model, which I callthe SCARF model, which stands forStatus, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness,and Fairness. The modeldescribes the interpersonal primaryrewards or threats that are importantto the brain. Getting to knowthese five elements strengthens yourdirector. It’s a way of developing languagefor experiences that may beotherwise unconscious, so that youcan catch these experiences occurringin real time. (pp. 195-196)Rock defines the “director” as theaspect of attention that is self-aware,that notices an impulse and can chooseto let it go in the moment of recognition.He explicitly links this function tomindfulness. Rock’s five domains alsoresonate with Buddhist descriptionsof ego’s concerns: to be recognized, tobe certain, to be in control, to gain approval,and to be reassured that one isgetting a fair deal. When any of theseis challenged or denied, ego goes intohyper-drive, reinforcing its defensesout of fear of losing ground.Shortly after reading Rock’s bookand contemplating his categories, Ihad an excellent opportunity to applythe touch-and-go practice of mindfulnessof life. I was about to board aplane with my son when I received anemail that literally stopped me cold.Someone I had invited into a new projecthad become offended. He referredto a conversation he’d had with a mutualfriend but didn’t provide details.He mentioned withdrawing fundingsupport for another unrelated project.I quickly responded, expressing genuineconfusion and suggesting we talk.Then I got on the plane.During the flight the anxiety triggeredby the email kept breakingthrough conversations with my son.The initial shock was now producingwave after wave of speculation. Ifthis person turned against me, therepercussions would be far-reaching.The project, which I knew was ambitiousand risky, would backfire. Iwould fail, be humiliated, shunned.Why did I always go out on a limblike this? Why didn’t I know better?Why had I trusted this person in thefirst place? How could he do this? Aseach line of thinking rose to a crescendo,I would suddenly recognize30 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessthe pattern and apply the label….Oh, right. Status. Relatedness. Fairness.And I could see the underlyingfears begin to freeze into a solidifiedposition: righteousness, self-doubt,closing the door on the other. Witheach recognition, I would “touch”these thoughts and emotions withmindfulness, recognize them, then“go”—return to the simplicity of sittingin the seat, in the present, on theplane, with my son.Over the following days, efforts toreassure myself that this message wassimply a mistake, soon to be clearedup, became less convincing duringthe notable silence that ensued. Ieven woke up one morning dreamingthat I was telling my colleagues I hadfailed them. Touch-and-go was not aquick fix but something that I neededto keep applying while the impulsecontinued to play itself out.Obviously the email had hit a nerve,or multiple nerves, connected to mysurvival imperative. Recognizing thishelped prevent me from solidifyinga conclusion, an emotional stance,complete with elaborate justifications,which would be difficult to undo andwhich would probably only exacerbatethe problem. I was able to avoidfeeding my deep-seated insecurities.By the time I returned from my trip Iwas able to have the needed conversationfrom a place that was groundedand sympathetic both to myself and tothe perspectives of the other person. Iwas ready to voice my concerns whilekeeping the door open. I could hear theother person recognize his own senseof threatened certainty, triggered byunrelated events, which had led to themisunderstanding. The crisis was over,and we were ready to move forward.Mindfulness of life is a very personalpractice. Every time we are ableto catch ourselves being triggered, wehave a glimpse of our own survivalpattern as well as the possibility of respondinga different way. We are ableto choose. And every time we choosea more generous, considered response,that neural pathway, that mental habit,that relationship with the other, isstrengthened and our leadership growsa little larger and a little stronger.Willing to be hereThe third foundation is mindfulnessof effort. Preconceptions about meditation-in-actionoften conjure imagesof someone moving slowly, deliberately,dutifully through their day. Inthis case, mindfulness is much lesssomber and self-conscious than that.It is more like an attitude or an atmosphere.In the midst of whatever weare doing we “come back” because wehave made an intention to be mindfuland because mindfulness is a naturalaspect of mind, always available.Trungpa (1991) describes it this way:There is just suddenly a generalsense that something is happeninghere and now, and we are broughtback. Abruptly, immediately,without a name, without the applicationof any kind of concept,we have a quick glimpse of changingthe tone. That is the core ofthe mindfulness-of-effort practice.(pp. 38-39)There is effort involved, but it maynot be the kind we are used to. It ismore like tuning in. We are willingto be mindful. We understand thevalue of mindfulness and we have anintention to keep coming back. Liketransformational leadership itself,we neither control so tightly that wesqueeze the life out of ourselves andothers; nor do we abandon ourselvesand our projects to whatever habitualimpulse comes our way. Both extremesbecome reminders to returnto a middle path: alert and relaxed;not too tight, not too loose.Mindfulness of effort involves intentionallycreating conditions—aculture of awareness—rather thansimply driving down a linear path towardsa goal. It also involves courage,because even though our preoccupationsand struggles are distractingand get us into trouble, at least theyare familiar. Applying mindfulness ofeffort takes away our security blanket.We have to be willing to let go ofego’s false ground.SimplicityTrungpa (1991) describes the fourthfoundation, mindfulness of mind, as“intelligent alertness,” “aroused intelligence,”and as “being with yourmind.” This foundation highlightsthe precise simplicity of mindfulness.Fundamentally, we can only bein one place at a time. We are eitherpresent to what is happening or wemiss it. This realization comes with ahealthy dose of humility:We think we are great, broadly significant,and that we cover a wholelarge area. We see ourselves as havinga history and a future, and herewe are in our big-deal present. Butif we look at ourselves clearly in thisvery moment, we see we are justgrains of sand—just little peopleconcerned only with this little dotwhich is called nowness. We canonly operate on one dot at a time,and mindfulness of mind approachesour experience in that way.(Trungpa, 1991, p. 53)Even mindfulness can be anotherway of fragmenting our attention.We split ourselves into watcher anddoer. In reality, there is always justone thing going on, a “one-shot deal.”Multi-tasking is therefore a sleightof-hand,an illusion:It is easy to imagine that twothings are happening at once,because our journey back andwww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 31

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessforth between the two may bevery speedy. But even then we aredoing only one thing at a time.We are jumping back and forth,rather than being in two places atonce, which is impossible.(Trungpa, 1991, p. 46)From a practical point of view,maintaining the illusion of being inmore than one place at once drainsmental energy and is counterproductive.Switching back to a neurosciencelens, research tells us that rapidly shiftingback and forth between cognitivetasks results in plummeting capacityand rising levels of error. The only wayto maintain performance is to transferall tasks but one to parts of the brainthat can function on autopilot. So,for example, we can drive a car whileworking on a solution to a problem.But even this can be a poor use ofmental energy. We arrive at our destinationslightly spaced out, because ourprefrontal cortex, which is an intensiveenergy consumer, is already tired, andbecause body and mind (or differentparts of our brain) are out of sync.Our body-mind system is our personalleadership instrument, capable ofsensing, attending, knowing, learning,and acting with sensitivity and accuracy.This instrument functions at its bestwhen it is not hijacked by the impulsesof ego. As leaders, we are more resilient,compassionate, and intelligentwhen we are grounded in mindfulnessof body; when we “touch and go”in response to habitual tendencies andreactive impulses; when we maintainan alert, relaxed self-awareness; andwhen we tune in to the simplicity andpotency of nowness.Mindfulness andTransformationMindfulness is an age-old practicethat can be used in support of aspiritual path, a leadership path, orsimply a path of becoming more fullyhuman. Mindfulness relates directlywith the ongoing, universal fear ofuncertainty, which, if left unchecked,distorts perception, freezes intelligenceand learning, and leads tospiraling interpretation, emotion,and reaction. As leaders, we canobserve all these tendencies in ourselves,and we can readily see howthese tendencies become amplifiedin our organizations and societies.In these times of great change, theneed for alternative ways to manageuncertainty is critical.Most, if not all, practices andmethodologies of transformationalleadership contain elements that wecan recognize in the four foundationsof mindfulness. As leaders, we intuitivelyknow that we need to establishenough ground, enough trust andcontinuity, for people to be able to exploreand embrace change, and to stepinto a shared reality that is larger andmore dynamic than the territorialityand impulses of ego. We need ways ofuncoupling the seemingly solid linksbetween the momentum of the pastand the possibility of the present, andbetween assumption and reality, so thattrue innovation is possible. And weneed structures, traditions, and ritualsthat sustain and continually refreshour efforts, without becoming overlyrigid and burdensome. And finally, aculture of nowness arises when we arepresent in a simple way, whether in acircle check-in or while silently holdingan open question in a planning retreat.Nowness is the incubator of transformation—ofmeaning, insight, courage,commitment, and synchronicity.Perhaps what is less evident in eitherthe mindfulness or neuroscienceliterature is the great bank of wisdomand compassion that becomesavailable when ego’s impulses havebeen harnessed. This is the potentialI have experienced most vividly inmy encounters with great Buddhistteachers such as Chögyam Trungpa.Simply through their presence, theseteachers provide a contrast to ego’ssmall strugglings and a glimpse of amore enlightened way of being.Although Trungpa died in 1987,his vision of a secular enlightenedsociety sustained through personaland collective practices continues toinform a multitude of initiatives inthe arts, business, health, and education.In every case, the premise isthe same: When we harness the impulsesof ego, we free up creativityand intelligence. Our institutions andcommunities become more alive andresilient. We are able to fully inhabit aworld that is already transformational.We find ourselves present for thatone-shot, straight-up reality fromwhich there is no escape. ■Susan Szpakowski is ExecutiveDirector of the AuthenticLeadership in Action (ALIA)Institute, which convenes thoughtleaders and offers programmingin the field of transformationalleadership and systems change.ALIA programs include both formalmindfulness and meditation-inaction.Susan also is author ofALIA's Little Book of Practice andeditor of Speaking of Silence:Christians and Buddhists inDialogue. For more information,see www.aliainstitute.org.ReferencesRock, D. (2009). Your brain at work:Strategies for overcoming distraction,regaining focus, and working smarterall day long. New York, NY: Harper,pp. 121–122, 195-196.Trungpa. (1991). The heart of the Buddha.Boston, MA: Shambhala, pp. 28,31, 36, 38-39, 46, 53.32 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessMaking the Mindful Leader:Cultivating Skills for Facing Adaptive Challengesby Jeremy Hunter, PhD, Peter F. Drucker School of Management andMichael Chaskalson, MA Mindfulness Works Ltd. and School of Psychology, Bangor UniversityIf you know others and you know yourself,you will not be imperilled in hundred battles,if you do not know others but you know yourself,you will win one and lose one,if you do not know others and do not know yourself,you will be imperilled in every single battle.Sun Tzu, The Art of WarWe should base our decisions on awarenessrather than on mechanical habit. That is, weact on a keen appreciation for the essential factorsthat make each situation unique instead offrom conditioned response.Warfighting: The U.S. Marine CorpsBook of StrategyIntroductionHuman civilization has always facedthe challenge of adapting to change.Changes in market, shifting politicalalliances, financial collapses, uncertainenergy sources, and naturaldisasters have always been part ofthe landscape that people have hadto wrestle with. However, at thispoint in history, it appears that theintensity and demands of changeare particularly complex and severe.Globalization creates new marketsand wealth but also competitionand dislocation. Natural disasters inThailand impact tightly interwovensupply chains and debilitate manufacturingin Ohio. Informationtechnologies speed up the tempoof nearly everything making thepace of life relentless. Nearly everyaspect of modern life – ecology andeconomics, commerce and finance,politics and government, scienceand education – faces tectonic, disruptiveand destabilizing change(Kelly, 2005; Toffler & Toffler,2006; Brown, 2011). Leaders acrossdomains express a common refrainof being in “uncharted waters” whereold models, routines and assumptionsare called into question withno clear pathways on which to navigate.As a result, there are enormousstresses on individuals, institutionsand organisations who are calledupon to meet, and effectively adjustto, increasingly discordant, unpredictableand extreme events.How we make sense of changeinfluences how successful we are inresponding to it and a key purposeof leadership is to facilitate responsesto problems positively, ethicallyand in a way that strengthens society(Heifetz, 1994). It is our contentionthat mindfulness training is a powerfuland effective means of helpingleaders meet the adaptive challengesof the current age.Adaptive LeadershipHeifetz distinguishes two classes ofchallenge that leaders are likely toface: technical problems and adaptiveones (Heifetz, 1994). The distinctionsbetween these two types can help toidentify potential tools for facingthem. Technical problems may becomplex and difficult but they can beaddressed with existing ways of perceivingand understanding; they areknown problems with known solutionsbased on past experience. Forexample, a skilled surgeon understandsthe process of transplantinga kidney and a practiced marksmancan reliably strike a target.Adaptive challenges, on the otherhand, differ from technical onesbecause both the problem and thesolution may not be recognized andunderstood within current schemas.Adaptive challenges call uponleaders to grow toward more sophisticatedways of seeing and thinking,acting and relating.Take for example an adaptivechallenge of a previous era: choleraoutbreaks in 19th century Londonwere thought to be caused by “miasmain the atmosphere” accordingto the received wisdom of the day(Summers, 1989). However, theclose observation of Dr John Snowsuggested revealed the onset ofdisease was marked by intestinaldisturbances that pointed not topoisoned fog but to a tainted watersupply. His observation transformedthe understanding of the problem ina way that would eventually lead toa cure and give rise to the adaptivecreation of public health services.In other examples, problemsmay be well understood but solvingwww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 33

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessthem may require a shift in perceivingpossibilities and relationships.The leaders of a large desert metropolis,for example, may understandthat their city relies on an uncertainwater supply. Historically, they arepredisposed to building centralizedlarge-scale engineering works totransport water from faraway sources.A significant perceptual shift isneeded to recognize the millions ofgallons of existing wastewater runoffas a potential resource that could belocally collected through a decentralizedcommunity effort and recycledwithout the expense of moving wateracross vast distances. That adaptationrequires that they learn to relate tothe public not just as passive customersbut rather as partners in creatingthe solution.Finally, adaptive challenges alsoarise where both the problem and thesolution may not be well understood.The current debate on climate changetypifies this sort of problem. Partisansfall into conflict over the cause ofweather changes and what would constitutean effective response. In bothcases, adaptive challenges cannot relyon previous solutions, frameworks orways of understanding and relatingto make sense of them and respondeffectively. Leaders must learn andchange if they are to engage with andresolve the challenge.A common mistake leaders makeis to misidentify adaptive problemsas technical ones, thinking that yesterday’ssolutions can apply to today’snovel problem (Kegan & Lahey,2010). This is because of the innatehuman tendency to mindlessly andnonconsciously react with rote actionpatterns and habitual ways of sensemaking(Langer, 1989). The mind’stendency toward automatic actions,while useful in stable circumstances,can become maladaptive whenthe pattern no longer fits a changingcondition. Many of the complexchallenges leaders face exceeds theirability to perceive, understand andadapt to them with their currentschemas (Kegan & Lahey, 2010).Leaders are often, to paraphrase thewords of developmental psychologistRobert Kegan, “in over their heads”(Kegan, 1998). When leaders applyan old map to a new problem, theyfind themselves stuck, stressed, andfrustrated at their lack of progress.Adaptive challenges are especiallydifficult. They call into question existingroles, orders and hierarchies. As aresult, they are often stressful. Stressreactions are instinctive, automaticsurvival mechanisms that mobilizeenergy to adapt to a potential threat(Greenberg, Carr, & Summers, 2002).However, if poorly managed or unmanagedaltogether leaders can beexpected to experience a range of negativeaffect and cognitive impairmentsthat can leave them disoriented, disconnected,fearful, and frustrated(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; Goleman,1996). Yet, leaders need to demonstratethat they are calm, in controland are able to inspire, motivate, makewise decisions and take effective,thoughtful action. In other words,they need to ably manage themselvesin the face of their own neurobiology.The failure to effectively self-manageimpairs a leader’s health, diminishesher performance and potentiallydamages her relationships (Boyatzis &McKee, 2005).Because adaptive challenges oftenrequire complex coordination withothers, quality relationships are essential.The growing importance of highquality interpersonal relationships reflectsa broad trend in organizationsthat have shifted from hierarchicalcommand and control models, to flattersystems where formal authority isdecreased (Pearce & Conger, 2002).In such situations, authority becomesmore informal and connective – relyingon a leader’s skill to connect with,persuade and motivate others to actin ways that may be uncomfortable,or to give up limited resources, or togo against their own short term interests(Lipman-Blumen, 2000; Heifetz& Linsky, 2002). To skilfully navigatethese conditions leadership capacitiesand skills based in high levels ofcognitive and emotional nuance arecalled for. Adaptive leaders need tocultivate the skills of managing themselvesif they are to skilfully work withothers to meet the challenge of adaptiveproblems (Drucker, 2011; Hunter& Scherer, 2009).To be effective in meeting adaptivechallenges a leader must be ableto consciously step out of habitualreactions and engage with a shiftingreality in new and more sophisticatedways (Wilson, 2004; Drucker,2001; Kegan & Lahey, 2010). Leadersmust learn to cultivate and transformthemselves. This self-developmentresults in enhanced internal capacitiessuch as deeper intellectualunderstanding, perceptual capacityas well as a greater ability to innovate,self-manage, and self-direct (Csikszentimihaly,1993).Leaders need new tools to supportthem as they grapple with increasinglytesting realities. We propose that acritical skill for adaptive leaders is thecapacity to be mindful––to be presentand aware of themselves, others andthe world around them, to recognizein real-time their own perceptions(and their potential biases), theiremotional reactions and the actionsthey need to take to address currentrealities more effectively (Kabat-Zinn,1990; Boyatzis & McKee, 2005).Mindfulness training can provideleaders with practical methods for34 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessenhancing attention and awareness.That in turn can significantlyenhance their potential for adaptiveaction and greater self-management.Mindfulness adds a potent perspectivefor understanding humanaction and, as a set of transformativemethodologies, it has the capacity toradically – and practically – reshapeit. In what follows we describe morefully what mindfulness is, explorehow it might be beneficial to leadersand examine how a seeminglysimple practice can elicit potentiallyprofound results.What is Mindfulness?Mindfulness is a way of attending toyourself, others and the world aroundyou that allows one to adopt moreproductive and positive ways of actingand being (Chaskalson, 2011).Mindful attention is rooted in thehere-and-now and is not biased by thepreconceptions inherent in everydaypreferences (Kabat-Zinn, 1990).Because attention directly informssubjective experience (James, 1890),cultivated mindful attention has thepotential to radically transform howa person relates to their inner andouter worlds. The power of mindfulnessarises from systematicallydeveloping a person’s attention sothat she can recognize in the momenthow she identifies with herimplicit, habitual and automated patternsof thinking, feeling and actingand the results they bring about. Byrecognizing these patterns, she canelect to change course. As a resultmindfulness endows “an adaptabilityand pliancy of mind with quicknessof apt response in changing situations.”(Nyanaponika 1965, p. 80).Furthermore, because attention is anecessary constituent in any humanactivity, mindfulness can be broughtto bear in any domain of human life.Mindfulness, as we use the term,was taught by the Buddha over 2500years ago as a way of solving theproblem of human suffering. Thatsame approach to mindfulness isalso practiced today as a specificmethodology for transforming themind in a wide variety of secularcontexts such as medicine (Kabat-Zinn, 1990), clinical psychology(Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002),law (Riskin 2002), the military(Jha & Stanley, 2010), corporations(Chaskalson, 2011), managementschools (Hunter & Scherer, 2009),and even professional basketball(Lazenby, 2001). Crucially, thecapacity for mindfulness can betrained and one highly effective wayof doing that is by way of training inmindfulness meditation techniques.A growing scientific literature atteststo the effectiveness of mindfulnesstraining in areas as diverse as stressand chronic pain management, depressionrelapse prevention, eatingdisorder treatment, recidivism andsubstance abuse relapse prevention(Chiesa & Serretti, 2010) anda Google Scholar search on theterm “mindfulness” anywhere inthe title of a paper, conducted on14 December 2011, yielded 2,480results. Research thus far has primarilyfocussed on alleviating thepathological. However, there isalso a growing body of evidencedemonstrating the effectiveness ofmindfulness in healthy populations,where it has been shown to enhanceoverall well-being, producing desirableoutcomes across a range ofmeasures (Brown & Ryan, 2003;Chiesa & Serreti, 2009).How Mindfulness Can HelpLeadersTo date, there is little research evidencearound the application ofmindfulness to leadership (Bryant &Wildi, 2008). But drawing on whatis known of its effectiveness in otherfields and for human life in general,we confidently surmise that applyingmindfulness in leadership contextswill be considerably beneficial.Because mindfulness trainingfocuses on how leaders use theirattention, it is not just another constructto stand alongside the manyother arms of leadership researchand practice, but both a perspectiveand a systematic method thathelps leaders better understand andtransform their own minds. Suchan internal shift changes both howa leader sees the world, how he potentiallyacts and the results thoseactions bring about. What marksmindfulness training out from otherleadership training interventions isthe fact that the shift in attentionalcapacity can be trained and embeddedin the context of everydayaction. Furthermore the effectivenessof such training is borne out bymarked biological changes. To drawon just one study, neuro-imagingresearch by Hölzel and colleagues(2011) show that an 8-week mindfulnesstraining course evincedchanges in participant’s brain areasthat are associated with attention,learning and memory processes,emotion regulation, self-referentialprocessing, and perspective taking.Our sense of the value of mindfulnessbuilds on Mumford’s insightthat outstanding leadership is rootedin a leader’s ability to constructprescriptive mental models thathelp people and institutions makesense of and respond to crises(Mumford, 2006). Mindfulness is atool that makes more evident how aleader perceives and processes experienceto construct models of reality.Mindfulness also makes these mod-www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 35

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessels more amenable to conscioustransformation. Increased consciousawareness, we assert, is far morelikely to produce an accurate read ofa changing situation than does thenatural tendency to fall back on rotehabits of sensemaking.A unique quality of mindfulnesspractice is that it is a tool rooted inimmediate experience. Leadershiptraining has thus far tended to focuson retrospective analyses of past actionor on future-oriented creationsof visions and goals (Drucker, 2001).Little of leadership development hasfocused on understanding oneself inthe present moment. But it is the presentin which all human activity occurs.The here and now is the “live feed”view into how a person experienceslife. Focusing on the present affordsthe leader the ability to see what isactually happening beyond his ownpreconceptions. Focusing in the hereand now affords the ability to see whena person’s stated actions and intentionsmismatch the actual ones. Focusing onthe present affords the ability to catch areactive emotion before it does damageto a key relationship.Mindfulness addresses a set ofgeneral interrelated problems thatParticipants on a mindfulness course learn metacognitive skills indirectlybut very effectively (Teasdale et al., 2002). As we have seen, theymay be instructed to meditate on their breath – simply allowing theirattention to settle on the sensations of breathing. At some point duringthat meditation the instructor might suggest that when the mindwanders the participants should notice where it goes and then gentlyand kindly bring their attention back to the breath. At another point, heor she might add “And if your mind wanders off a hundred times, justbring it back a hundred times …” The mind wanders, you notice whereit went and you bring it back. It wanders, you notice where it went andyou bring it back. Over and over. In this way, participants learn four keymetacognitive skills:1. The skill of seeing that their minds are not where they wantthem to be.“I want to sit in this meditation, following my breath, but I keep thinkingabout what’s next on my to-do list.”2. The skill of detaching the mind from where you don’t want it to be:“Actually, I don’t need to be thinking about my to-do list right now: Ican choose …”3. The skill of placing the mind where you want it to be:“I’ll just come back to the breath …”4. The skill of keeping the mind where you want it to be:The participant just follows the breath for a few minutes, undistractedly.By repeatedly practicing these four skills participants become moreadept at them. That starts to have benefits outside of the meditationcontext as well: “I don’t need to be thinking about which holiday tobook online when I get home – I need to give all of my attention to theteam-member who has come to see me”.interfere with a leader’s capacity tobring about adaptive change: thepervasiveness of mindlessness andautomaticity and the instinctualsurvival reactions that underminecooperative, rational action anddegrade personal health as well asgroup and individual resilience. Itcan supportively speak to and buildupon existing lines of leadership researchand development, as well aspractical application.It may that successful leaders havealways drawn on some quality akinto mindfulness to deal with changeand ideas similar to mindfulnesshave long been discussed by prominentleadership scholars (Drucker,2006; Heifetz, 1996). They discussionthey have begun can be further developedand built upon and we aimto support these ideas with greaterelaboration and empirical evidence.What follows is a brief generaldiscussion of the basic conditionswhich give rise to the need for mindfulness,namely mindlessness andthe automated, non-conscious natureof human perceiving, thinking,feeling and acting. Beyond that is amore in-depth exploration of howmindfulness can help leaders in specificways. There we will examine therole mindfulness can play in helpingto manage stress and reactive emotions,make better decision, act ininnovative ways and respond freshlyto situations beyond the limits oftheir habituated actions. In otherwords, how to become more adaptiveleaders. Finally, because mindfulnessis a practice, it is important tounderstand the mechanisms of howmindfulness is thought to work.Mindfulness’ PotentialPromise for LeadersThe following section exploresrecent findings on mindfulness and36 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessthe implications they have for moreeffective leadership. We will explorethe impact of mindfulness trainingon leadership stress, emotionalreactivity, attention and workingmemory, perception and cognition,empathy, decision making and innovation.We will then conclude withan investigation of the mechanismsof mindfulness and with suggestionsfor the direction of further research.Managing the Stress ofLeadingThe secular approach to mindfulnesstraining that was pioneered in a clinicalsetting by Kabat-Zinn (1990) andhis colleagues was initially intendedto address the issues of stress andchronic pain. Systematic reviews ofthe empirical evidence (Baer et al.,2003; Grossmann et al., 2004; Chiesa& Serretti, 2010) suggest that it is aneffective means of helping to managethe debilitating qualities of excessivestress.Leaders often enjoy the challengeof their position and find their workstimulating (Lundberg & Frankenhaeuser,1999), but leadership canalso be highly stressful. Boyatzis andMcKee (2005) describe the conditionof “power stress” to which those inleadership positions are particularlysusceptible. This is a by product ofthe manifold pressures they experience,the ambiguities of authority andcommunication that abound in largeorganisations, as well as the lonelinessinherent in leadership positions.Boyatzis and McKee see some degreeof power stress as being inevitable inleadership positions and the key tosuccessful leadership, they suggest, isnot in avoiding stress so much as intaking steps regularly to recover fromthe affects of it. Mindfulness practice,they say, is a key means by whichsuch recovery can be instituted.In an interview in the HarvardBusiness Review, Herbert Benson(Fryer, 2005), draws on Selye’s (1975)distinction between eustress (fromthe Greek, ‘eu’, meaning ‘good’)and distress. Persistent stress thatis not resolved through coping oradaptation leads to ‘distress’, whichmay give rise to anxiety or depression.But stress can also enhancephysical or mental function, for instancethrough strength training orchallenging work. In that case it iseustress.Stress itself is the physiological responseto any change – good or bad– that alerts the adaptive fight-orflightresponse in the brain and body.When this is experienced as eustress,Benson asserts, it is accompaniedby clear thinking, focus and creativeinsight. Distress, on the other hand,refers to the negative stressors thataccompany much of a leader’s work.Benson reports frequent encounters,at the medical institute that heruns, with executives who worry incessantlyabout the changing worldeconomy, the impact of uncontrollableevents on their markets andsources of finance, the world oil supply,family problems, taxes, trafficjams, hurricanes, child abductions,terrorist attacks and environmentaldevastation. Most of these are adaptivechallenges and, as we have seen,they can produce distress. For themindful leader, however, they mayequally well be a source of eustress.The relationship between eustressand distress is illustrated by the Yerkes-Dodsoncurve.First described by the psychologistsRobert Yerkes and John Dodsonin 1908, this is often taken as a standarddescription of the relationshipbetween stress and performance. Aspressure on any organism or individualincreases, so the individual ororganism’s ‘arousal’ – their capacityto respond to that pressure – increases.But beyond a certain point, if thepressure continues unabated, arousal(or performance) falls off. In the caseof individuals, if that continues fortoo long, they become stressed andeventually begin to get ill. It is importantthat organizations and leadersrealize the kinds of chronic stressthat often comes with leadership positionshave been connected to a widerange of diseases and dysfunctionssuch as thyroid or endocrine burnout,obesity, diabetes, the inability toexperience pleasure from normallypleasurable events, immune suppression,psoriasis, lupus, fibromyalgia,chronic fatigue, chronic pain, cancer,heart disease, infertility and irritablebowel syndrome or other digestivedisorders (Britton, 2005). Excessive,unmanaged stress can kill. From theleadership perspective, as Boyatzisand McKee (2005) observe, it canalso lead to a state of ‘dissonance’.Dissonant leaders, Boyatzis andMcKee (2005) suggest, drain the enthusiasmof teams and organizations.They lower morale and make thosearound them unhappy. The stressorssuch leaders experience drive themtowards attitudes of excessive control,aversion, intolerance, irritabilityand fear: qualities that counteract theeffectiveness of leading adaptivechange. Chronic stress, therefore, isa significant leadership issue. As wewill discuss later, mindfulness helpsthe practitioner consciously shiftwhat and how she processes experience,including stressful experiences.Therefore we assert leaders who arebetter able to manage the stressorsthey experience and are able to recoverfrom these more effectively,are less likely to fall into states of dissonancewith their people and willtherefore make better leaders. Forwww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 37

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessthe mindful leader, better equippedto manage her own stressors, adaptivechallenges may, as Benson (Fryer2005) suggests, produce not distressbut instead eustress.A review and meta-analysis ofthe effects of Mindfulness-BasedStress Reduction (MBSR) for stressmanagement in healthy people conductedby Chiesa and Serretti (2009)concluded that MBSR was able significantlyto reduce stress in thatpopulation. How it might do that, wewill see when we consider the mechanismsof mindfulness below.Managing Reactive EmotionsLeadership is a social enterprisewhere relationships are key forgetting things done. Quality of relationshipsmatter. This is even truerwhen situations are stressful. Becauseleaders’ emotions are prone to contagion.Sy, Coté and Saavedra (2005)undertook a study that examined theeffects of leaders’ mood on the moodof individual group members, theaffective tone of groups, and on threegroup processes: coordination, effortexpenditure, and task strategy. Theyfound that when leaders were in apositive, in comparison to a negative,mood then individual group membersthemselves experienced morepositive and less negative mood. Insuch cases, moreover, the groupshad a more positive and a less negativeaffective tone. They also foundthat groups with leaders in a positivemood exhibited more coordinationand expended less effort than didgroups with leaders in a negativemood. It is often the case that considerableenergy is directed towardsmanaging a volatile leader’s emotionsor contriving ways to avoid theiractivation resulting in redirectingattention away from other criticaltasks at hand.Given the crucial importance ofrelationship management for adaptiveleadership that we have drawnattention to above, and given theimpact of the leader’s mood on thatrelationship, the capacity to skilfullymanage her own emotions is a vitalleadership competency and mindfulnesstraining can make a significantcontribution here. One of the earlyneuroimaging studies on mindfulnessconducted by Creswell andcolleagues (2007) demonstrated thatstudy participants higher in traitmindfulness displayed greater prefrontalcortical activation as well asreduced amygdala activation whenexposed to difficult emotion. Thesame inverse correlation between theprefrontal cortex and amygdala activationwas not found for those lowin trait mindfulness. Furthermore,using labelling methods, whereparticipants named the difficultemotions they were experiencing,high-mindfulness participants decreasedthe level of negative affectthey experienced relative to thoselow in mindfulness. Their trainingin mindfulness helped them better tomanage negative affect.Jha, Stanley and colleagues (2010)suggest that there is ample evidencethat mindfulness training’s beneficialeffects on affective experience are alsocommensurate with the amount oftime spent engaging in formal mindfulnesstraining exercises (there istherefore a dose-response, which suggestsa causal relationship) and thatthe training is associated with higherlevels of positive affect and well-being,and lower levels of negative affect andrumination, as well as decreased emotionalreactivity. These findings, theysay, are consistent with the decreasesin neural activity elicited by affectivedistractors within the amygdala andother brain regions involved in emotionalprocessing that follow frommindfulness training. Such resultsconverge on the view that mindfulnesstraining may improve affectiveexperience via improved regulatorycontrol over affective mental content.All of these studies suggest thatmindfulness training has the potentialto help leaders better self-regulatein the face of stressors.Perceiving Reality BeyondOne’s BlindersThe way we make sense of the worlddepends on the data we draw upon. Ifthe data is not accurate or relevant thenthe meanings we make will not fit theactual needs of a situation, resultingin missteps, failure and loss. A studyconducted by Herndon (2008) suggeststhat mindfulness trained subjectsmay come to draw upon more objectivedata sources and thus make moreconsistently accurate inferences aboutthe world around them. Herndon usesa distinction elucidated by Lewicki(2005) between “external” and “internal”encoders. The encoding referredto here is the way in which we makesense of the world based on availabledata, external encoders pay attentionto facts in the environment, whereasinternal encoders use rigid modelsbased sometimes on their own pastexperience, sometimes on informationthat may bear no relation to experiencewhatever. Lewicki suggested thatinternal encoders tend more readilyto sustain cognitive mismatches in theface of conflicting data because theirdata source tends to be self-referentialand closed rather than objective andopen. For example, in the case of internalencoders, the view that “peoplewith dark eyes (A) are arrogant (B)”may generate experience that is functionallyequivalent to encounteringreal instances of that relation between(A) and (B). Though no objective evi-38 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessLove never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful,and endures through every circumstance.”—I Corinthians 13:7dence supports that particular A-Brelation, the schema assuming it cangrow in strength over time and becomea habitual way of sensemaking. Externalencoders, by contrast, tend to bemore careful in deriving meaning byusing data from the environment. Theyrequire a greater amount of confirmingdata from the world around thembefore instantiating a schema. Herndon’s(2008) study showed a positivecorrelation between mindfulness andthe tendency towards external encoding.In other words, people who aremore mindful tend to read the environmentmore accurately and are lesssubject to the potential distortion ofinternal biases.What is crucially important foradaptive leaders in this context is thefact that mindfulness can be trained.By undertaking a course in mindfulnesstraining, Herndon’s studyimplies, leaders may become betterable to make accurate assessments ofthe environment in which they areoperating and less prone to misleading,subjective, perceptual blinders.That view is supported by neurosciencedata. An fMRI studyconducted by Farb and colleagues(2007) noted that with just eightweeks of MBSR training, individualswere more readily able to switchtheir focus of attention from the defaultnetwork, involved in ‘narrativefocus’ activities – such as planning,daydreaming and ruminating – tomodes of direct ‘experiential focus’somatosensory awareness, involvingthe activation of the insula and theanterior cingulate cortex. In otherwords, the mediators were morereadily able to experience informationcoming into their senses in realtime. What is more, compared to thecontrol group, those who practicedmindfulness – regularly noticing thedifference between narrative and directexperience modes of processing– showed a stronger differentiationbetween the two neural paths. Theywere able to know which path theywere on at any time, and could switchbetween them more easily. Subjectswith no experience of mindfulnesspractice, on the other hand, weremore likely to automatically adopt anarrative mode of processing.On this basis it seems, all otherthings being equal, one might reasonablyexpect leaders trained inmindfulness to exhibit lower levelsof automaticity, higher levels of situationalawareness and consequentlyhigher levels of objectivity than thosewho are not so trained.Cultivating EmpathyBesides drawing attention to mindfulnesstraining’s ability to helpleaders develop greater situationawareness in the moment throughan enhanced capacity to attend towhat is present, Farb and colleagues’(2007) study points to anotherimportant potential outcome ofmindfulness training in the contextof leadership development: increasedempathy. They showed that mindfulnesstrained subjects had higherlevels of insula activation after justeight weeks of training. That insulaactivation is central to our sense ofhuman connectedness, helping tomediate empathy in a visceral way(Singer, 2004). Mindfulness trainingallows participants more readilyto know that they’re thinking whenthey’re thinking, to know whatthey’re feeling when they’re feelingit and to be aware of what theyare sensing at the time of sensing it.It enhances their capacity for situationalawareness in the moment andit builds their capacity for empathy.Because leadership is a social activity,the quality of relationshipbetween the leader and especiallyhis/her proximate followers is importantbecause helps to understandothers’ points of view, build an effectiveteam and rally a group to workcollectively (Hogan & Hogan, 2002).A small but growing body of researchoffers evidence that mindfulness improvesthe quality of interpersonalrelationships. Though focused primarilyon romantic relationships,Carson and colleagues found thatmindfulness training improved bothpartners well-being and their abilityeffectively to cope with their own andeach other’s daily stresses (Carson etal., 2004). Another study exploringmindfulness and relationships foundhigher levels of mindfulness wereassociated with greater relationshipsatisfaction. Additionally, mindfulnesswas related to reduced negativeemotions and increased positiveassessments of one’s partner afterdiscussing a relationship conflict.People with higher levels of mindfulnessexperienced less anxiety andanger-hostility and that producedmore positive outcomes when facingconflict. The authors suggestedthat mindfulness plays an inoculatingrole in reducing basic levels ofdistress and that allows a more positiveand productive engagement withone’s partner (Barnes et al., 2007).www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 39

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessAlthough the studies referred toabove come from the field of romanticrelationships, there is no de facto reasonto imagine that their findings wouldnot translate into the relations betweenleaders and their teams. In particular,the relationship found by Barnes andcolleagues (2007) that showed lowerlevels anxiety and anger-hostility inmindfulness trained subjects at timesof conflict must imply the strong possibilityof significant benefits frommindfulness training when it comes toleader-follower relations.Innovative ActionFinally, although we are not aware ofany studies yet carried out that showa direct correlation between mindfulnesstraining and creativity, the work ofFriedman and Forster (2001) suggeststhat such a correlation is highly likely.Before we discuss the study on creativitythey undertook, we need briefly tooutline one carried out by Davidsonand Kabat-Zinn et al. (2003). Theycarried out a study with volunteersat a biotech company to investigatethe effects of mindfulness training onprefrontal activation. They measuredbrain electrical activity in the left andright prefrontal cortex (LPFC andRPFC) before, immediately after andthen at four-month follow-up afteran eight-week training program inmindfulness meditation. Twenty-fivesubjects were tested in the meditationgroup and a wait-list control group wastested at the same points in time as themeditators. At the end of the eightweekperiod, subjects in both groupswere vaccinated with influenza vaccineto assess their immune response.Davidson (1998) has drawn attentionto the relationship between RPFCactivation and diminished immuneresponse. The 2003 study showed significantincreases in LPFC activation inthe meditators compared with the nonmeditators.They also found significantincreases in antibody titers to the influenzavaccine among subjects in themeditation compared with those in thewait-list control group. The magnitudeof increase in left-sided activation predictedthe magnitude of antibody titerrise to the vaccine. These results persistedat four-month follow-up.What is significant here are thechanges evidenced in the mindfulnesstrained subjects’ ratios of LPFC andRPFC activation. Gray (1970, 1994)distinguished two important behaviourmodification systems. These hecalled the Behaviour Inhibition Systems(BIS) to an ‘avoidant’ mode ofmind, indicating the presence of fear,disgust, anxiety, aversion and so on;and the Behaviour Activation Systems(BAS) which is an ‘approach’ system,indicating the presence of emotionssuch as enthusiasm, pride, interestand curiosity. As Davidson (1998) hasshown, these two systems correlateto the asymmetric activation of theprefrontal cortex. Left prefrontal cortex(LPFC) activation corresponds toBAS, or ‘approach’ modes of mind andright prefrontal cortex (RPFC) activationcorresponds to BIS or ‘avoidance’modes of mind.Returning now to the work of Friedmanand Forster (2001), they set twogroups of college students the task ofhelping the mouse find its way out ofthe maze drawn on paper. There wasone slight difference in the pictures thegroups received. The ‘approach’ versionof the picture showed a piece of cheeselying outside the maze in front of amouse hole. The ‘avoidance’ versionshowed an identical maze except that,instead an owl hovered over the maze– ready to swoop and catch the mouseat any moment.The maze takes about two minutesto complete and all the studentswho took part solved it in about thattime, irrespective of the picture theywere working on. But the differencein the after-effects of working on thepuzzle was striking. When the participantstook a test of creativity soonafterwards, those who had helped themouse avoid the owl came out withscores 50% lower than those who hadhelped the mouse find the cheese.The enhanced capacity for ‘approach’modes of mind following acourse of mindfulness training, evidencedby Davidson and Kabat-Zinn(2003) and shown also by Barnhoferand colleagues (2007) suggest thatleaders who train in mindfulness arelikely to experience an increased capacityfor creativity and innovation. ■Jeremy Hunter,PhD is AssistantProfessor ofPractice at thePeter F. DruckerSchool ofManagement atClaremont Graduate University inClaremont, California. He teachesThe Executive Mind and ThePractice of Self-Management aseries of demanding mindfulnessbasedcourses for executives hedeveloped over a decade ago. Hehas been voted Professor of theYear three times.MichaelChaskalson, MAis the founder andChief Executiveof MindfulnessWorks Ltd. andauthor of TheMindful Workplace (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). He is a memberof the core team at the Centrefor Mindfulness Research andPractice at Bangor Universitywhere he is an honorary lecturerin the School of Psychology.40 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessCalming a restless mind – training leaders in mindfulnessby Matthias Birk, Mobius Senior Consultant and Executive CoachAround 25 managers, all engineersby background, sit silentlyin a workshop room, eyes closed. Theonly sound you hear is the soundof their breath. Sitting upright, theyare observing their breathing. Usedto constant multitasking and maximizingtheir time and output, whatmakes them spend even just 10 minutessitting and breathing?Let’s look at one example: RayDalio, CEO and founder of investmentmanagement firm BridgewaterAssociates, and widely acclaimed oneof the most successful investmentmanagers of all time is an avid meditator.Why does he meditate? “Its 20minutes in the morning and 20 minutesin the evening”, he says. “Andthat’s a challenging thing. But peoplewho invest in it and experience it anddo that for more than six monthsnever stop doing it. And the reasonsare, not only does it feel terrific at thetime but they carry it through theday and it’s really such an unbelievableinvestment. So when you thinkabout the 20 minutes in the eveningand the 20 minutes in the morningand then you think how much doesthis change the effectiveness and theenjoyment of my whole day it’s sucha radical payback that you want to doit.” Ray Dalio is not alone. A growingnumber of CEOs are practicing regularmeditation today.At the same time our scientificunderstanding of the benefits ofmeditation is growing rapidly. Scientificpublications on the topicof mindfulness have grown exponentiallyover the last decade. Stillmodern science has only just begunto identify the benefits of meditation.What we do know today is that meditationactually changes the brain. Wecan observe for example increasedactivity in the left pre-frontal cortexleading to increased alertness and focusedattention.Robert Stiller, founder and formerchairman of Green Mountain Coffeeand a regular meditator claims forhimself that "meditation helps developyour abilities to focus betterand to accomplish your tasks.'' Andthat "If you have a meditation practice,you can be much more effectivein a meeting”. Subsequently he hasbrought in meditation instructors forhis employees at their headquartersin Waterbury, Vermont.Maybe most well researched is theimpact of meditation on stress, andgeneral well-being. We know that regularmeditation decreases the activityin the amygdala, a region connectedto anxiety, anger and stress. Marc Benioff,founder and CEO of Salesforce.com reflects that "I enjoy meditation,which I've been doing for over a decade— probably to help relieve thestress I was going through when Iwas working at Oracle," and RamaniAyer, former CEO of The HartfordFinancial Services Group says aboutmeditation that "it has demonstrablyreduced my stress and helped tomaintain my good health”.Some evidence also seems to suggestthat meditation can make usbetter, more creative problem solvers.Legal Sea Foods CEO RogerBerkowitz says "I meditate twice aday for 20 minutes, closing my eyes,clearing my mind, and repeating mymantra until I'm in a semiconsciousstate. Sometimes, I'm wrestling withan issue before meditation, and afterwardthe answer is suddenly clear.”And Ray Dalio says, meditation giveshim an open-mindedness: “Thereis no thoughts just clarity. And thatopened mindedness is where I findthat creativity comes from.” Scientificevidence however still has to grow tolet us make a clear claim on this.So it is hardly surprising thatcompanies are wanting to systematicallyreap such benefits. Apple, withits founder Steve Jobs never makinga secret of his affinity for Zen meditation,allows employees to meditateat work, providing classes on meditationand yoga on-site, and offeringthe use of a meditation room. Googlehas believed for a while that meditationcan help improve not onlyemployees’ mental health and wellbeingbut the company’s bottomline as well. In 2007 it started theprogram “Search Inside Yourself ”,that teaches employees mindfulness.Indeed, Silicon Valley is a hotbedfor mindfulness at work. An annualconference called Wisdom 2.0draws together thousands of spirituallyminded technologists fromcompanies like Facebook, Twitterand LinkedIn.But by far not only tech-firmsare bringing meditation to their employees.The publishing CompanyPrentice Hall for example is said tohave a meditation space in their corporateheadquarters, which they callthe “Quiet Room.” Employees cantake a break and slip into the spacefor meditation, prayer, or just a momentof quiet reflection when they’refeeling particularly stressed out. Andjust recently a manager from the UNheadquarters told me that they wereoffering regular meditation sessionsto their employees.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 41

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessIn the programs I co-facilitate atColumbia Business School and withexecutives at a number of corporations,executives are often quickly convincedby the benefits of meditation. Theywant to try it out. Guiding themthrough 10 minutes of meditationmany realize how challenging it can beto bring the mind to a still point. “Oh,it does not work for me” is somethingI hear every time. “I have tried it a fewtimes and I simply cannot focus”. To usean analogy here: Few of us would giveup going to the gym after three times,just because we cannot yet see tangibleresults. The analogy is not far fetched.We know from recent findings in neurosciencethat the mind is as plastic asthe body - and it needs practice. RichardDavidson, Professor of Psychologyat University of Wisconsin puts it thisway: “In our country people are veryinvolved in the physical fitness craze,working out several times a week. Butwe don’t pay that kind of attention toour minds. Modern neuroscience isshowing that our minds are as plasticas our bodies. Meditation can trainthe mind in the same way exercise cantrain our body”.It is how Steve Jobs said: “If youjust sit and observe, you will see howrestless your mind is. If you try tocalm it, it only makes it worse, butover time it does calm, and whenit does, there’s room to hear moresubtle things – that’s when your intuitionstarts to blossom and you startto see things more clearly and be inthe present more. Your mind justslows down, and you see a tremendousexpanse in the moment. Yousee so much more than you could seebefore. It’s a discipline; you have topractice it.” Researchers find changesin the brains of participants engagingin meditation already after twomonths of regular daily discipline.Ultimately, meditation helps usexperience what we are beyond ourthoughts and emotions.“When I go into my meditationI go into a subconscious state. Itopens my mind. It relaxes me. WhenI carry that outside the meditation itgives me an ability to look at thingswithout the emotional hijacking ina way that gives me certain clarity”,says Ray Dalio. And Andrew Newberg,Research Director at MyrnaBrind Center for Integrative Medicineclaims: “Meditation trains themind to become less attached to itsown desires, attachments and beliefs.When this happens, the way we seeourselves and the world will change.”Or as Albert Einstein put it long ago:“A human being is part of a whole,called by us the Universe, a part limitedin time and space. He experienceshimself, his thoughts and feelings, assomething separated from the rest akind of optical delusion of his consciousness.This delusion is a kindof prison for us, restricting us to ourpersonal desires and to affection for afew persons nearest us. Our task mustbe to free ourselves from this prisonby widening our circles of compassionto embrace all living creatures and thewhole of nature in its beauty.” ■Matthias is a Senior Consultant atMobius, Associate Faculty at the Institutefor Personal Leadership, FacultyDirector at Columbia Business Schooland a guest lecturer for leadership atColumbia Business School and theWharton School. He has been practicingmeditation since 15 years and livesin New York.Mobius is proud to have this chance to introduce you to some of the emergingbodies of thinking and practice introducing meditation and mindfulnesspractice into the business world. In both the private and public sector ourtransformational programs often include a variety of methodologies designedto cultivate mindfulness and awareness. We also offer a bespoke one dayprogram in this domain anchored by Mark Thornton entitled Stress FreeHigh Performance. For more on this please go to our website at www.mobiusleadership.com.We enjoy as well an alliance partnership with Authentic Leadership in Action (ALIA) Institute, aleading organizations focused on the intersection of mindfulness and leadership. We are also gladto introduce you to the work of a new mindfulness and leadership firm called Search Inside Yourselfor SYLI. Finally, our media partners, More Than Sound, produce wonderful resources on this topicthat can be found at their website at www.morethansound.com.42 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

Forming and Transforming Energy:Strategies from the Art of WarBy James Gimian, Mobius Transformational Faculty, and Barry BoyceWhen life leads us into disagreements and conflicts, as it inevitably does,we need a way to reach our goals without creating unnecessary harm. SunTzu’s Art of War offers lessons in how to work skillfully with the underlyingenergies that give rise to effective action.The Art of War teaches us howto work more deftly with theunderlying energies in the campaignswe find ourselves in—athome, at work, and in our communities.The central teaching of the Artof War is shih (pronounced “shir,”with almost no vowel sound), whichconcerns how to act dynamically andeffectively within the interconnectedworld we’re part of. Shih describeshow energy flows within certainpatterns—how it moves, gathers,focuses, and releases in any system orsituation. Shih is not a mystical force.To use a natural-world analogy, thebuildup of energy is like a system ofmountain rivulets, creeks, streams,and waterfalls that come together toform a large and powerful river.The text teaches us how to workwith shih in order to see, capitalize on,and even affect the buildup and releaseof energy in order to bring abouta favorable result. Working with shihcan be as simple as sensing when tobreak an awkward silence with a humorouscomment, or as complex asobserving when the entire directionof one’s marketplace or communityis about to shift and knowing how toexploit that shifting energy. When wefixate on obstacles as impediments togetting what we want, our severelylimited perspective prevents us fromusing the energy available in the situation.Working with shih teaches usto let energy function by itself ratherthan trying to manufacture a solutionto deal with perceived obstacles.If someone is angry, for example, wecould rely on reactive approaches—perhaps trying to vanquish or ignoretheir rage—or we could notice how itsinherent power might be redirected.The Art of War gives us rich imagesand analogies to teach us aboutthe power of shih, such as “the rushof water, to the point of tossing rocksabout” or “rolling round rocks froma mile-high mountain.” In this way,the Art of War encourages us to observeclosely how power and energycollects, builds momentum, and isreleased in a moment. It asks us topay fine attention to the terrain wefind ourselves in. It asks us to transcenda limited vantage point andoperate from the largest perspectivewe can find.Within this profound teachingon how to work with reality at sucha deep level, the text presents formingand transforming as a vital pairof strategic practices. Formingisthe shape we give to ourselves andour world. Transforming is the waythat shape changes in relation to theconditions in the world, and mostparticularly in relation to our objectiveand the obstacles that might liein our path. Simply put, when weremember that everything is interconnected,we realize that how weare and how we act affects everythingaround us.LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessPresenceWe start the process of forming andtransforming by creating victoriousconditions in ourselves. We recognizethat how we conduct ourselvesand interact with others communicatesan enormous amount to theworld around us. Just by walkingaround, we change the world.The text presents knowing oneselfas the first step, which leadsus to emphasize the importance ofcharacter, or one’s way of being. Thecould also be called presence, as it isthe quality of being fully present andconnected to the world in a way thatbrings effectiveness and confidence.Presence can have a significant impactin ordinary times, but it bringseven greater benefit in more extremeconditions. Like a militarycommander in battle or a teacher ina chaotic classroom, anyone able tohold her composure and perspectivein the middle of chaos—to absorbthe energy, integrate it into herown perspective, and hold it whileothers might be freaking out—communicatesconfidence and strengthto others.FormingForming is any gesture of extendinginto space, starting with the simplearrangement of things in your world.How you set up your workspace,what chair you sit in when leadinga meeting, what food and drinkswww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 43

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnesshow we’ve shaped it, but rather wecontinue to transform—in relation tothe goal we seek and the obstacles toachieving it. There is no lasting form:whatever worked in the past, anotherform may be called for now.Regardless of how brilliant theplan that got you where you are,holding on to it can become a liabilityif it doesn’t continue to reflect realityas the ground changes. Looseningthe grip on a specific, known solutionallows space for transforming. Then,multiple options or solutions canarise, for both ourselves and others.The text tells us that transformingrenders us “spiritlike”—untouchable,not graspable or solid, and thusnot able to be attacked. By holdingfirmly yet loosely to the aim, we givechaos and uncertainty the space tosort themselves out. Insights beyondwhat we might expect can arise morereadily.A simple, everyday example oftransforming comes from the worldof the grade-school classroom. Tomake the chaos of a third-gradeclassroom workable, a good teacherhas to consistently create and maintaina container for learning, inorder to form the maelstrom of energiesflying around the room intoa learning environment. Naturally,this involves a relatively high degreeof control, but as educator RichardBrown points out, this control canalso become an obstacle in class discussion.“As teachers, we can holdon too tightly to our idea of havinga successful classroom, and in askingstudents to share their thoughts,we can subtly try to control them.”Brown, among others, teaches a techniquethat asks teachers to wait threeseconds before calling on someone.Inevitably, more hands go up. Aftercalling on someone and hearing hisor her response, the teacher waitsan additional three seconds beforecommenting. In that short period oftime, Brown says, teachers can giveup control and step out of the roleof conveying information and transforminto listeners. When studentssee their teachers learning in front ofthem it has a powerful effect.Forming the ground starts withthe intention to succeed and thestrong exertion required to do so.But when we push something, itmoves and changes, so we’ve got toadjust our exertion to respond to thechanged ground. First we form, butthen we must transform. We cannotremain fixed, nor can we expect topermanently fix others or the environment.Continuing to push in thesame direction that got us where weare can be counterproductive.Beyond FormThe key to the practice of formingand transforming, as the text clearlytells us, is being without form:And so the skilled general formsothers yet is without form.As a “skilled general,” we mustnot get stuck in any form we employ.Transforming requires a leap,yet there is a still larger leap of notsolidifying or fixating on form itself.Being “without form” means not regardingthe form of any situation asthe ultimate reality but rather as anever-changing manifestation. Thishas simple yet profound advantages:The ultimate in giving form to themilitary is to arrive at formlessness.Formlessness means shaping theground, taking a firm and definiteposition, yet not fixating on it as theonly solution. This doesn’t mean wedon’t care or believe in the positionwe’ve taken. It means maintaining anallegiance to a bigger solution, onethat serves the larger whole more thanit serves one particular plan. Beingformless isn’t abstaining from engagement;indeed, it is engaging deeplyand entering the play of forming andtransforming. It simply means notgrasping onto any particular form,which allows the forming and transformingto be powerful and effective.Aikido offers a fine example. Thefounder of aikido, O’Sensei MoriheiUeshiba, mastered many martial arts.Yet it dawned on him that no matterhow strong he might become, therecould always be someone stronger.So he based his new martialart not on solidity and strength butrather on offering no fixed form tobe attacked. Aikido is a practice offorming and transforming, using theopponent’s own energy of attack tobring about a victorious resolutionby becoming formless. His counterintuitiveinsight was that not taking afortified position—not being “there”in a solid and fixed way—was thestrongest position. Combining formingand formlessness gives aikido itspower and effectiveness.The ability to respond to formis not about how many clever planswe devise, nor is it about holdingsteadfastly to our role or position. It’sabout being in touch with whateverarises, and capitalizing on emergingsolutions:Do not repeat the means of victory,But respond to form from the inexhaustible.Strategy in PracticeNancy stared out her office windowinto the cold twilight. Everyone hadalready gone home from the progressiveday care center she foundedalmost two decades before. Anotherrestless sleep loomed.The center was in crisis. The administratorshe hired five years agohad started out strong and mademany improvements. The workerswww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 45

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessand parents liked him, but of late theyhad turned against many of his decisions.His recent moves were met withvehement resistance. A “tone” hadcrept into his messages to parents andstaff. The atmosphere was toxic.Earlier that day, Nancy had watchedfrom her window as parents handedout fliers for an upcoming meetingorganized to make a formal complaintand propose withholding tuition payments.She was at a loss about whatto do. Bob had become a close friend,but was now an obstacle. Firing himwould mean caving into a vocal minorityof parents and staff, and therewere also employment law issues toconsider. But she was unhappy withthe job he was doing and so frustratedthat she was ready to just leave behindall that she had built.Nancy was open to any suggestionfor help, and her friends gave many,from coaches to mediation expertsto group-process consultants. Onefriend suggested the Art of War, sayingit was very helpful in embattledsituations.Through the lens of shih, Nancycould see the upcoming parents’ meetingas a defining moment, when theconfiguration of energy would reacha high point. She needed to work withthat ground. Acting quickly, she invitedBob to share an agenda-free lunch ather house on Saturday. She created anaccommodating container—her homerather than the office, and a lovelymeal—when Bob was braced for trouble.At the end of lunch, after they hadrelaxed with talk of their own children,she pointed out to him that events hadclearly reached a point where thingswould change—no matter how muchhe or she may want them to stay thesame. They would need to be there forthe parents’ meeting, to face the gatheringstorm. Through her gentle shapingof the situation, Bob faced the discomfortand unease that he had beenfeeling about this meeting, and realizedit was important.Nancy wanted the airing of theproblems and grievances to takeplace in an environment of openness,so she invited the organizers to useone of the day care’s rooms. In hermind, the playful child’s environmentwould not only be neutral ground,but it would also make the childrenparticipants in the discussion. Sheand Bob would attend, but the organizerswould run the meeting.She only asked for the opportunityfor them to make some statementstoward the end of the meeting. Theorganizers agreed.On the night of the event, Nancyand Bob prepared the room, makingsure that there were tasty refreshmentsand setting up chairs in a circleto accommodate open discussion.The meeting was very high energybut as time went on, the most aggressiveenergy depleted and somehumor even emerged. Nancy wasletting the energy function by itself,trusting that the anger would bebalanced out by the parents’ appreciationof the loving care that theirchildren were getting at the center.By observing quietly rather than tryingto dominate the meeting as “theleader,” she surprised many of theparents and even unnerved the moreextreme ones.When it came time for Nancy tospeak, she simply asked everyone,including her and Bob, to take a fewminutes to say why they were involvedwith this center as opposedto any other. When the sessions hadfinished, she said good night andmingled with people afterward. Shedropped her effort to win everyoneover to her side, becoming “spiritlike”as she hung out with the parentswithout an agenda. It took hard workto keep dropping her habitual way ofacting, but it also seemed fresh andeven exhilarating.In a follow-up letter, Nancy askedfor a moratorium on major changesand suggested that they reconvenethe parents’ meeting monthly. Bobconcluded that he had done all hecould do at the center and startedlooking for new employment, withhis self-confidence and positive feelingsabout the school intact. A searchcommittee was struck to find Bob’ssuccessor. Life was not perfect, butthings moved on, with much lesspain and anguish.Had Nancy not applied what shehad learned from the Art of War, shemight well have taken some of thesesame actions. The main influence ofthe Art of War, however, was to inspireher to stop working so hard to hold onto her fixed positions and defend herground. She was therefore free to formsituations, then be formed and transformedby them. She worked directlywith the conflict, but she didn’t haveto counterattack. By stepping outsidethe role of commanding and controlling,she let solutions emerge ratherthan having to cook them up all thetime. Nancy started to get some sleepand could get up in the morning withenthusiasm about her life’s work onceagain. ■Adapted from The Rules of Victory:How to Transform Chaos and Conflict—Strategiesfrom the Art of War(Shambhala Publications, 2008, byJames Gimian and Barry Boyce). Gimianand Boyce are also authors of TheArt of War: The Denma Translation,(Shambhala Publications, 2001), andhave been studying and teaching theSun Tzu text for more than 30 years.Gimian is Publisher and Boyce is Editor-in-Chiefof the magazine Mindful:Taking Time for What Matters.46 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessAngela WagnerMobius lost a cherished member of its community lastmonth. Angela Wagner, one of the original members ofour coaching cadre, passed away on December 3rd, 2012after a long illness.It is difficult to write about Angela without lapsing intoclichés: She was a smart, warm and articulate coach and colleague – witha love of learning and an absolute commitment to the growth and developmentof others.We knew Angela already possessed all of these qualities when she first joinedMobius. But it was in witnessing her ongoing response to having cancer thatwe were more fully able to experience the depth of who she was as a humanbeing.For those of us who read her regular posts on CaringBridge, the health socialnetwork, Angela became an inspirational teacher and mentor. Her strength,faith, and continuous gratitude for things big and small were a reminder ofhow to live consciously, purposefully, and joyfully.Angela’s unflagging spirit, sense of humor, and sheer zest for life came througheverything she wrote. Just when she was at her most luminous, she wouldbring us back to earth and make us laugh with a particularly juicy pun.Angela, we will miss you dearly!Devra FradinDirector, Mobius Coaching Practicewww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 47

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessMindfulness at work: What are the benefits?With Mirabai Bush, Mobius Transformational FacultyMindfulness. Everybody's doing of honour is counterproductive. “Weit. From Google to the NHS can spend so much time rushing fromand Transport for London. Even one task to another. We may thinkHarvard Business School includes we're working more efficiently, but asmindfulness principles in its leadershipprogrammes.working against the grain. No wonderfar as the brain is concerned, we areSo what is mindfulness? In its we get exhausted.”simplest form, mindfulness means The neurological benefits of mindfulnesshave been linked to an increaseawareness. Practising mindfulnessoffers a way to pay attention to the in emotional intelligence, specificallyempathy and self regulation. It'spresent moment, without judgement.The origins of mindfulness sit firmly the development of these areas thatin Buddhism but it's increasingly contributes to our ability to managetaught in a secular form.conflict and communicate more effectively.Mindfulness also enables usMindfulness can help to reducestress and anxiety and conflict, and to take a step back and consider alternativeperspectives rather than simplyincrease resilience and emotionalintelligence, while improving communicationin the workplace. intelligent area of our brains to makereacting to events and using the leastWhen trying to decide whether decisions. Mindfulness helps us toyou are mindful, consider the followingpoints. In the last week have you of our brain to put us back in controlflick the switch back to the smart partsfound yourself:of our emotions, enabling us to choose• Unable to remember what others a more appropriate response.have said during conversations? Mindfulness expert Mirabai Bush,• With no recollection of your daily famous for introducing it to Google,commute?says: "Introducing mindfulness into• Eating at your desk without tasting the workplace does not prevent conflictfrom arising or difficult issuesyour food?• Paying more attention to your iPhone from coming up. But when difficultthan to your nearest and dearest? issues do arise... they are more likely• Dwelling on past events or dreadingwhat the future holds? and responded to by the group.to be skillfully acknowledged, held,Over• Are you skim reading this article?If you answered yes, the chancesare that you're zoning out on a regularbasis, spending at least some timeon autopilot.In the current economic climate,employees are being asked to do morewith less, working long hours with increasinglyheavy workloads. Leadingmindfulness academic, Mark Williams,professor of clinical psychologyat the University of Oxford, says workingin a culture where stress is a badgetime with mindfulness, we learn todevelop the inner resources that willhelp us navigate through difficult,trying, and stressful situations withmore ease, comfort, and grace.“Becoming more aware of yourown emotions as they arise gives youmore choice in how to deal with them.Mindfulness helps you become moreaware of an arising emotion by noticingthe sensation in the body. Then youcan follow these guidelines: stop whatyou are doing. Breathe deeply. Noticehow you are experiencing the emotionin your body. Reflect on where theemotion is coming from in your mind(personal history, insecurity, etc). Respondin the most compassionate way.”Regular practice of mindfulnessincreases the brain's ability to repairitself and grow new neural connections.But the use it or lose it approachto physical exercise also applies to ourbrains so it's important to practise.A simple mindfulness practice isthe one minute meditation. Find aquiet place and focus your attentionon your breath. If your mind wanders(as it probably will), bring yourconcentration back to your breath.Then relax as the calm unfolds. ■Excerpted from theguardian.co.uk;posted by Gill Crossland-Thackray.Mirabai Bush is Senior Fellow and the founding Director of the Center for ContemplativeMind in Society, a nonprofit organization that encourages contemplative awareness inAmerican life in order to create a more just, compassionate, and reflective society. Shehas designed and led contemplative trainings for corporations from Monsanto to Google,led a national survey of contemplative practice, and directed a Contemplative PracticeFellowship awards program with the American Council of Learned Societies to exploresuch practices in academic courses in more than 100 colleges and universities. She isco-author, with Ram Dass, of Compassion in Action: Setting Out on the Path of Service, andeditor of Contemplation Nation: How Ancient Practices Are Changing the Way We Live. Sheco-founded and directed Illuminations, Inc., in Cambridge, MA. Her innovative businessapproaches, based on mindfulness practice, were reported in Newsweek, Inc., Fortune, andthe Boston Business Journal. Mirabai’s new CD on practices for a contemplative workplace,Working with Mindfulness, is available at morethansound.net.48 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

Developing Agile Leaders through mindfulnessawareness meditationBy Michael CarrollWe all know what human agilitylooks like. Attend any performanceof “Cirque du Soleil” orthe NYC Ballet and we can witnessremarkable performers executingflawlessly: muscular, refined, andutterly disciplined. Such agile artistryis a marvel to behold!And, as an executive coach, I amequally inspired when business leadersbring their special breed of agilityonto today’s global stage: mentallyquick, emotionally confident, sociallyintelligent and commercially astute.Such agile leadership is equally amarvel to behold.Needless to say, such agile leadershipis vital for today’s enterprises.The old models of “command andcontrol” leadership do not readilyscale with the mobile “Facebook”generation of self-organizing networksand distributed technologies.Traditional “top-down” leadershipis giving way to a new generation ofleaders who influence through networks,galvanize diversified teamsand accelerate creative change- negotiating, problem-solving, collaboratingand jointly executing.Today, work is about resilient coalitionsand leaders who are agileenough to lead them.But how are our emergingbusiness leaders learning tomaster such agility? Dancersattend ballet academies andacrobats have gymnasiumswhere they relentlessly practiceand perfect their art. And, notsurprising, it’s in the halls ofour corporate and educationalinstitutions where we find ourleaders engaging an emergingfield of agility training: young leaderslearning to sit still for extended periodsof time on meditation cushions.Mindfulness-awarenessmeditation in businessLet’s consider a few examples:• The Drucker School of Managementand Wharton BusinessSchool both offer courses for applyingmindfulness meditation to thechallenges of leading enterprises.• Virginia Tech is sponsoring a conferenceentitled “Contemplativepractices for a technological society”designed for engineers whowant to integrate contemplativedisciplines into their work.• Google offers courses in meditationproviding facilities foremployees to practice meditationand yoga.Aetna, Merck, General Mills – thelist goes on – all are exploring howmeditation can help their leaders andemployees agilely thrive in today’s fastpaced business environment. And thebenefits are widely publicized: sustainedattention span, improved multi-taskingabilities, strengthened immune system,increased emotional intelligence, improvedlistening skills….And there isLEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessscience behind such claims. Research isfast concluding that sitting still for definedperiods of time is a very healthything to do.But what really happens when wemeditate? How can such a simple act ofsitting still actually cultivate agile, talentedleaders?What is mindfulnessawarenessmeditation?For those not familiar with thepractice of mindfulness awarenessmeditation, let’s take a moment todescribe what the act entails.When we practice mindfulnessawareness meditation, we take a posturesitting upright, relaxed and alert.Our eyes are open, with a soft gaze;our hands are placed palms down, gentlyresting on our thighs. Our chin istucked in, neck straight and our gazeis slightly downward. Our face and jaware relaxed and our mouth is slightlyopen. We breathe normally and sit still.If we are sitting on the floor, we sit ona cushion with our legs loosely crossed.If we are sitting in a chair, our feet arefirmly on the ground.When we sit still like this, we havetwo distinct experiences. First, wenotice the simple vividness of our immediatecircumstances: sounds, sights,smells and sensations. Andsecondly, we also notice thatwe are thinking: talking to ourselves,commenting on this andthat, thinking about any numberof things. Particularly, ifwe are new to meditation, wemay find ourselves unusuallyrestless with our thoughts. But,such restlessness is not a problem;it is what we work with inmeditation.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 49

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessAttending to these two experiences- being alert in the immediate momentand thinking – is central to mindfulnessawareness and requires a simple yetexquisitely demanding gesture: whilesitting still in the meditation posturewhen we notice ourselves thinking,we deliberately recognize that we arethinking by silently saying “thinking”and then bring our attention gentlyto our breath. We, in effect, label thethought “thinking” and bring our attentionback to now.As we become familiar with restingour attention on our breathing - likegently running our hand over a pieceof silk, slowly, precisely again and again- we eventually find balance where weare both mindful of our breath andmindful in the immediate moment.Attending to our breathing in sucha way, especially for extended periodsof time, is a tremendously boring thingto do and this is where cultivating ouragility and natural leadership talentscome in.“Letting go”When we examine this simple andoften monotonous act of sitting still,at first glance there appears to be littlegoing on other than the sheer boredomof sitting still. But by doing the practiceconsistently, we begin to notice that weare expressing some subtle yet powerful“spiritual muscles” that had goneoverlooked – leadership muscles thathad gone flabby, so to speak.For example, during meditation welabel thoughts as “thinking”. Wheneverwe notice that we are thinking, wesimply recognize that we are doing soby saying to ourselves “thinking”. Buta careful examination of such a simplegesture reveals that our very next gestureafter “labeling” is to “let go” – torelease our grip on our internal dialogueand gently bring our attention toour breath. We “let go” of our innerdramas and story lines and guide ourattention to the simple yet vivid experienceof just breathing.This gesture of “letting go” of ourinternal gossip while simple, is also ahighly concentrated gesture of leadershipagility. Like ballet dancersrehearsing a demi-plie or an acrobatpracticing a handstand pirouette overand over again, here in mindfulnessawareness meditation we, too, are exercisingcore muscles of basic humanwisdom and agility.Too often at work we tend to “holdon”, “hold in” and “hold back”. Whetherit’s “holding onto” our jobs, our prestige,our paychecks, “holding back”our views, concerns and suggestionsor “holding in” our frustrations, inspirationsand ideas – at work our biastoward “holding” can have a singularlyblinding effect on how we skillfullyengage challenges. “Letting go”, on theother hand, of our fixed mindsets, discursiveness,opinions, emotional habitsand much more, can provide vital perspectivein effectively leading a team,an enterprise or a life.And what happens when we exercisethis muscle of “letting go” inconducting daily business? We becomeagile, as Professor Leonard Riskin, JDobserves in his seminal study of practicingattorneys:“To perform well as a counselor ornegotiator – to make and help the clientmake wise decisions – the lawyermust be able simultaneously to considerinconsistent perspectives (such as thoseconsidered associated with adversarialand problem-solving approaches).Mindfulness can play a role in helpingthe lawyer do this. First, it can free alawyer from habitual reliance on either50 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessmind set, by helping her observe – withoutattachment – the thoughts, feelings,and bodily sensations that typicallymake up and support these mindsets….Consequently, the lawyer can adopt anattitude of curiosity, consider other optionsand make a discerning decision….Second, mindfulness can help the lawyeruncover and gain distance from a preoccupationwith self….help the negotiatorbetter understand and deal with emotionsthat affect all participants…andwhen a negotiation situation threatensa lawyer’s sense of identity and competence;mindfulness can help the lawyersimply notice the manifestations of thefeelings of being threatened…..and decideto let them go and maybe learnfrom them.” *This lawyerly agility that ProfessorRiskin is observing here – an agilitythat comes from being free from fixedmindsets - is the very same agilenessthat thousands of business leadersare discovering through mindfulnessawareness meditation. Such agility, notsurprisingly, is all about a leader’s poiseand confidence in the face of novelproblems, dissonant voices and unforeseenopportunities - an “emotionalflexibility” that is ready to learn, reassessand adapt.Of course, there is more to beingan agile leader than simply “letting go”,and mindfulness awareness meditationexercises many other subtle yet highlyconcentrated “spiritual muscles” suchas “opening”, “loosening”, “connecting”,“recognizing” and much more.**A new generation of leadersfor the 21 st century enterpriseLeaders alone can’t do all the work,however. “Cirque du Soleil” and theNYC Ballet understand how to createthe stage for elegance – the atmosphere,the tradition and the brand. And businessenterprises – global, local, largeand small – must also embrace new,agile ways of doing business. Besidesoptimizing for efficiency and profits,enterprises must also cultivate selforganizingnetworks – as in “Google’sBazaar” where engineers self-selectprojects to work on; promote culturesthat revere retail excellence – as inING Direct on line banking where ITanalysts are the celebrated heroes; andenlist consumers in the joy of doingbusiness – as in “Apple Stores” wherecustomers linger and linger and linger.But core to the success of theseemerging adaptive enterprises areagile leaders who can build and inspirehigh impact coalitions amongemployees, with vendors, and alongsideconsumers. Such leaders areartists of a sort who can confidentlysip a glass of water or launch a globalbrand - flawless, spacious and firm.Arrange fresh flowers on a table ordesign a cutting edge technology –gracious, distinctive and uplifting.Such leaders are confident and poisedin this diverse and ever changing climateand there is no better way totrain for the challenge than with thepractice of mindfulness awarenessmeditation. ■*The Contemplative Lawyer: On thePotential Contributions of MindfulnessMeditation to Law Students,Lawyers and their Clients, by ProfessorLeonard Riskin JD, HarvardNegotiation Law Review, Volume 7:1** See The Mindful Leader: TenPrinciples for bringing out the best inourselves and others by Michael Carroll(Shambhala Publishing, 2007)Michael Carroll is the author of Awake at Work (Shambhala 2004), The Mindful Leader(Shambhala 2007) and Fearless at Work (Shambhala 2012) and over his 30 year businesscareer has held executive positions with such companies as Shearson Lehman/AmericanExpress, Simon & Schuster and The Walt Disney Company. Michael is presently the COOof Global Coaching Alliance www.globalcoachingalliance.com and has worked with clientfirms such as Procter & Gamble, Google, AstraZeneca, Viropharma, Starbucks, RED,National Geographic Expeditions, Merck, Gilbane, Inc. and others.Michael has been studying Tibetan Buddhism since 1976, graduated from Buddhist seminary in 1980 andis an authorized teacher in Kagyu-Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Michael received his bachelor’sdegree in theology and philosophy from the University of Dayton and his master’s degree in adult educationfrom Hunter College. He has lectured and taught at Wharton Business School, Columbia University,Swarthmore College, Carleton College, Yale University, VirginiaTech, Drexel University, University of Sydney, St. Mary’sUniversity, University of Toronto, Kripalu, Cape Cod Institute,Zen Mountain Monastery, Shambhala Mountain Center, KarmeCholing, Evam Institute, Omega Institute (assisting PemaChodron) and many other practice centers throughout the US,Canada, Europe and Australia.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 51

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessMindful LeadershipBy Scott Rogers, Mobius Transformational FacultyWe are living at a time of greatchange and uncertaintywhere effective leadership is neededmore than ever. While change anduncertainty are inherent in the liveswe live, it has, for a long time, beeneasier for those living in highlydeveloped countries to forget theseunderlying truths and replace themwith an illusory sense of stability andpredictability. But with globalization’sreverberations sending tremorsinto local communities, the largerrealities of life’s complexities andchallenges are imposing themselvesin a more formidable manner. Whilepeople tend to react to this scenarioby experiencing discomfort, evenangst, the ripeness of the realityoffers the opportunity to see moreclearly what is happening. It helps ussustain attention for greater lengthsof time, and make decisions that aremore directly related to making ameaningful difference in the lives of agreat many—in business, education,medicine, and law.Mindfulness is an area of growinginterest for many as societygrapples with the implications ofa rapidly changing world. Leadersare looking to mindfulness as a wayof cultivating a set of skills to helpthem operate at the top of their gamein the increasingly stressful and distractingenvironments in which theywork. For many, mindfulness is anew concept that offers a stimulatingand exciting change from morestaid approaches to professionaldevelopment. For those with a backgroundin meditation, mindfulnessmeditation (one form of mindfulnesspractice) offers a simple, yet elegantmethod for finding balance amid thehustle and bustle of a hectic workday.And with neuroscience researchfinding that practicing mindfulnessis associated with changes tothe structure and function of thebrain—which can translate into longterm benefits—even the skepticsare taking note and participating inmindfulness workshops and retreats.The following offers a glimpse intowhat mindfulness is and some of thedifferent ways it is being explored inthe context of leadership.Mindfulness and AttentionPaying attention resides at the coreof a mindfulness practice. And sotoo, paying attention resides at thecore of effective leadership. The differencethat emerges at times is whatit is to which we should be payingattention. To the leader, the answeris found “out there”—to the reportsand its underlying data, to the peopleand their productivity, to thecompetition and its threat. To themindful leader, the answer is found“out there” too, but great interest isalso found “in here” attending tothoughts, feelings, and sensationsthat are continuously arising andpassing away. Most of the time,these phenomena pass unnoticed.And yet, their subtle and not so subtlepresence influences our decisionmaking. Without awareness of thisinfluence, decision making is a reactiveprocess, with little actual choiceinvolved. But with awareness, theleader has greater mastery over theoptions available, the timetable formaking a decision, and the decisionreached. The great paradox,however, is that until one comes toglimpse the presence of these innerexperiences, one cannot know themeasure of their influence or howmuch greater their mastery couldbe. Mindfulness practices open thedoorway to this insight.Mindfulness, Self-Awarenessand EmpathyAt Harvard Business School, ProfessorBill George, the former CEOof Medtronic, has long been interestedin the ways that leaders can bemore effective by becoming more“authentic.” His books include thebestseller “Authentic Leadership”and, more recently, “Finding TrueNorth.” To this highly successfulbusiness leader turned researcherand educator, great knowledge andexperience of all things business areof limited benefit if there is not acorresponding degree of self-awareness.Self-awareness offers a leaderthe capacity to notice how externalfactors are influencing changes tothought patterns, feelings, and bodysensations, which in turn allow theleader to assess how these changesare influencing the decision makingprocess. Momentary impulses arenoticed and, rather than leading to arash decision—or ignored—are factoredinto a decision that appreciatesthe many moving parts at play. Factorinto this neuroscience researchthat finds mindfulness practices tobe associated not only with increasedself-awareness, but with greaterattention and working memorycapacity, and it is no surprise leaders,like George, are taking note.The role of emotional intelligence—of which self-awareness is central--inthe acquisition and developmentof leadership skills was introducedearly on in Daniel Goleman’s classic“Emotional Intelligence” and moreformally expressed in his recently52 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessreleased “Leadership: The Power ofEmotional Intelligence.” Both Georgeand Goleman are keen on “empathy,”a hot topic in neuroscience circlesand an often misunderstood aspectof emotional intelligence, as an attributethat is fundamental to effectiveand sustaining leadership. With businessesrealizing not only the benefitsto flow from cultivating a more emotionallyintelligent workforce, but theways in which each employee servesas a leader in their own right, emotionalintelligence programs are beingoffered to employees at corporationslike Google, General Mills, and Target.Books like Chade Meng Tan’s “SearchInside Yourself,” and the program ofthe same name that it promotes, areproviding information on mindfulness,a pillar of emotional intelligence,and practical approaches to cultivatingmindfulness in daily life.Mindfulness Practice:Noticing the MindWe often find ourselves sitting—inour office, at a business meeting orlunch—and these moments invitemindfulness practice, whether fora few breaths or 30 minutes. Incontrast to the ways we sometimesapproach these situations (lost inthought, sizing up an adversary, preparingfor the worst), and experiencethese situations (feeling tense, judgmental,and worried) mindfulnesspractice asks that we shift our attentioninward and notice the thoughts,feelings, and sensations arising in themoment. You can experience thisshift right now by assuming a posturein your chair that is upright and stableand following these instructions:1. Bringing awareness to yourbreathing, noticing the movementof your body with eachbreath you take.2. Following the in-breath, payingattention to the air that flowsinto your nose or mouth, orto you belly as it lifts with thebreath.3. Following the out-breath, sensingthe body as you exhale.4. Resting your awareness on thebreath with the intention tomaintain your attention on thebreath.5. When you notice your mindmoving off onto a distraction orgetting lost in thought, gentlybringing your attention back tothe breath.This simple instruction forms thebasis for a mindfulness sitting practice.If you are alone you may wishto close or lower your eyes whileyou practice as this can be helpfulfor toning down distraction andcultivating an inward focus. One ofthe first things you’ll notice is howchallenging it is to keep your attentionin one place when your mind ismoving about. It is all too easy to getlost in the thoughts that arise (as weoften do) and operate reactively outof habit. By bringing your attentionback to the breath, again and again,and again, you become more adept atnoticing when your mind has wandered,doing something about it, andnot getting pulled further and furtherafield. This practice is often regardedas a powerful experience and an effectiveexercising of the muscle ofattention. Its regular practice paysdividends when interacting with anotherperson or in a group setting.Mindfulness, Attitudeand PossibilityAnother important approach tomindful leadership is found inthe work of psychology professor,Ellen Langer, and her 30 years ofresearch and writing on the subjectof mindfulness. Langer, who pennedMindfulness and Mindful Learningand speaks on the crucial role ofmindfulness in decision making andleadership, offers an approach thatfocuses more on the ways we attendto momentary experience, than onmeditation, as the term is commonlyunderstood. While the importanceof mindfulness meditation cannotbe overstated, many find a sittingmeditation practice to be challengingto implement. This often limitsthe role mindfulness plays in theirlives. Langer’s approach, which doesnot espouse meditation as a centralroute to the cultivation of mindfulawareness, is a powerful vehicle tomindful living and offers a complementaryapproach that works wellalongside mindfulness meditation.To leaders who, like most of us, oftenoperate on automatic pilot, Langermakes the case that an attitude ofinterest and curiosity opens the mindand body to opportunities that continuallypresent themselves but areoften overlooked. Not surprisingly,the fruits of a mindfulness meditationpractice include the cultivationof a mind that is open to the mysteryof the unknown and to the limitlesspossibilities that reside in eachmoment. In some ways, Langer’sapproach operates in reverse as sherecognizes the ability we have tochoose to pay attention and offersguideposts on the ways of doing sothat enrich momentary experienceand decision making.Mindfulness Practice:Noticing the NewLanger invites leaders to snap out ofautomatic pilot by choosing to doso. Noting that it is next to impossibleto know that one is in a state ofautomatic pilot—hence its common-www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 53

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessplace presence—Langer suggests thatleaders make the deliberate decisionto pay attention to what’s takingplace with a curious and interestedmind. Even more, she urges leadersto awaken mindfulness in thosethey lead. The key is noticing whatis new—and it’s all new. Notwithstandingthat we tend to attribute apredictability to that which we havealready encountered, realizing thateverything is always changing andtherefore new, readies us for themoments to come, unhindered bythe past.Walking into a business meeting,whether easygoing or stressful, isoften attended to in a habitual way.Langer encourages taking a freshlook at the people and surroundings;noticing that which we tend notto notice and in doing so, open themind to a host of insights and opportunitiesthat may otherwise havenever arisen or taken longer to do so.Langer asserts that the intentionalScott L. Rogers, MS,JD, is founder anddirector of the Universityof Miami School ofLaw’s Mindfulness inLaw Program where heintegrates mindfulnessinto the core curriculum.At Miami Law, Scottteaches “Mindfulness in Law,” “MindfulEthics” and “Mindful Leadership.” A nationallyrecognized expert on mindfulness in law, Scottis author of “Mindful Parenting” “Mindfulnessfor Law Students,” “The Six-MinuteSolution,” and “Mindfulness and ProfessionalResponsibility.” He has appeared on television,National Public Radio, and been interviewedfor magazines and newspapers for his creativeapproaches to teaching mindfulness. Scottlives in Miami Beach, Florida with his wife andtwo daughters. Scott is also a member of theMobius Transformational Faculty.act of “noticing” positions one inthe present moment where there is anatural sensitivity to context, and anawareness of change and uncertainty.And because leaders are looked toas guides for future action, a leaderwho sees clearly the inherent uncertaintyand instability of situationsand circumstances, is more likely toappreciate that their own “not knowing”is less a character flaw that needsto be concealed at all costs and morea natural expression of reality. Relievedof the burden of needing toknow that which is unknowable,leaders are better prepared to learnwhat they need to learn to lead withcourage and vision.Bridging Experienceand AttitudeThough the application of mindfulnessin the leadership context isrelatively new (though some wouldsuggest that traditional mindfulnesspractices have long been abasis for the developmentof strong leadershipskills and insights), thereare a growing numberof websites, books, andevents that explore thisexciting area. Differentapproaches will draw offthe different perspectivesand backgrounds oftheir proponents, and itis likely that the comingyears will offer a diversecollection of methods.Some will be borne out oftraditional mindfulnesspractices while otherswill be based on moremodern approaches. Fornow, you can bridge thetwo approaches discussedabove by establishing anattitude of openness andinterest in persons, places and things(i.e., the newness of nouns), whilepaying attention to the thoughts,feelings, and body sensations arisingin the body and mind (i.e., the newnessof me). In your next meeting,notice what’s new about the personand periodically check in with thethoughts, feelings, and sensationsarising during your interaction. Butrather than comment on your innerexperience or doing somethingabout it, just notice it. The breathcan be a powerful anchor allowingyou to remain present for the conversationwithout reacting to thesemomentary influences. This samepractice is available to you when,upon quiet reflection you strategizenext steps to take with an importantopportunity. There too thoughts,feelings, and sensations will ariseand pass away. Noticing them, andallowing them to be as they are, willoffer you interesting insights and arenewed sense of well-being.Through mindfulness practice—and it is a practice—we notice therichness of our inner experienceswithout them flooding us. We seeand sense them with greater clarity,and, doing so, have greater masteryover them. We have greater masteryover ourselves, of the decisionswe make, and choose not to make,and over the actions we take, and refrainfrom taking. We also come tosee those around us and the eventscontinuously taking place, the pleasantand unpleasant, as multi-facetedand exciting. Intrigued by the mystery,we are freed from having toknow the answers to everything.Uncertainty becomes not only bearable,but fascinating. And throughthat fascination, we find in ourselvesa leader interested in facing theunknown and finding out what happensnext. ■54 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessFinding the Space to LeadBy Janice Marturano, Founder, Institute for Mindful Leadership"Opportunities for leadership are allaround us, the capacity for leadershipis deep within us”–Former Secretary of StateMadeline Albrightlove this quote from SecretaryI Albright. It is a powerful reminderof the need for leadership in all sectorsof our society-business, non-profit,government and military. And it is animportant reminder that the capacityto embody leadership begins fromwithin, ‘deep within’. And yet toooften, leaders are not offered the verytraining that is foundational to all otherleadership training. The training thatbegins to teach us about the wealth ofinformation and wisdom that is at thecore of who we are, and the trainingthat begins to teach us about the filters,conditioning and distractibility of themind that may be limiting our abilityto lead with excellence.In the Institute’s Mindful Leadershipretreats and courses, weexperience mindful leadership trainingas a way to strengthen and cultivatefour hallmarks of leadership excellence—focus,clarity, creativity andcompassion—hallmarks that originatefrom within. The first hallmarkis ‘focus’. More and more often, I hearabout the struggles people have withmaintaining focus. It is difficult to stayfocused on an article or a project, oreven a conversation. Too often, evenwhen we intend to stay fully attentive,we notice our thoughts wanderingaway, distracted by virtually anythingthat pops up. In fact, today we almostnever fully attend to anything. Whatare the ramifications of this?When we are distracted, we loseproductivity. Every time we need toredirect our attention to a project or areport, we need to spend time gettingour mind back to the place we left offand back to the relevant thoughts. Thisreset takes time, and it also interruptsthe stream of steady focus necessaryto delve deeply into the most complexstrategic issues and opportunities.And when our focus wanes in a conversationor meeting, we lose not onlyproductivity, but we lose connectivity.The connections we form when we arefully present and therefore fully listeningcan mean the difference betweenthe person who is speaking leavingan encounter feeling heard or leavingan encounter feeling disrespected. Wemight wonder if someone can tell ifour mind is wandering when they arespeaking to us. Can they notice whenmy mind wanders to the next meetingeven if I maintain eye contact andnod my head from time to time? Ofcourse they know. The kind of focusthat brings our attention fully to whatis being said is a connection that canbe felt by the speaker. And when ourmind wanders, the connection is lost.When we begin the practicesin mindful leadership designed tostrengthen our focus, we learn howto redirect our attention so that wenot only notice when the mind ispulled away from the present, but weknow how to work with it. Over time,we begin to notice it more and morequickly. We build the mind’s capacityto aim and sustain focus.Next, we use mindful leadershiptraining to develop the ability to seewhat is here with greater ‘clarity’. Inthe constant busy-ness of business, wecan find ourselves going on auto-pilotto make it through the day. We reach6pm and wonder where the day went,or whether we actually did anythingimportant. In this auto-pilot mode, weThe Institute for Mindful Leadership isa non-profit organization dedicated to unlockinga leader’s potential to be fully present inthe fast-paced complexities of today’s environmentby embodying the practices of mindfulleadership. The application of mindfulnessto daily leadership challenges is an emergingpractice that cultivates greater clarity ofthought, communication excellence and mentalresiliency by teaching leaders to ‘train themind’ just as an athlete leverages specializedtraining to ‘train the body’ . Through the trainingof mindful leadership, participants developthe mind’s innate capacity to be more focused,to see with greater clarity what is here, to generategreater spaciousness for creativity and toembody true compassion.Our mission is to deliver exceptional mindfulleadership training and ongoing support toofficers, directors, managers, professionals,future leaders, and to other significant communityinfluencers in all sectors of our society.We offer retreats, workshops and courses thatuse curricula designed to reflect the challengesand opportunities of leading in today's globalcommunities. Leaders from organizations fromaround the world have participated in theseunique programs taught by experienced businessleaders and have gained a more developedappreciation for the innate ability to be focused,clear, creative, and compassionate.www.instituteformindfulleadership.orgcan get so caught up in reactivity thatwe fail to see something we shouldhave noticed. We see what we expectto see, what we hope to see or what wewant to see…but not what is actuallyhere. Learning to step out of the autopilotmode and stop long enough tonotice when you are in reactivity modeis a training of Mindful Leadership thatdevelops our ability to see clearly whatis here, the issues and the opportunities,and to choose how to respond.As the world continues to shrink,the markets become more global, resourcesbecome more scarce and theold playbook no longer applies. Weneed leaders with the ability to seeclearly what is happening. They need tobe aware of their own filters and conditioningso they can be open to thewww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 55

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessmany changing variables that need tobe evaluated with accuracy and speed.And as the evaluation is completed,we need our leaders to haveaccess to all of their internal capacitiesfor creativity, the third hallmarkof leadership excellence. When wehave a calendar that is fully packedwith meetings, and a Task list that fillsseveral pages, the availability of thespaciousness needed for creativity isminimal. Creative solutions and ideashave a better chance of arising whenthe mind is not constantly busy withour ‘to do’ lists. Have you ever noticedthat setting aside time to thinkof a creative solution is not nearly asfruitful as an approach that identifiesthe problem, and then allows themind to simply work at its own pace?How many times have you awakenedwith an answer, or perhaps it poppedinto your head while you were in theshower. Why? A constant stream ofJanice L. Marturanois the Founder and ExecutiveDirector of the Institutefor Mindful Leadership,a non-profit organizationdedicated to training andsupporting leaders in theexploration of mindfulnessand leadership excellence. She founded theInstitute for Mindful Leadership in January, 2011,after ending her tenure as Vice President, PublicResponsibility and Deputy General Counsel forGeneral Mills, Inc.Janice was a strategic leader within GeneralMills for nearly 15 years before leaving todedicate herself full time to the Institute. Whileat General Mills, she co-developed the very firstmindful leadership curricula at the Universityof Massachusetts Medical School’s Center forMindfulness where she served as a memberof the Advisory Board. As a certified teacher ofmindfulness and an experienced former officerof a Fortune 200 company, she has brought theintensive training of mindful leadership to leadersfrom all forms of organizations-corporate, nonprofit,academic and government, military.thinking actually gets in the way ofthat wisdom that is deep within. Wecan train our mind to stand in a differentrelationship to those thoughtsand cultivate more spaciousness forcreativity through Mindful Leadershiptraining.Finally, we need to cultivate our innatecapacity for compassion. And itneeds to begin with us. This was not aneasy lesson for me to learn, and it is notan easy lesson for most leaders. In the25 years that I have held leadership positions,I have had the great privilege ofworking with wonderful people in allsectors of our society. They were leaderswith warm hearts and bright minds,and they generally put themselves atthe bottom of the list of those whoneeded compassion. Compassion is apowerful force and can be defined as‘understanding’. So when we fully realizeour capacity for leadership by going‘deep within’, we are including our willingnessto understand ourselves andto be willing to make choices that arenourishing and supportive of who weare. Only when we honestly embodyself-compassion can we then offer it tothose around us, and to the larger communityin which we live and work.Just as we know that we can developour body’s innate capacities to increaseour strength, flexibility and resiliency,we now know from the field of neurosciencethat we can develop the mind’sinnate capacities, including its capacityto focus, see clearly, be creative andact with compassion. We can no longerafford to have those in positionsof influence lead without training themind’s full capabilities. In the Institutefor Mindful Leadership retreatsand workshops that my colleaguesand I teach to employees and leadersfrom around the world, we repeatedlyhear people say that this experienceand practice has allowed them to seea fuller and more meaningful way tolive their lives, and to lead with more ofwho they really are, rather than tryingto lead like someone else. They cometo appreciate their capacity to offer inspiration,not just set expectations, andthey notice the potential richness thatcomes from the choice to hold ambiguityfor a time rather than making aquick, ‘check the box’ decision. These,and many other discoveries, comefrom a practice that is consistent andpractical. An investment of 15 minutesa day will do to get you started, andthere are an infinite number of ways topractice informally once you have experiencethe basic Mindful Leadershiptraining (see the Meditation Hallwaypractice below).As leaders, our best hope for influencingin a productive and authenticway is to learn to use all of our mind’sabilities, including our ability to practiceMindful Leadership, to embodyleadership presence.Meditation HallwayIf you care to explore a ‘taste of MindfulLeadership training’, try the followingMeditation Hallway practice:Choose a hallway or stairway thatyou frequently walk through duringthe day. Each time you pass throughthis space, bring your attention to thesensations of walking. With each step,notice the touch of the floor, the movementof the ankle and toes, the swingof the foot, the touch of the air, theweightiness of the legs, etc. Feel thesensations, do not think about them!When you notice that your mind hasdrifted away, simply redirect it to thesensation of walking. Do you noticeany differences in how you arrive atyour next meeting?This simple practice can begin tobreak holes in the auto-pilot, reactivityby bringing us back to this moment.Our body sensations can only be felt inthe present so practicing by bringingour attention to body sensations immediatelytakes us to the present. ■56 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessAwakefulness is the heart-essence of buddhist meditationBy Lama Surya DasDuring my initial private meetingwith the elderly TibetanMaster Kalu Rinpoche, my heartguru, in Darjeeling, West Bengal in1973, I asked him about the mainpoints of meditation. He asked whatkind of meditation I was doing, andI told him mindfulness of breathing.“What will you concentrate on whenyou stop breathing?” he asked.That was a real eye-opener! SuddenlyI realized that I might have tobroaden the scope of my understandingof Buddhist practice. In time, Icame to discover that it included agreat deal more than any one meditationtechnique and also that the manyforms of Buddhist meditation sharedfundamental elements. Primaryamong them all is, an awake, aleretand nonjudgemental openness andfriendly appreciation of or interestin what appears in the field of consciousness,in the present moment.Mindfulness is the active ingredientin the basic recipe for the path of enlightenmentand awakening.The philosopher Simone Weilcharacterized prayer as pure undividedattention. Here is where allcontemplative practices have a commonroot, a vital heart that can bedeveloped in an almost infinite varietyof skillful directions, dependingon purpose and perspective. Differenttechniques of meditation can be classifiedaccording to their focus. Somefocus on the field of perception itself,and we call those methods mindfulness;others focus on a specific object,and we call those concentrative practices.There are also techniques thatshift back and forth between the fieldand the object. Attentiveness is thegently, prayerful song of the soul.Thomas Merton said that prayer islike talking to God, and meditation islike listening. This intimate conversationbegins to pervade ones entirelife.Meditation, simply defined, is away of being aware. It is the happymarriage of doing and being. Thislucid, intentional presence of mindlifts the fog of our ordinary lives toreveal what is hidden; it loosens theknot of self-centeredness and opensthe heart; it moves us beyond mereconcepts to allow for a direct experienceof reality. Meditative awarenessembodies the entire Way of Awakening,being both the path and itsfruition. From one point of view, it isthe means to awakening; from another,it is awakening itself. I call it “beingthere while getting there, every singlestep of the way,” by being completelyand utterly here right now.Meditation masters teach us howto be precisely present and focusedon this one delicious, present breath,the only breath; this vivid moment,the only moment, whatever we maybe doing—at work or at home, or behindthe wheel of a car. Meditation issimply a way of remembering whatyou’re doing while you’re doing it.“Sleepwalkers of the world, awaken!Throw of your chains, your obscurations,”says Buddha Marx.Different Buddhist schools recommenda variety of meditativepostures, but mindfulness can andeventually must be cultivated minevery posture, every waking moment.This may seem arduous in the beginning,as one has to carry the practicewherever one goes and be remindfulabout it, amidst all the pushesand pulls distracting us throughoutthe day; and yet, as mindful livingbecomes more habitual, the practicebegins to carry us, and we catchthe updraft and buoyancy that is thespontaneous joy of meditation. Yearsseem to drop away, while spaciouslightness and joy pervade our being.Some teachers emphasize a still,formal posture, while others are lessstrict and more focused on internalmovements of consciousness. An aptZen Buddhist saying instructs us tosit with formal body and informalmind. Tibetan traditions emphasizesthe lotus posture (crosslegged andan upright spine, part of the “sevenpoints of Vairochana Buddha”). Thepopular Vipassana Master U Goenkaof India sits slightly hunched over.The common essential point is toremain balanced and alert, so as tostay present, focused, alert and attentive,and pierce the veil of samsaric(worldly) illusion.Although most Westerners tend toconceive of Eastern forms of meditationas something done crossleggedwith eyes closed, in a quiet, unlitplace, the Buddha points with equalemphasis to four postures in whichto meditate: sitting, standing, walking,and lying down. Buddha’ssermon called “The MindfulnessScripture” (Satipatthana Sutra) says:“When you sit, know that you aresitting; when standing, know youare standing. . . In all four activities,cultivate mindful awareness.” Thispretty much covers all our variouspostures activities, allowing us to integratemeditative practice into dailylife. Learn to sit like a Buddha, standlike a Buddha, walk like a Buddha.Be a Buddha; this is the main pointof Buddhist practice. For we are all(Part of this article appeared in Tricycle Magazine, Winter, 2001)www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 57

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessBuddhas by nature; we only have torecognize that fact, to awaken to andknow who and what we truly are.While many people today practicemeditation for physical and mentalhealth, a deeper approach to contemplativepractice energizes our innerlife, nurtures heart and soul-- aswell as body and mind-- and opensthe door to spiritual realization. InTibetan, the word for meditation isgom, which literally means “familiarization”or “getting used to,” and inthis sense meditation is a means bywhich we familiarize ourselves withour inner heart-mind and its mostintimate workings. The commonPali term for meditation is bhavana,meaning “to cultivate, to develop, tobring into being.” So we might thenthink of meditation as the activecultivation of mind leading to clearawareness, tranquility, self-knowledgeand wisdom. This requiresconscious effort.But from another—and at firstglance contradictory—perspective,there is nothing to do in meditationbut enjoy the View: clear vision, seeingthings as they are and not as theyain’t; appreciating the magical, mysterious,and lawful unfolding of all thatis. In other words, we’re perfect as weare, and yet we can still use just a littletweaking; and as for the world, there’splenty of work to be done. In this wefind the union of being and doing: weswoop down with the bigger picturein mind—the view of absolute reality—andat the same time we climbthe spiritual mountain in keepingwith our specific aspirations and inclinations,living out relative truth.“While my view is as high as the sky,my actions regarding cause and effect[karma] are as meticulous as finelyground barley flour,” sang the eighthcentury Lotus Master Padma Sambhavaof Tibet. By alternating betweenactive cultivation and effortlessawareness, we engage in a delicatedance that balances disciplined intentionwith simply being. By beingboth directive and allowing, wegradually learn to fearlessly explorethe frontiers and depths of doingand being, and come to realize thatwhatever is taking place, whatever wemay feel and experience, is intimatelyconnected with and inseparable fromintrinsic awareness. “Not doing, notconstructing, not fabricating, not alteringor manipulating your mind,while remaining undistracted: thisis my vital pithy instruction, theheart-essence of meditation,” taughtmy own Dzogchen master NyoshulKhenpo Rinpoche. “Beyond actionand inaction, the sublime dharma isaccomplished.”As it happens, I love the water element.When I sit, stand or walk bythe ocean, for instance, the waves andwind simply meditate me into peace,clarity and harmony. Whenever I seebodies of water, or flowing water, Inaturally and instinctively pray andmeditate, in a centering-prayer kindof wordless way. Every breath becomesa sort of prayer, like a mantra,effortless repeating itself in the formof subtle energy circulation as well asphysical sounds and vibrations-- asthe gentle, embracing spirit of themoving (or still) waters mirrors myown inner awareness and subtlest,luminous consciousness, and everythingflows, while nothing remains.And yet, and yet: this nuttin’s reallysumptin’, aint it?!Meditation is not about gettingaway from it all, numbing out, orstopping thoughts. Mindfulness isalso entirely relational; it’s masteryof how we relate to things, beingmaster rather than victim of causesand conditions. It’s as if we carry ourown atmosphere wherever we go.For example, without trying to berid of pesky thoughts and feelings,we learn how to practice being awareof them in the fleeting immediacyof the very moment in which theypresent themselves. We can cultivateawareness of any object: sounds,smells, physical sensations, perceptions,and so forth. Everything isgrist for the mill—even those thingswe find terribly unpleasant. As theTibetan Dragon Master GyalwangDrukpa says, “Everything must bemeditated!” Like the archer straighteninghis arrow and perfecting hisaim, the practitioner of meditationstraightens out the mind while aiminghis or her attentional energy atits object.This calls to mind the haiku masterBasho’s saying that in order towrite about a tree, he would watchthe tree until he became the tree. Wewatch the breath until we becomethe breath. In this way, as it is saidin Zen, we come to know the breath,ourselves, and all things intimately.In the beginning, concentrationis key. Concentrative meditations(Sanskrit shamatha) are said to bethe useful means but not the end.The stability of mind established byshamatha becomes the foundationfor insight meditation, or vipassana.What we call “mindfulness meditation”can be broadly defined as anyconscious activity that keeps thecling-free attention anchored in thepresent moment, allowing us to seeclearly what is happening, to distinguishwhat is wholesome from whatis unwholesome, and to perceivethe contingency and interdependentworking of things.As the pioneering Zen masterShunryu Suzuki said, “We pay attentionwith respect and interest, not inorder to manipulate but to understandwhat is true. And seeing what58 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessis true, the heart becomes free.” Thisis not just Buddhist double-talk.There are various Buddhistschools with different approachesand practices, but committed meditationpractice is, in short, the waywe apply the Buddha’s final words:“Work out your own salvation withdiligence.” In Tibetan Buddhism itis said that detachment is the root ofmeditation and devotion is its head.Bodhichitta (the aspiration to attainenlightenment for the welfare ofothers) is its soul. Mindfulness is itsbreath, vigilance its skin, and nondistractionits essence. Balance andharmony are the seat of meditation,and penetrating wisdom is its eye.Nowness is the time, and this placeis the place. Self-discipline is the verybones of Buddha, and present-momentawareness is the heart of it all.Milarepa said, “The ultimate view isto observe one’s mind, steadfastly andwith determination.” When the Buddhastated, over twenty-five hundredyears ago, that anyone could becomeenlightened through applying histeachings, he meant it. And manyhave reaped those blessed results.This is the promise of Buddha-dharma,of the wisdom of meditation.On a more personal note: I wakeup each morning, look out the windowat my little pond and woods, andwonder: Who made all this? It wasn’tme, that much I know. Thereforewordless gratitude and wonder fillsmy heart and mind, body and soulwhen I look out the window eachmorning and I sense the sacred Presence,transcendent over all of us yetimmanent in each and every one ofus, by whatever name or image-ing.Where’d it all come from, andwhere’s it heading? The unspeakable,vital potency of this ancient, timelessmystery instantly makes me feelgrateful and awe-struck, standingright amidst the miracle and amazinggrace of it all. Immediately I feelenveloped in what a Christian mysticonce called the cloud of unknowing,and know I don’t really need toknow. In this state of I sit naturallyto meditate, in the very heart of thematter, completely at home and unalone,wherever I may happen to beat the moment. This is what I ternco-meditation, implying meditatingwith, never alone. The very vividnessof everything that appears and is actsas aid and abettor to this kind of NaturalMeditation. This co-meditationembodies sublime solitude and sacredsilence. You too are invited andwelcome to join, any time, any placespirit happens to find you.“Only that day dawns to which weare truly awake,” says Ralph WaldoEmerson, our poetic first Americanphilosopher. Simply sitting down,dropping everything for the moment,and making the firm resolve to awakenin the Presence invokes all Thatfor me. It’s not very complicated. Ofcourse this is quite personal and maynot work well for everyone. I’m oneman alone before the Ultimate, andthat’s my true existential situation. Ioffer these thoughts on prayer andNew Millennium PrayerMay all beings everywhere,with whom we are inseparably interconnectedand who want and need the same as we do;May all be awakened from the sleep of ignorance,liberated, healed, fulfilled and free.May there be peace and harmony in this worldand throughout all possible universes,an end to war, violence, poverty and inequality, injustice and oppression,and may we all together complete the spiritual journey.~Surya Das, Boston 2001meditation by an American lama,with love, prayerful blessings andhealing thoughts.I have visited, bowed, prayed,chanted, bowed and meditated inmany if not most of this evanescentworld’s great houses of worship—churches and cathedrals, temples,mosques, holy mountaintops andriver confluences, grottos and pilgrimageplaces. I assure you thatnothing is missing right here. A sacredspace is one which feels largerinside than outside, for it makes usfeel that way, too. In that moment,that experience, is ones inheritedacre of heaven, our backyard nirvanaand inner citadel; just like ones ownhome is greater than all the mansionsand architectural wonders of theworld, or at least should feel so. ■Lama Surya Dasis one of theforemost WesternBuddhist meditationteachers andscholars, one of themain interpretersof Tibetan Buddhism in the West,and a leading spokesperson for theemerging American Buddhism.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 59

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessA practitioner reflects on the role of awareness trainingin leadership developmentBy Marc Roudebush, Mobius Consultant and Executive Coach“There is nothing so practical as agood theory” –Kurt Lewin, 1951This is a time of great ferment forpractitioners of leadership development,organizational learning andthe like. At such times, we see potentialconnections between multipleapproaches—for example Voice Dialogue,Difficult Conversations,Mindfulness, Immunity to MindsetChange, and Conscious Business—butdon’t necessarily seehow they fit together, or knowContextwhich end to present to clients.I imagine a number of readersof this newsletter are engaged inintegration efforts, making sense ofdifferent theories, experimenting withdifferent practices, and finding ways totalk about their discoveries that makesense to clients and colleagues. I offerthis essay as a contribution to the effortto integrate Eastern wisdom traditionsand Western approaches to leadershipdevelopment.The question I’d like to take up withyou is “what is the role of awarenesstraining in the development of leaders,and why does it matter?”Like many of you, my fascinationwith this question was a big partof the bond I instantly felt with AmyElizabeth Fox, the publisher of thisnewsletter, when I first met her in 2006.Thank you, Amy, for holding the spacefor such inquiries. You host a magnificentvirtual Salon!Back then, as now, spiritual practicewas of central importance in my life (Ihad been a Tai Chi practitioner since1989 and meditating since 1993), andsuch practice seemed to make me moreeffective as a coach and trainer. I wouldgo further now: the result of spiritualpractice (let’s call it greater awarenessand compassion) seems to be the sourceof the best value I bring to clients.Yet I don’t teach meditation ormindfulness to clients… yet.Now you may say there’s a simplefix for this. “Train in MBSR or MBCTand apply it in your coaching. Becomea Search Inside Yourself facilitator!” OrFrame Action Resultyou may say “you should meet personX who is doing “Big Mind” in a corporatecontext.” My reply is “Terrific! Infact I am training to be an SIY facilitator.But that doesn’t change the factthat we’re still in the early stages of thisintegration.”There is a lot of excitement aboutMindfulness. Pioneers like RichardDavidson have brought it “out of thecloset” and into the limelight of scientificinquiry. But in pulling the blankethard over to the side of Mindfulness,we are at risk of forgetting the benefitsof our western, action-oriented modelsof learning. We are leaving OrganizationalLearning exposed and grumpyon the other side of the bed.To make our Eastern and Westernbedfellows happier with each other,it may be helpful to reflect on theirshared interests and ability to supporteach other. One could take Eastern andWestern approaches to this task. In thisessay I focus on a Western one.Let us consider the natural linkbetween awareness training and the“learning pathways” that are at theheart of so much organizational learningand leadership development. Ilearned the “learning pathways” modelfrom our Mobius colleagues BobPutnam, Phil MacArthur and DianaSmith—all three students of Chris Argyris.It posits that results are always afunction of our actions, which in turnare shaped by how we “frame” a situation,which, in turn, is shaped by ourunderlying mental modelsand the external context.(See figure to left.)It is in this frameworkthat many of us learnedto reflect on our “LeftHand Columns” (whatwe thought and felt but did not say).Thus we gathered data to illuminatethe frame of reference and operatingassumptions governing our actions.Informed in this way, we were ableto make changes not only to ourbehaviors, but also—more powerfully—tothe mindsets driving thosebehaviors. Not only might I give myerstwhile opponent greater air timein the negotiation; I might shift myintention from “winning over” himto “winning with” him. Chris Argyrisfamously called this higher leverageapproach “double-loop learning.”Already in this approach to learningwe can discern a role for awareness.The better our skill at reflecting on our“operating assumptions”—especially inthe moment—the greater our chancesof successfully, learning, adapting andleading. The “reflective practitioner” isby definition self-aware.Many readers of this newsletterwill be familiar with one or severalchildren (or cousins) of the learningpathways framework, for exampleBill Torbert’s Action Inquiry, the “iceberg”model (in which behaviorsare shaped by underlying thoughts,60 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessfeelings and beliefs), the “observeraction-result”triad in the Newfieldontological coaching model, or the“Be-Do-Have” sequence in ConsciousBusiness.When talking about the importanceof awareness in one of theseframeworks, I have often presentedit as a means to greater effectiveness.Like the lumber jack’s proverbial sawsharpener, the ability to reflect on one’smindsets and actions is presented as aninvestment required to optimize effectiveness—toget the leader to be, or getback to being, at her best.”This line of reasoning has a weakness,however. It defines the value ofdouble-loop learning as a means toan end and does not provide a way ofquestioning one’s definition of success.The question of ethics goes begging.We might try to answer “why ethics”in terms of intrinsic motivation (as inDaniel Pink’s Drive), in terms of thebinding power shared purpose, or interms of building a more sustainable“whole system” approach to solvingproblems. But such answers easily fallprey to a false dilemma—the dilemmaof the long-term and short-term.Coach: “… and so you can see thesuperior effectiveness of long-term,multi-stakeholder thinking….”Client: “I like that idea, but justnow I have to make my numbers.I’ll call you in a few quarters.”Fortunately, this dilemma is resolvedwhen we clearly distinguishbetween two distinct dimensions of action:effectiveness on the one hand, andintegrity on the other. I’m not awareof the full lineage of this concept, butI was first exposed to it in Fred Kofman’s,Conscious Business.In this elaboration of the learningpathways, effectiveness is definedas the accomplishment of one’s goals,and is recognized as being conditional(i.e. only partially in our control). Ourattempts to generate buy-in, like amarriage proposal, only succeed if ourcounterparts agree! We may be 100%committed to success, but we can’tcommand the outcome.Integrity, on the other hand, is definedin relation to our values, and istherefore unconditional. How I ask isentirely within my control. In the caseof the marriage proposal, I can chooseto lie and manipulate—exaggeratingmy assets, getting my girlfriend drunk,asking a mutual friend to disparagethe “other guy”—or I can choose to beauthentic, vulnerable and respectful ofmy beloved’s choices.The choice to be authentic or not(or respectful or humble or compassionate,or any of their opposites) restsunconditionally with me. It does notdepend on any one else’s choices. Thisis why Kofman offers another namefor integrity: “success beyond success.”Integrity represents the “how” that youwould not want to lose sight of in orderto accomplish any given “what.”What would be the point of securinga “yes” to your marriage proposal atthe expense of having deceived and manipulatedyour fiancé? Conversely, howmuch better is a relationship—whetherpersonal or business—when we havehad the courage to be authentic and respectthe other person’s choices?OK, so far we have a theory thatsays our actions can be evaluated bothin terms of their effectiveness andtheir integrity. If we want to improvein either of these dimensions, we canlook “upstream” along the learningpathways, for a better understandingour goals, values, interpretations andchoices. Thus double (even triple) looplearning can enhance not only our effectivenessbut also our integrity.So what’s awareness got to do withit? At the simplest level, awareness isin play for anyone who may be wondering“what are my values anyway,and what does it mean to express themAn Inspiring Workplace is the creationof individuals and yet shapes the choicesthat individuals make. We offer customdesignedinterventions designed to supportindividuals, teams or your entire organization.What follows is a sample of programs we havesuccessfully implemented with clients:The Inspiring Workplace Culture DiagnosticA “quick and clean” way to generate multiple,independent perspectives on how things getdone in your workplace.Design and Facilitation of your“Best Offsite Ever”A proven process for achieving alignment,engagement, and commitment in yourcompany (or team).Integrating Creativity into the rhythm ofyour businessA four-step process that supports a regulardiscipline of collaborative value-creation in keyareas of the organization.Initiating Culture Change from the “Bottom Up”Complete with a low-impact surveyinstrument and a flexible, self-serve supportmodel, this program boosts employeeengagement, and people’s willingness to takeappropriate risks in an environment of trust.Using Conflict as an opportunity tobuild engagement & trust, and achievebreakthrough solutionsOur Productive Conflict Facilitation, for 1 on 1or group situations, will help you successfullynavigate “promising” conflicts and developyour ability to handle them gracefully andproductively in the future.Keeping your leaders on their growth edgewith 1 on 1 coachingNothing motivates a high potential orinfluential leader more than the opportunity tofulfill their potential. Most leaders are honoredto receive the challenge and support of 1 on 1coaching; and the ripple effects on employeeengagement and productivity create a strongROI for the company.through my actions?” To be honest,this was my initial reaction when I wasfirst exposed to the concept of “successbeyond success.” I was intriguedby the “admirable characters” exercisein which we listed people we admiredand why (e.g. Nelson Mandela for hisforgiveness)… and by the suggestionwww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 61

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessthat I would be more engaged and engagingif I could count myself on thatlist. “Live courageously, with integrity,”sounded like a good battle cry, butat first it was a lot easier to regard thisearnest entreaty with irony than to seewhat it might point to in my life.I could readily see what it meantin the extreme example of the marriageproposal, but then I started tosee it in more and more ordinarysituations. What it meant to proposea process improvement, to check anassumption, to invite participation,to share a story that had moved me:In all these cases there was a conditionaloutcome that defined success(such as getting a “yes”), but therewas also an opportunity to “exercise”a way of being that I could be proudof regardless of the outcome: to engageproductively rather than justcriticize the process, to be curious, torespect other’s choices, to be generousin sharing what moves me.I could see the value of being awareof these choices and their consequences.In my coaching practice, it seemedthat many of my client’s big “ahas” occurredwhen they saw new choices thatappeared meaningful to them—likediscovering an opportunity to be moretrue to oneself.This is how I came to think ofawareness as a third dimension ofaction. Awareness gives our actionsdepth. Moreover, our ability to makechoices with effectiveness and integrityis in part a function of awareness.As a meditation practitioner, I wasintrigued by fact that effectiveness isalways demonstrated over time—thetime it takes to complete a project, toplay a baseball game, to get an answerto a proposal—while integrity does nottake time. Being honest…. or curiousor respectful or generous, etc. is notsomething that evolves over time. Itjust is or it isn’t.Integrity, as the expression of suchvalues, is a quality of being, not ofdoing. It does not vary with time, butit does vary with our awareness. If weare not even aware that our buttonsare being pushed, or that we are beinginfluenced by a conflicting interest orcommitment, how can we be expectedto resist the temptation or makethe wiser choice? If we don’t even seethe opportunity, how can we make ameaningful sacrifice or take a “heroic”stand?Thus by making the role of awarenessand integrity more explicit in thelearning pathways framework, we candemonstrate that awareness is a criticalfactor not only for success but also for“success beyond success.”My hope is that this frameworkmay be helpful to those of us who areseeking to integrate mindfulness orawareness training into our leadershipdevelopment work with clients.In what ways have you attemptedthis synthesis? How can we integratemindfulness with listening excercises?How does it apply to working withthe Left Hand Column, or Immunityto Change? Can we link pausing andreflecting directly to the quality of ouradvocacy and inquiry? How can weoffer meditation training in a broadand explicit context of creating aninspiring workplace and building cultureleadership capability?I would be very curious and gratefulto hear your experiences in thisdomain. Please join the discussion onLinked in I have just launched.Finally, I would like to add that Iam excited about the Search InsideYourself Leadership Institute. Pleasecheck out the book excerpt in thisissue by Chade-Meng Tan. Search InsideYourself represents an ambitiousand thoughtful synthesis, providingan evidence-based approach that linksmindfulness, emotional intelligence,difficult conversations, and leadership.Go SIY! Let’s keep on learning!EpilogueThere would be a whole other articleto write from the “eastern sideof the river.” The task here wouldbe to build a bridge in the oppositedirection; from awareness trainingtoward the more action- and dialogue-orientedwestern approach toleadership development. The stereotypeof Eastern spiritual traditions asbeing about retreat and renunciationcan seem to suggest that actions areof no consequence in comparison tocontemplation. Yet action—in body,speech and mind—plays a central rolein Buddhist theory and practice. Atthe subtlest levels action and awareness,compassion and wisdom, areinseparable, and one of best questionswe can ask as spiritual practitioners is“what can we do to allow our actionsto express and amplify our awareness,rather than obscure it.”Awareness plays an important rolein helping us learn to be skillful in ourconduct, but conduct as well, plays arole in developing and sustaining ourdeepest realizations. ■Marc Roudebush is an executive coach and culture change consultantwhose empathic listening, “tough love,” and deep understanding ofthe human dimension of business have helped senior leaders achievebreakthrough results in high-tech, big pharma, financial services,consumer goods, as well as government and non-profits. Along with his15 years, hands-on experience in coaching and consulting, Marc bringsdirect experience as a business executive (CEO and Managing Director roles) and theanalytical rigor of a social science Ph.D. He is also a dedicated meditator, and President ofPointing Out the Great Way Foundation.62 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessMindfulness in our working worldBy Chris Tamjidi, Mobius Senior ConsultantThe picture is no doubt familiar toall. In front of us sits a successfulleader, in the prime of her abilities.She exudes expertise and competence,albeit a bit distracted. The BlackBerryblinks several times in the course ofthe conversation. The first impression:everything under control, business isgood. But if we look closer, we see thatthe leg under the table moves continuouslyin a nervous fashion. Theconversation is interrupted severaltimes by text messages - and shortlythereafter a phone call. As we talk, hereyes drift to her laptop. A short glanceat an e-Mail. Then, the mood is different- even tenser. The thread is lost - themoment has changed.Stress, constant pressure, no time tothink, endless e-mails, between 80 and150 per day and at least 30 phone calls.The To-Do List of a typical executive atthe end of a day is longer than it was atthe beginning of the day. No time forreflection, no room for creativity or theability to think through an issue untilthe end. The longing for focus anddeceleration is palpable. The workingday starts at 6 am, the mind thinkingthrough the e-Mail we read yesterdayat 23:20. We go from one meeting tothe next seamlessly, interrupted only tocheck messages. The day ends in exhaustion.We saw the children at somepoint, but we did not really notice themor take time for them.The experience is common. The statisticsconfirm the degree of stress andburnout experienced in working life.We are always "on", and more oftendistracted and more exposed thanever to multitasking situations. Manypeople have been saying it for a longtime, it has become almost boring: Wehave to change – and find a new way ofthinking and acting. This will requirenew solutions. And one solution ismindfulness.For many people, mindfulness meditationis something somewhat esoteric.Or, at second glance, a kind of cognitivetraining. Mindfulness meditationis much more than that. The esoterictouch around meditation is thoroughlymisplaced. There is hardly a topic thatrelates to the business world, which iscurrently being researched more intensely.Annually about 550 scientificstudies and publications about mindfulnessmeditation are published. Andthe results are becoming increasinglyclear: meditation does help - and inmany surprising ways!• Health: Body and mind are deeplyconnected, and especially throughour nervous system. Mindfulnessmeditation helps us to relax and let goof stress. It has very positive effects onour physical health and strengtheningthe immune system. Hundreds ofstudies have demonstrated the effectof mindfulness on various diseasesand conditions, including headaches,pain syndrome, high blood pressureetc.• Cognitive: Mindfulness is the basisfor all higher-order cognitive skills.Brain researchers have found thatmindfulness has a positive impact onconcentration, perception, creativity,working memory and so on• Behavior and mental health: mindfulnessstrengthens our mental resilienceespecially and helps overcome chronicanxiety, burnout, depression andsleep disorders.At first glance this may seem surprising,but if we look more deeply, it isunderstandable: We all know that exercisehas a positive effect on body, mindand spirit. If we had discovered sportsonly in the last 5 years, we would havebeen similarly amazed how wonderfulsport is. Lets take a short look at someof the well-known, and also more surprisingways in which mindfulness canaffect our working life.Mindfulness, stress andslowing downThe prevailing opinion is: Because wedo not have time, we are all so stressed.But actually it is the other way around -because we are stressed, we do not havetime! Our daily workload is not statisticallysignificantly greater than was thecase 20 years ago. What is undisputed,however, that we have to do deal withhundreds of instant requests and tasks.Our mind has to deal with these dailymyriad things- and we cannot justsimply switch off when we get home oreven have time off.What happens then? Our minds stillcircle around, jumping from one topicto another, we cannot slow down. Becauseof this we have no sense of beingable to come to rest, relax or have innerpeace. But this is exactly what is so crucial.Stress per se is not a problem, butrather the absence of significant time torest, relax and let go.Mindfulness training can help usslow down, let go of the constant clutterin our minds, and simply be. Scientificstudies have even shown that we canchange the structure of our brain andour instinctive responses to things. Sorather than responding in a stressedmanner, and furthering the cycle ofstress and tension, we can becomemindful of our own behavior and respondin a more nuanced way. And wecan also learn to not further our ownstress and burnout by amplifying thenegative emotions in our brain. Forthis reason, mindfulness training haswww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 63

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessalready taken firm root in many clinicstreating burnout patients.Mindfulness andconcentrationDaily life in many companies is dominatedby one thing above all - constantsensory overload. We do many thingsat once, and cannot always bring somethingto an end. This feeds a cycle ofmulti-tasking, which has been shownto undermine our concentration, productivityand quality of our work.What we need however are concentration,focus and perseverance. Becauseof the permanent stress, many executivescannot lead a quiet conversationor pursue any thought to the end. Manysuffer from a neurological phenomenon- the "attention deficit disorder" – andare in a state of sustained silent panicand restlessness. They are erratic, intense,imperious and unfocused.Regular meditation has beenproven to train quiet attention and tosignificantly strengthens concentration.Researchers have found that evenbrief meditation can help. Some results- Just four days of 20-minute mindfulnesstraining can improve cognitiveskills such as attention and concentrationsignificantly.Emotional Intelligence andEmpathyA number of management researcherssee emotional intelligence or empathyas more important indicators for thesuccess of a manager than technicalknowledge. In parallel, brain researchershave discovered that we all havemirror neurons in our brains - we canperceive not only the emotions of others,but their experience is also mirrorednaturally in our brains. Empathy is natural.Thus we do not learn empathy, butONLY notice it. Mindfulness cultivatesself awareness of our own emotionalstates, and also that of others.This essential knowledge is also partof the "Search Inside Yourself" projectby Google, a mindfulness-basedtraining program, developed withmindfulness researchers. It has beenavailable since 2007 for Google employeesand is an important part of thedevelopment of the management cultureat Google.SustainabilityResearchers at INSEAD were commissionedby the EU to evaluate measuresto improve CSR in the business community.They found with surprisingresults. The full quote is worth reading:“The standard executive educationapproach based on engaged discussionand case analyses fails to facilitatemanagers to shift towards higher probabilitiesto make socially responsibledecisions.”“On the other hand, coaching programsbased on introspection andmeditation techniques, without anydiscussion about CSR topics, exhibit asignificant impact on both the probabilityto act in a socially responsibleway and on the factors that influencethe probability to behave that way.”At first glance, surprising. At secondglance, maybe not. Actually, everyperson, every manager in their heartswould like to do good for others – foremployees and for our environment.They just often do not have a clearhead or are so caught up in their millthat they have no time to think or actsustainably.You only need to have the space forit, a mental space to reflect the consequencesof our own actions. So manypeople, not least those in charge of thetraining program at Google believethat mindfulness meditation can makea substantial contribution for a successfulcompany and also a better world.Slowing down, less stress, bettercognition, attention and empathy andmore natural interest in sustainability:these are natural results of mindfulnessmeditation. Therefore, mindfulnessis actually a very pragmatic approachto cultivating good and sustainableleadership. We even believe that mindfulnessis one of the essential answersto the question of "how" is. Many talkof sustainable management but whenasked how to do that, especially whenwe are in a stressed, exhausted state,there have been few answers.Mindfulness training is to acquiremore than a tool. It encompasses selfawareness,embracing perception andintelligent social interactions. Onestudy in 2007 analyzed over five hundredleaders and divided into differentlevels of performance. Many were functionallygood leaders - but only 5 to10% were truly outstanding "leaders".And the interesting thing - more than50% of the outstanding leaders had aregular practice of mindfulness or asimilar contemplative practice.Now to the disappointment: Mindfulnessmeditation is not a magic pill.Although it is scientifically proven inhundreds of studies, it's like a sport -we need to do it regularly, otherwisenothing will happen. And we need totry and experiment to see how it fitsinto the working world.So this is an interesting time. A timeof much experimentation and learning– to see in what forms mindfulnesswill take root in the working world. Anumber of different approaches havebeen tried – based on stress reduction,employee satisfaction, emotional intelligence,learning and growth. And allhave shown very promising results andare being rolled out further. We inviteyou to experiment too. ■Chris Tamdjidi lives in Germany wherewe works as a consultant and also runsa mindfulness hotel. At the hotel and inhis consulting, he works with companieswho are trying to balance the fast paceddemands of the modern workplace withhuman wellbeing and wisdom –a delightful and challenging dance.64 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

From complexity tocollaborationThe growing global complex sustainabilitychallenge that societyis facing today calls for facilitatorsand leaders that are adept at engaginggroups in a collaborative manner to seethe larger picture beyond individualperspectives, and to support complexplanning and decision-making.These collaborative engagementprocesses include people learningfrom each other, with each other, andis a cornerstone in organisationallearning theory. It relates to the notionof ‘team learning’ and the processof unearthing a group’s ‘collective intelligence’,the idea that in collectivelearning or collaboration, the intelligenceof a group is greater than that ofany individual. Through these groupengagements, complex problemsare seen holistically through a widerstakeholder perspective.The sustainability challenge iscomplex; we cannot foresee how social,environmental and economicmodifications will affect the system.Therefore, the wider stakeholder perspectiveobtained in a system, the moreholistically a system can be perceived.In order to engage groups, facilitatorswho are adaptive and create an environmentconducive for collaborationwill be more effective dealing withcomplexity and in helping move societytoward sustainability. Facilitatorscultivating their personal leadershipLEADERSHIP & MindfulnessExcerpt from The Lotus: A Personal Practice Guide forAuthentic Leadership towards SustainabilityBy Christopher Baan, Phil Long and Dana PearlmanThe success of an interventiondepends on the interior condition ofthe intervener.- William O’Briencapacities will increase their depth atengaging group processes with a moreholistic understanding of self, othersand society. Therefore, as a facilitatoror leader, cultivating your leadershipcapacity that helps make sense of theworld in a deeper and more holisticway, is paramount.Useful resources:Cynefin Framework/Complexitytheory/Systems thinkingCultivating your Authentic SelfIn order to address the complex sustainabilitychallenge facing societytoday, leaders must cultivate theirown authenticity and presence. Weunderstand authenticity as being true,open and honest with who you are.The more adaptable and developed aleader becomes, the greater they areable to steer through complex, participatoryplanning processes. Throughtheir personal development, facilitatorsand leaders are more able to utilisehindsight, hold multiple worldviewsand perspectives, and sit with currentreality while simultaneously aimingtoward a desired future. The adaptabilityachieved by facilitators andleaders honing these capacities lendsitself to enhancing collaborative groupprocesses and outcomes in StrategicSustainable Development. This is acontinuous path towards using moreand more of your authentic self infacilitation processes. This path helpsfacilitators and leaders improve thequality of relationships in a team whileengaging people cognitively, mentally,physically, emotionally, and spiritually.Facilitators and leaders bringingtheir authentic selves into the facilitationprocess are more likely to guidea team towards successful, lasting andsustainable results that have ownershipamong the stakeholders. Authenticleaders and facilitators that hold the‘container’ for collaborative processesmore personally, are better able toengage people in multi-dimensionalways, resulting in more embodied andempowered outcomes. The developedsense of awareness inherent in personalleadership capacities can be criticallyvaluable in enabling facilitators andleaders to know when and what to doduring a group process by ‘sensing’what is happening with the group inthe present moment. In this practiceguide we present 9 personal capacitiesthat leaders find essential in their workto facilitate complex and transformationalchange towards sustainability.These personal capacities by their verynature cannot be learnt only on a cognitivelevel; they must be embodied.Our research has shown that oneimportant path to the embodimentof these capacities is through personaland collective practice. Theimplication of this is clear; as oneexpert put it, “no real transformationcan take place without personal andcollective practice”. The simplest dictionarydefinition of practice is “to dorepeatedly to acquire or polish a skill”(Szpakowski 2010). We distinguishhere between personal (individual)and collective practices. An exampleof a collective practice is dialogue orAikido, something you do in a groupof people where interaction is key. Inaddition to the personal capacitiesidentified in our research we foundconditions for success for developingyour capacities through practice:www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 65

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessThe Lotus: A Personal Practice Guidefor Authentic Leadership towardsSustainabilityBy Christopher Baan, Phil Long and Dana PearlmanWith the ever-increasing complexity and speed ofchange in society and in the world today, how can wetap into the wisdom, clarity, and commitment neededas sustainability practitioners, to engage people inparticipatory ways, to facilitate the transformation towardssustainability in our organisation or community?A guidebook was written by three 2011 graduatesof this Swedish Sustainability Leadership Master’sprogramme, that attempts to answer this question.Relevant to leaders, facilitators and change agentsworking on the intersection of leadership development,process facilitation, and sustainability, the guidebookdocuments personal leadership capacities thatauthentic leaders find essential in their work whenfacilitating complex, transformational change in organisationsand communities. Furthermore, it suggestspractices (ranging from contemplative and spiritual tophysical, engaging both head, heart and hands) thathelp in developing your leadership capacities.The guidebook, which is freely available to downloador to order as hardcopy, has been informed throughinterviews with practictioners in the Art of Hosting StrategicConversations, and in the ALIA institute (AuthenticLeadership in Action), among others. From a communityinitiative in Halifax (Canada) to strategy development foran energy company in Bolivia - practitioners around theworld are already applying the models and ideas presentedin this guidebook and showing its real-life value.You are welcome to download, read and share thepractice guide. Feedback and suggestions for continuousimprovement are welcome.www.thelotus.infoConditions of success fordeveloping your personalleadership capacities• A combination of personal andcollective practice is a pathway tothe development of your leadershipcapacities;• A combination of contemplative,physical and spiritual practicehelps you align body, mind, spiritand shadow, in order to maximisepersonal development;• The integration of practices bothin your personal and professionallife helps you take the learningfrom the practice back into thefacilitation process.Conditions of successfor choosing a practice• The practice must have a mirroringquality, to help theparticipants observe themselvesand enhance self-awareness;• The practice has to provide ‘a containeryou can’t manipulate’ withstructures that are adhered to;• The quality of your attention in thepractice is more important thanthe type of practice performed;• The practice must be somethingyou are willing to do repetitivelyand consistently.The continuous mastery of personalcapacities not only improvesyour leadership performance; it alsohelps you get in touch with your ownauthenticity. When you are more intouch with your authentic self, youractions are easier to embed in yourlife and thus lead to stronger followthroughin a facilitated engagementprocess. The literature on leadershipdevelopment highlights the importanceof self-mastery in leaders andthrough “increased self-awareness,self-regulation and positive modelling,authentic leaders foster thedevelopment of authenticity in followers”(Avolio et al. 2005). Authenticityis about “owning one’s personal experiences,be they thoughts, emotions,needs, wants, preferences, or beliefs,processes captured by the injunctionto ‘know oneself’ and further impliesthat one acts in accord with the trueself, expressing oneself in ways thatare consistent with inner thoughtsand feelings” (Harter 2002, 382; inAvolio et al. 2005). Leaders modellingawareness and authenticity inviteparticipants to do likewise, and if oneis engaged on an authentic level, engagementprocesses are likely to resultin more desirable outcomes.Authentic leadership developmentoffers facilitators and leadersa foundation from which to engagegroups beyond the cognitive level. Itincludes the emotional, physical andspiritual dimensions to increase congruencebetween outcomes createdcollaboratively with participants’ authenticselves, resulting in strongerand more successful outcomes. Facilitatorsand leaders bringing theirauthentic selves into an engagementprocess benefit outcomes. However, itis not enough in order to successfullyaddress the sustainability challenge.One must have the ability to plan in astrategic manner within the confinesof the Earth’s carrying capacity. Thesustainability principles introducedpreviously define such boundaryconditions. Combining an authenticand holistic leadership approachalong with knowledge and skills inStrategic Sustainable Development,we contend, will benefit collaborativeengagement processes and outcomesthat help move organisations and societytoward sustainability.Personal LeadershipCapacities and PracticesThe following section describes thepersonal capacities authentic lead-66 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessers find essential in their work andsome of the various practices thathelp them develop these capacities.They are accompanied by principlesas well as self-reflection questions andreflection questions to use during afacilitation process. Bare in mind thata more holistic approach to practice ismost beneficial and many of the practicesare useful for developing multiplecapacities. It is recommended to dopractices that regularly engage thebody, mind, spirit and heart, whichmay mean using multiple practices tocover all bases.Being Present• Being Present means being fullyaware and awake in the presentmoment – physically, mentally, emotionallyand spiritually. This includesconnecting to others, the environmentaround you and current reality.Suspension and Letting Go• Suspension and Letting Go is theability to actively experience andobserve a thought, assumption,judgment, habitual pattern, emotionor sensation like fear, confusion,conflict or desire, and then refrainingfrom immediately reacting orresponding to the situation.Intention Aligned with Higher Purpose• Intention Aligned with HigherPurpose is the alignment of one’sauthentic nature with one’s internalresonance with manifested actionsin the world. This alignment tricklesdown to all facets of life includingone’s personal, professional andspiritual dimensions. “Where yourdeepest personal passion and theworld’s greatest needs align, there isopportunity” (Peter Senge).CompassionCompassion is having unconditionalacceptance and kindness toward allthe dimensions of oneself and others,regardless of circumstance. Compassioninvolves the ability to reflectupon oneself and others withoutjudgment, but with recognition andtrust that others are doing the bestthey can in any given situationWhole System AwarenessWhole System Awareness is the capacityto quickly switch between differentperspectives, scales and worldviews tosee the big picture, interconnectionswithin the system, and being able toscale down to small details. WholeSystem Awareness is not just cognitive– you ‘sense’ the system. It is theunderstanding that everything is interconnectedwithin a system.Whole Self-AwarenessWhole Self-Awareness is the continual,lifelong process of paying attentionto knowing one’s self; it involves consciouslyand intentionally observingvarious dimensions of the self (includingthe physical, mental, shadow,emotional and spiritual realms). It isthe capacity to observe how one isthinking, relating, feeling, sensing,and judging. Whole Self-Awarenessincludes perceptions beyond the rationalmind, such as intuition.Personal PowerPersonal Power is the ability to useenergy and drive to manifest wiseactions in the world for the greatergood, while being aware of one’s influenceson a situation.Sense of HumorA Sense of Humor, or ‘light-heartedness’,is the universal experience ofsimultaneous amusement, laughterand joy culminating from an experience,thought or sensation.Dealing with Dualities and ParadoxesDealing with Dualities and Paradoxesis the capacity to sit with ambiguity ina facilitation session, manage polarities,and hold multiple perspectives.Being PresentWhat is it? Being Present means beingfully aware and awake in the presentmoment – physically, mentally, emotionallyand spiritually. This includesconnecting to others, the environmentaround you and current reality.Principles: Show up, choose to be present.Pay attention to what has heartand meaning. (adapted from ‘Four-FoldWay: Principles To Guide A LearningCommunity’ www.equalvoice.com)Self-reflection questions• Sit still for a moment in silence.What do you notice happeningaround you? When you observeyourself in the environment orspace you are in, what are you sensing,hearing, smelling, feeling andnoticing? How is your body, mind,spirit and heart in this moment?Reflection questions during facilitation• What questions about the systemyou’re operating in help you understandtheir current reality morefully? For example, how does thesocial system function (do peopleshare viewpoints, listen to one another,have solidarity or use criticalthinking?).• What does the group need rightnow in order to proceed with theagenda? You could ask questionsabout the organisational structure,and any other part of the systemyou are working with.• How are you feeling right nowwith this system or group - mentally,emotionally, spiritually, andphysically? What do you need toacknowledge, and then put asidewww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 67

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessfor later, or focus on right now tobe present with this group and helpthem become present?Practices to develop yourcapacity to Be PresentMindfulness meditation practice. Thisis useful for discerning the realityof things rather than believing infalse impressions or misinterpretinginformation. By sitting in mindfulnessmeditation, this practice helpsyou train your mind to be calm andstable. An inexperienced practitionermay find the practice overwhelmingat first. If this is the case, use concentrationmeditations (see WholeSelf-Awareness) before beginningMindfulness meditation. For a guidedmindfulness meditation by JohnKabatt-Zinn go to: http://bit.ly/BZYuand for a description of mindfulness,go to http://bit.ly/swZo2.Breath exercises. When you wakeup first thing in the morning lie flaton your back and use a deep breath toscan the body. Find any existing tensionin the body and breathe deeplyinto that area for 8 rounds of breath. Ifno tension exists, breathe through thechakras starting with the crown to thethird eye to the throat to the heart tothe solar plexus to the lower abdomenand to the root chakra on the inhaleand on the exhale reverse the attentionon the chakras beginning with the rootchakra. Bring this breath work with youout in the world during the work-day,in your car, when listening to others.Try using the breath throughout theday to connect to the present moment.Suspension and Letting GoWhat is it? Suspension and Letting Gois the ability to actively experienceand observe a thought, assumption,judgment, habitual pattern, emotionor sensation like fear, confusion,conflict or desire, and then refrainingfrom immediately reacting orresponding to the situation.Principles: Notice your judgments,assumptions and habitual patterns ofbeing in the world coming up withyourself or other people. Either sharethem or park them and explore themlater.Self-reflection questions• Notice when you are judging yourselfor others. What is your judgment?What is the source of this judgment?What do the judgments tell you aboutyour values? If you did not have thisjudgment what else is possible?• If you stop and listen deeply toyourself or others, what is beingsaid beyond your comprehension?If you let go of habitual beliefs andassumptions, what is happening?• Do you remember ever assumingsomething and letting it go to seewhat would happen? What were yourassumptions? Were your assumptionswrong? What did you learn?Our true home is in the present momentTo live in the present moment is a miracle.The miracle is not to walk on water.The miracle is to walk on the green Earth… to appreciate the peace and beauty available now… in our bodies and our spirits.Once we learn to touch this peace,we will be healed and transformed.It is not a matter of faith; it is a matter of practice.- Thich Nhat HanhReflection questions during facilitation• What are you holding onto fromthe past that is hindering your abilityto work with this group rightnow to be effective? What do youhave to let go of in order to meetthis group’s highest potential?• What is possible if you give spacefor others to voice their ideas andopinions?• If you let go of judgments or assumptions,what is possible thatyou cannot see yet?Practices to develop your capacityto Suspend and Let GoMeditation is very useful for developingthe capacity to Suspend and LetGo. Vipassana meditation helps youwitness consciousness; it is a practiceof observing your emotional andmental states. Vipassana trains youto have a thought, and let it go orexperience an emotion and witnessit move through you. During thismediation, you aim to be detachedto thoughts and sensations while observingthem. For an explanation onVipassana Meditation visit http://bit.ly/kFuQjtBohmian Dialogue is a structuredtechnique that helps you witness judgments,assumptions, cultural beliefsand personal values objectively withinthe context of a group. Dialogueprovides a mirror to individual andcollective consciousness. The Greekword for dialogue originally means‘meaning flowing through’, as opposedto discussion meaning ‘breaking thingsapart’. It is a conversation with a centre,not with sides (Isaacs 1999). A groupof people form a circle with no agenda,just a dialogue revolving around thinkingcollectively. The group gathers withthe intention to observe what is beingsaid in a non-judgmental way. BohmianDialogue Principles include:68 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessIntention is not a powerful force, it is theonly force.- W. Brian Arthur• The group agrees that no groupleveldecisions will be made in theconversation.• Each individual agrees to suspendjudgment in the conversation.• As these individuals “suspend judgement”they also simultaneously are ashonest and transparent as possible.• The conversation builds upon eachindividual’s ideas in the conversation,and individuals do not argue, counteror break apart what is being said.Suspension & Letting Go:Resources for further exploring,practice, and reading• Bohm, D. 1996. On Dialogue.New York: Routledge.• Isaacs, William. 1999. Dialogueand the Art Of Thinking Together.New York: Crown Business.Intention Aligned withHigher PurposeWhat is it? Intention Aligned withHigher Purpose is the alignment ofone’s authentic nature with one’s internalresonance with manifested actionsin the world. This alignment tricklesdown to all facets of life includingone’s personal, professional and spiritualdimensions. “Where your deepestpersonal passion and the world’s greatestneeds align, there is opportunity”(Peter Senge). Articulating one’s higherpurpose helps one embrace the unknownwith profound trust.Principles: Seek out what movesyou at your core with how you canassist others and the world.Self-reflection questionsReflect upon these questions asthough they are a ‘tuning fork’ foryour purpose in life:• When you imagine your highestself in the future, accomplishingyour goals, what do you see? Whatare you accomplishing personallyand professionally?• How would you like people toremember you? What did you accomplishin your life that is worthremembering? What kinds of relationshipsdid you have with otherpeople?• What do you care about most inthe world? What is/are your greatestpassion(s)? How does this alignwith the world’s greatest needs?• What moves you at your core? Whatis your calling?• Why are you here on Earth at thistime? If you look at the biographyof your life what always comes backfor alignment, and calls you to actfor something beyond your ownself gain?Reflection questions during facilitation• If you look at the history of thiscommunity or organisation whatalways comes back for alignment oris at the core of these people comingtogether?• What calls this group to act beyondtheir own individual selfinterest?• What is this group’s core purposeand greatest passion?Practices for developingIntention Aligned withHigher PurposeAndrew Cohen’s Five Tenets of PsychologyLiberation (http://bit.ly/kGi1Oe). This can be used as a toolfor affirmations during concentrationmeditations. Take one tenet andrepeat it to yourself as an affirmationduring a meditation practice.• Clarity of Intention: is foundationalto spiritual life. Liberationis achieved by refraining from selfdeceptionand seeking freedom.• The Law of Volitionality: ratherthan assuming you are an unconsciousvictim, you know exactlywhat you are doing.• Face Everything and Avoid Nothing:an ultimate form of spiritualpractice asking, “how awake areyou to what is motivating you tomake the choices that you make?Because only if you’re paying closeattention are you going to be ableto bring the light of awareness intothe darkest corners of your ownpsyche.”• The Truth of Impersonality: All wedo as humans is an impersonal affair.The “illusion of uniquenessthe narcissistic selfsense that isego, is created moment by momentthrough the compulsive and mechanicalpersonalisation of almostevery thought, feeling and experiencewe have.”• For the Sake of the Whole: “Thepursuit of enlightenment is for thetransformation of the whole world,the enlightenment of the wholeuniverse. It’s ultimately for the evolutionof consciousness itself.Intention Aligned with HigherPurpose: Resources for furtherexploring, practice, and reading• U-journaling: use these guidedjournaling questions based uponTheory U to articulate your higherpurpose: http://bit.ly/iOHFaa.• Lynne McTaggart. 2007. TheIntention Experiment: Using YourThoughts to Change Your Life andthe World. Free Press.• Joseph Campbell. 2008. The Herowith a Thousand Faces (The CollectedWorks of Joseph Campbell).New World Library.www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 69

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessCompassionWhat is it? Compassion is having unconditionalacceptance and kindnesstoward all the dimensions of oneselfand others, regardless of circumstance.Compassion involves the ability to reflectupon oneself and others withoutjudgment, but with recognition andtrust that others are doing the best theycan in any given situation.Principles: Have compassion andkindness, for yourself and for othersin even the most challenging circumstances.Share in another person’shumanity.Self-reflection questions• When you are sad or emotional,what do you do? Are you judgingyourself or allowing feelings to movethrough you?• Are you okay asking others for help?• When someone else is sad, how doyou respond? When you hear of astranger suffering, how do you feel?• Describe a time you felt pain or joywhen listening to another’s story.Describe a time you enjoyed helpingothers; when you accepted or feltcompassion for others different fromyourself or doing things you thoughtwere ‘wrong’.Reflection questions during facilitation• What worldviews and perspectivesexist in this group? How canyou understand other people’sviewpoints and enable them to seeothers’ viewpoints, as well? Howcan you hold all these viewpointssimultaneously as a facilitator?• What are others feeling that you needto try to understand? Are you ignoringor overlooking feelings within thesystem? What feelings are not beingtalked about?• What is the level of compassion inthis group you are working with?How could you help increase thelevel of compassion within thisgroup?Practices for developingCompassionTonglen. Lojong mind training consistsof various practices you mayfind easily online. Tonglen is aconcentration meditation practiceon compassion. The practitionerbreathes in another person or animal’ssuffering on the in-breath, andon the out-breath sends them relief.You can focus on an individual or agroup of people, animals or environmentalsuffering. On the in-breathimagine taking away suffering(breathe in as much as you can), andon the out-breathe (breathe out aswide as you can) imagine sendingrelief, comfort and happiness to thepeople or animals you are focusingon.Loving-kindness meditation. Thereare many visualisations, reflections,and guided meditations for developingloving kindness. The traditional patternis to move outward from oneself,to a good friend, to a neutral person toa difficult person or enemy and thengradually to the entire universe. A typicalmantra would begin:‘May I be safe and protected. May I bepeaceful and happy. May I be healthyand strong. May I have ease of wellbeing (and accept all the conditions ofthe world)’ - then replace “I” with agood friend... then a neutral person...then a difficult person or enemy...then the entire universe with thesame mantra above. For an audioguidedloving-kindness meditation,go to http://bit.ly/lkQqgl.Compassion: Resources for furtherexploring, practice, and reading• Communicating Sustainability topeople with Different Worldviews(research by Barrett Brown). http://bit.ly/frxasL and http://bit.ly/k0cnB.(Also see practices under WholeSystem Awareness).• Trungpa Rinpoche: Genuine Heartof Sadness (pdf). http://bit.ly/mc2t16.• Chade-Meng Tan: Everyday compassionat Google. http://bit.ly/hsrGDz.• Charter of Compassion: www.charterforcompassion.org.Whole System AwarenessWhat is it? Whole System Awarenessis the capacity to quickly switch betweendifferent perspectives, scalesand worldviews to see the big picture,interconnections within the system,and being able to scale down to smalldetails. Whole System Awareness isnot just cognitive – you ‘sense’ thesystem. It is the understanding thateverything is interconnected.Principles: Sense the system, don’ttry to understand it. Pay attention topatterns. Invite essential stakeholderinput to gain a wider perspective.Harvest collective intelligence surfacingfrom the group.Self-reflection questions• What can you see, sense, feel, andintuit, about the system in whichyou are living and working?• How far have you set the systemboundaries? What are the systemboundaries in which you are livingand working? Are they determinedby family, friends, neighbourhood,tribe, city, region, country, language,the world, all of humanity,Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.- The Buddha70 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessall sentient beings, or the whole universe?• How big are your spheres of control,influence, and concern respectively?• To what extent do you see yourself aspart of a larger whole, as dependentupon a larger, interconnected system?Reflection questions during facilitation• What stakeholders could you talk towithin the system to get a wider perspectiveof the system or for strongercollaboration and ownership amongstakeholders?• What patterns exist within the systemthat you can recognise?• What is not being talked about withinthe system?• What questions need to be asked tohelp those within the system senseand see the system more completely?• What experience does the systemneed to sense, in order to see itself?(See co-sensing, Theory U).Practices for developingWhole System AwarenessBody Whole System-Awareness. Noticeyourself being aware of your own bodyas a whole system: all of your organs,your digestive system, and circulatorysystem are interconnected. Your bodycannot function optimally if the one partof the system is not operating optimally.Now connect this concept to everythingelse (relationships, your home, theenvironment etc.). Ask yourself reflectivequestions: what is not whole in myphysical body, my relationships, myworkplace? If I work to improve thatarea, how will it affect the whole system?A thought exercise. “What happensto one breath of air?” by astronomerHarlow Shapley: (http://bit.ly/j9ve8N)demonstrating the gas argon in the airwe all breathe is the same breath ofargon used by Jesus Christ, Joan of Arcand Mahatma Gandhi, for example. Weliterally all breathe the same air, and itcycles through us from all past generationsto all future generations. Thisdemonstrates the interconnections existingbetween everyone, as well as thelaws of thermodynamics stating thatmatter within our biosphere does notdisappear and all matter spreads.Whole System Awareness: Resources forfurther exploring, practice, and reading• Booth Sweeney, L. & D. Meadows.2008. The Systems Thinking Playbook.• Capra, F. 1997. The Web of Life. ANew Scientific Understanding of LivingSystems.• Meadows, D. 2008. Thinking in Systems:A Primer.• Senge, P. 1990. The Fifth Discipline.The Art & Practice of the LearningOrganization.• Scharmer, O. Theory U, material onco-sensing: http://bit.ly/o60g41.• Wheatley, Margaret, J. 2006. Leadershipand the New Science: DiscoveringOrder in a Chaotic World.Whole Self-AwarenessWhat is it? Whole Self-Awareness is thecontinual, lifelong process of paying attentionto knowing one’s self; it involvesconsciously and intentionally observingvarious dimensions of the self (includingthe physical, mental, shadow, emotionaland spiritual realms). It is the capacityto observe how one is thinking, relating,feeling, sensing, and judging. Whole Self-Awareness includes perceptions beyondthe rational mind, such as intuition.Principles: Pay attention to all thedimensions of yourself (physical, emotional,spiritual, shadow and mentaldimensions). Your body is not a transporterfor your head, you are a wholesystem.Self-reflection questions• How would others describe you?What do you tell yourself aboutyourself?• Think of someone you admire, whatdo you admire about them? Whatdoes this tell you about your values?What can you learn about yourselffrom this admiration?• Think of someone that irritates you,why do they irritate you? What doesthis tell you about your values? Whatcan you learn about yourself fromthis irritation?• When something is physically challengingto you, how do you respond?• Are you aware of how you are feelingthroughout the day?• What emotions are acceptable, whatemotions are not acceptable?• How do you feel physically, emotional,spiritually, energetically andmentally right now?Reflection questions during facilitation• What reactions are you having withthis group that need to be exploredor shared now or later?• What do you perceive to be occurringwithin this group beyond yourcognition?• How can you invite the group to beengaged beyond cognition? How areyou inviting the mental, physical,emotional, and spiritual dimensionsof this group to participate?• Is your whole self (body, mind, spirit,emotion, and shadow) in alignment?Is your head agreeing to do somethingand another dimension ofyourself not in agreement?Practices for developing yourWhole Self-AwarenessConcentration meditation practice.These practices focus your thoughtson a particular object (such as thechakra system or visualising whitelight moving through the body) toshut out the outside world and preventthe mind from wandering. Forwww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 71

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessexample, focus upon the inhale andthe exhale breath. On the inhalebreath your posture elevates andon the exhale breath your posturesettles. Repeat for a few minutesand extend this time with practice.This helps calm the parasympatheticnervous system to help you relax.Once calm from the concentrationbreathing, an awareness meditationpractice like Mindfulness (See BeingPresent Practices) helps you see thenature of your mind. With compassionmove toward embracing all ofyourself and seeing the patterns ofthinking including judging, planning,yearning and fearing that showup. This enables you to begin to discernbetween unconscious materialsurfacing in your thoughts from thepast and accurately receiving informationin the present moment.‘Core Qualities’ practice (by FrankHeckman). Tell a story to a peer ormentor about a time when you weredoing something challenging inwhich you persevered by steppingup and being courageous. Havethe other person listen to yourstory and take note of the qualitiesyou displayed in that situationto feedback to you. These qualitiesare your core qualities of personalstrength you embody in your life.Repeat with another story. Thispractice also helps you becomeaware of your Personal Power.Giving and receiving feedback. Intentionallyask others (peers, co-workers,mentors, family members) for feedbackon your behaviour to see areasfor your growth in order to increasethe quality of your work, relationshipsand self-understanding. Being opento feedback and listening is key. Startthis process with someone you trustmost. Notice if and when you feel defensive,refrain from responding, andexplore how receiving feedback impactsyou. Use specific examples andreflect back to the person what youthink you heard them say for accuracyand clarity. Use an actual experience.Ask the person giving feedback tofocus upon:• What behaviours they observedyou doing?• What was the outcome of the situationand how did it impact them?• What feelings did they feel?• Now ask yourself, what future opportunitiesfor new actions areavailable to you now given thefeedback? And remember to havecompassion with yourself.A physical practice such as yoga,Thai Chi, martial arts to integrate aholistic approach and address moredimensions of yourself.Shadow work. Facilitators work withall kinds of people and situations andare bound to be irritated or triggeredsometimes. If you focus your energy onthe ‘outer’ trigger, you are missing thegem in the lesson from self-reflection;by being angry at the person triggeringyou, you are really just shootingthe messenger. When in process, tryto notice when an irritant or triggeror dislike arises and write it down,suspend it temporarily and return toit for exploration when appropriate.Describe the event, how you felt, whatreaction you normally would have hadif you had not suspended your reaction,and how that situation may representa repressed part of yourself from longago. Seeing irritations as shadows thatneed to be explored helps you gain acceptance,compassion and awarenessof yourself and others, it teaches you tosuspend when an irritation occurs.Whole Self-Awareness: Resources forfurther exploring, practice, and reading• The Johari Window: mapping personalityawareness: http://kevan.org/johari.• Goleman, Daniel. 1996. EmotionalIntelligence.• Goleman, Daniel; Richard E Boyatzis;Anne McKee. 2004. PrimalLeadership: Learning to Lead withEmotional Intelligence.• Self assessment tools such asMyers-Briggs Type Indicator,Enneagram Test, Temperament Assessments,Emotional IntelligenceTests, Action-Logic Assessment, orSpiral Dynamics Value Meme. ■Christopher Baan, Mobius ConsultantHaving graduated from the Master’s in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability at BTHin Sweden, Christopher works for several organisationsin the field of systems innovation,accelerating the transition towards sustainable energy, and creating the conditions for authenticleadership development. At the foundation ‘Nederland Krijgt Nieuwe Energie’ ('New Energyfor The Netherlands’) he supports and facilitates multi-stakeholder processes to acceleratethe transition towards sustainable energy in the Netherlands, engaging a broad spectrum ofindustry associations, NGOs and citizens. At the ALIA Institute, he co-ordinates networkingand outreach for the annual ALIA Europe Leadership Intensives. He co-authored The Lotus – a practice guidefor authentic leadership towards sustainability.72 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & MindfulnessMindfulness at Work:An Interview with Mirabai BushBy Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.; Excerpted from PsychCentral.comMost of us spend themajority of our day at work.It follows that an essentialplace to bring mindfulnessto is at work. Mirabai Bushis the author of Working with Mindfulness (MP3), akey contributor to Google’s Search Inside YourselfProgram, Cofounder of The Center for ContemplativeMind and Society and so much more. Today is a joy tobring her to you to explore how bringing mindfulness towork can help us reduce stress, increase productivity,use more creative problem solving techniques, andimprove relationships.Today, Mirabai talks to us about what it meansto bring mindfulness into the workplace, how itcan bring deeper meaning, the benefits of mindfullistening, the why and how of informal walkingpractice, and a simple practice to enhancerelationships at work.Elisha: When it comes to the workplace, you havefound a fundamental flaw in our minds when we thinkof work like “Love is for home and discipline is forwork.” One of the foundations to bringing mindfulnessinto the workplace is through an approach calledRight Livelihood, can you tell us more about that andthe benefits?Mirabai: I first heard the words “right livelihood”while learning to meditate in a Buddhist monastery.Meditation teacher S.N. Goenka said, “If the intentionis to play a useful role in society in order to supportoneself and to help others, then the work one doesis right livelihood.” Other teachers expanded on that:Do work that is ethical and helpful to your personaldevelopment. Do no harm though your work. Causeno suffering to yourself or others. Use work to nourishunderstanding and compassion. Remember that alllife is interconnected. Be honest, be mindful of whatyou are doing.When I asked my root teacher, Neemkaroli Baba,what work I should do, he said, “Love everyone andserve everyone.” That has kept me busy. Livelihoodcan be a path of inquiry and awakening, of comingcloser to truth. All work that we do–from shippingBuddhas from a monastery store to guardinginmates in prison–has embedded in it questionsthat help us to transform our work from busynessto awakening. In retreats I led for the Center forContemplative Mind in Society, a biotech scientistasked, “How can I develop products that sustainlife, not destroy it?” An architect asked, “How can Icreate a contemplative building—a space in whichthe inside is larger than the outside?” A lawyerasked, “Can I be a zealous advocate and still havecompassion for my adversary?” An anti-globalizationactivist asked, “If I give up my anger, where will mymotivation come from?”Approaching work as right livelihood encourages usto explore these questions in the context of our fulllives. How can we live a meaningful and authentic lifeand still support our families and ourselves? What isthe connection between ethical work and capitalistdemocracy? How can we contribute to social changethat moves us to a more sustainable world?These retreats were open forums to delve intopractical challenges and barriers we encounter atwork, and to investigate how our work can and doesimpact the whole world. Organizations don’t changesuddenly, but as employees become committed toprinciples of right livelihood through mindfulness andcompassion practice, they will change a company inimportant ways. They will—• Apply standards of conduct that are aligned withtheir personal values• Recognize that business is not an isolated entity—it is interconnected with all other life and its actionsaffect all other life• Encourage generosity• Use right speech• Listen carefully to others, both within and outsidethe companywww.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 73

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulness• Work better in teams and communicate moreeffectively• Tolerate ambiguity, not knowing, paradox• Recover more quickly from negative informationand difficult situations• Encourage responsibility to those who work forand depend on the company—fare wage, healthcare, maternity/paternity leave, etc.• Exercise humility• Be compassionate and loving• Create products that support life.Committing to right livelihood leads some of us tolook for new work that we identify as meaningful andothers of us to look for more meaning in the workwe are already doing. A mindful workplace supportsand nourishes the workers who are already saneand mature and encourages kindness, sincerity, andbasic decency for all employees.Elisha: You mention some important facts thatcome out of the International Listening Associationthat 45% of our time is spent listening and 75% ofthe time we’re apparently listening we’re actuallydistracted. That the average attention span is 20seconds and from what we hear we only recallabout half of it and a few hours later maybe wehave 20% retention. How do you explain MindfulListening and what are its benefits? One of the mostimportant activities in workplace is listening.Mirabai: Deep or mindful listening is a way ofhearing in which we are fully present with what ishappening in the moment without trying to controlit or judge it. We let go of our inner clamoring andour usual assumptions and listen with respect forprecisely what is being said. Very few of us have fullydeveloped this capacity for listening. The practiceof listening has many dimensions. We listen to ourown minds and hearts and, as the Quakers say, tothe “still, small voice within.” We listen to sounds, tomusic, to lectures, to conversations, and, in a sense,we listen to the written word, the text. There is awell-known image of the Tibetan poet and mysticMilarepa, sitting in his familiar listening posture,with his right hand cupped over his right ear. He islistening for the Dharma, or the truth.Deep or mindful listening requires that we witnessour thoughts and emotions while maintainingfocused attention on what we are hearing. It trainsus to pay full attention to the sound of the words,while abandoning such habits as planning our nextstatement or interrupting the speaker. It is attentiverather than reactive listening. Such listening not onlyincreases retention of information, but encouragesinsight and the making of meaning. It can reveal therole of not knowing and not judging and help us tomaintain an open receptivity to new ideas, importantfor growth in any workplace.Elisha: I consider Thich Nhat Hanh to be a greatteacher, someone who has influenced my life. Younote a wonderful walking practice of his in yourprogram where you instruct us to combine phraseswith steps. “Stepping with your right foot, I havearrived, Stepping with your left foot, I am home.”Can you tell us how this applies to the workplace?Mirabai: Walking meditation is the practice of payingclose attention to the ordinary action of walking, ahelpful practice for people at work, who usually walkat least sometimes during the day. It is a way ofusing a natural part of life to increase mindfulness aswe become aware of the movement of each step;the exercise engages the person in life directly. Itis not thinking or contemplating life while walking(which is also delightful), but being mindful of theverse (as in Thich Nhat Hanh’s verse) or of themuscles of the body, the movement and placementof the feet, balance, and motion. Once you learnthe practice, you can do it almost anywhere. It freesthe mind and helps you feel fully present on theground. So when a person walks in the workplaceto another office or a meeting or a lunch date, he orshe is more open and mindful when arriving at thedestination, ready to be present for the next agenda.Elisha: Relationships are fundamental to our livesand can be trying in the workplace. Can you give usa practice that we can use immediately to enhancerelationships in the workplace and act morepositively to others?Mirabai: One powerful practice that we call “JustLike Me” is usually learned in pairs, so that eachperson is looking in the eyes of their partner andsilently repeating phrases spoken by a meditation74 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com

LEADERSHIP & Mindfulnessleader about the person across from them: “Just likeme, this person has known physical pain. Just likeme, this person has done things she regrets. Justlike me, this person wants to be happy….” and soon. This compassion practice is designed to shiftperspectives and deepen the understanding thatwe human beings are similar in important ways, nomatter how vast our differences. We all need food,and shelter, and love.We crave attention, recognition, affection, and,above all, happiness. Resentments, disagreements,and estrangements hurt all parties because theyreinforce feelings of separation. And that separationis true only at one level–this activity helps usremember how we are connected by our humanity.And one person can do it alone by bringing to minda difficult person and repeating the same phrasessilently. It softens the negative feelings we have foranother, and working together often becomes mucheasier.Elisha: Do you have any final thoughts about whatreally matters in bringing mindfulness into theworkplace?Mirabai: What matters in the workplace is whatmatters in our lives—using every moment to learnfrom experience so that we grow in insight, wisdom,and compassion. ■To hear a clip of a practice that Mirabai to helppeople with change at work you can find it here:www.morethansound.net/blog/2012/07/workingwith-mindfulness-coping-with-change/www.mobiusleadership.com | Mobius Executive Leadership 75

“If hope is the thing with feathers,to quote Dickenson, then I wantmine peacock-bright. I wantwings strong as a hawk — fierceenough to face the truth of theday and yet far-flying enoughto see the broadest view. I wantfeathers of the softest down - ahope that cushions the rockfallof reality with the gentlenessof yellow canaries who sing nomatter where they've been takenand I want my hope phoenixlight.A hope that falls apart. Andcomes together. And rises. Again.If hope is a thing with feathersthat perches in the soul then letthe winds of change come for mysoul is safe and ready for air andrise I shall.”–Maria SiroisFor more about the offerings of Mobius Executive Leadershipplease go to www.mobiusleadership.com.Back Issues of the Mobius Strip in Resource Section of website.To discuss bringing Mobius leadership programs, trainingsor executive coaching to your organization please writeKaryn.Saganic@MobiusLeadership.com.76 Mobius Executive Leadership | www.mobiusleadership.com