Читать книгу The Mindful Leader - Bunting Michael - Страница 10

A critical factor in creating and sustaining job satisfaction, productivity and a healthy bottom line is workplace engagement. Research firm Towers Watson reports that organisations with high rates of engagement consistently outperform their sector benchmarks for growth across a range of financials, including more than double the stock performance of the Dow Jones and Standard & Poor's Index for five years running. Great Place to Work's data shows that between 1997 and 2013 the best companies performed nearly two times better than the general market. Furthermore, the value of their 100 best companies grew by 291 per cent between 1998 and 2012. Compare that with the 72 per cent growth of the Russell 3000 Index and the 63 per cent growth of the S&P 500 Index. Great workplaces perform better and have substantially stronger bottom lines.

Leadership is the cornerstone of engagement. According to research performed by leadership experts Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, my friends and co-authors of Extraordinary Leadership in Australia and New Zealand, nothing impacts engagement more than the behaviour of leaders. As much as 37 per cent of employee engagement can be attributed to the boss's leadership behaviour. Leading from and embodying values and integrity, inspiring a shared vision and common purpose, staying open to continually learning, challenging oneself and others, enabling and developing others, building trusting relationships and recognising others for great work – these exemplary leadership qualities produce tangible results.

Jim and Barry have analysed responses from more than 2.5 million people across the world and found that leaders who exhibit these behaviours have employees who are significantly more committed, proud, motivated, loyal and productive. In groups with exemplary leaders, engagement scores are 25 to 50 per cent higher than in other groups.2 In one study, researcher and author Richard Roi looked at 94 large companies (with an average annual income of US$17.4 billion) and compared those in which senior leaders applied exemplary leadership behaviours to a greater extent with those companies applying them to a lesser extent. The companies with great leadership enjoyed an average stock price growth of 204 per cent over ten years and a net income growth of 841 per cent. For companies in which leadership behaviour was weak, the average stock price growth was 76 per cent, and their net income decreased by 49 per cent.

Note that these are behaviours, not technical competencies. When leaders fail, it is rarely related to technical competence. The x-factor in leadership is behaviour. And the key to transforming leadership behaviour is the cultivation of genuine mindfulness married with leadership research and practice. This enables you to truly see and manage your behaviour in real time, which is when it really matters.

Daphne Guericke, Vice President of Content Analytics at Appen Inc., a language technology consulting firm in Seattle, Washington, shared with me how mindfulness impacts her leadership behaviour on a daily basis. First and foremost, she said, it helps her to understand herself. It reveals her triggers and where her values may be misaligned. It helps her observe how she reacts to thing. As she put it, ‘I need to be very aware and attentive to what's going on with me so I can be attentive, aware and present for others. We all have crazy lives and it's easy to just go, go, go, constantly fighting fires and dealing with issues. Mindfulness practice ensures I don't lose myself or my values in the chaos. When I'm more present with people it creates a much more genuine interaction rather than just intellectual problem solving. It really helps me to connect with people on a deeper, more human level. We're all hungry for that because it's so easy to feel like a cog in a wheel in the corporate world.'

A number of research studies have proven how mindfulness has a measurable impact on behaviour. Cognitive neuroscience studies show that it actually creates structural and functional changes in the brain. Observed behaviour changes include:

• improved attention control

• improved self-awareness

• improved emotional regulation.

One study concluded, ‘When engaged in cognitively demanding challenges, meditation is an effective means to “de-automate” behavior. We are less likely to respond with an impulsive/habitual response.'3 Another judged, ‘Mindful meditation will make you less mentally rigid and habit prone therefore more open to change.'4 In yet another study, the researchers found, ‘In a dynamic workplace setting, mindfulness may be a better predictor of workplace performance and job turnover than traditional measures of “engagement”.'5

The equation is simple: Highly engaged organisations are more profitable and effective. The key to improving your organisation's engagement is your leadership behaviour. And mindfulness – the practical application of self-awareness – is the most effective method for recognising and improving your behaviour.

In this book you will discover simple and advanced approaches to mindfulness practice and how to apply it skilfully and consistently, specifically in a leadership context. But like anything truly worthwhile, mindfulness is not a quick fix. The research shows that even small amounts of practice help, but to reach your full potential will take more than a few minutes. It will take a deep understanding of the nuances of mindfulness practice and exactly how it applies to leadership. It is a profoundly rewarding journey though – it will challenge you to your core, in the very best way. It can set you free from the behavioural patterns that are getting in your way, some of which you may not even be aware of yet.

This book will equip you with a proven methodology for holding yourself accountable. It teaches you how to skilfully become real and honest with yourself in a way that holds nothing back. It gives you a clear understanding of how to expose your blind spots and overcome your fears and self-defeating habits.

But more importantly, throughout the process you'll learn how to treat yourself with kindness and compassion so that your new understanding is liberating and joyful, rather than simply painful. And when you learn to manage yourself with strength and kindness, you'll be empowered to use the same qualities when leading others. You'll be able to firmly hold people accountable for values and commitments in a way that builds and develops them, rather than tearing them down. You'll cultivate the skill you need to handle difficult situations with a paradoxical – and incredibly effective – combination of total honesty and genuine care. In short, you will realise your full potential as a leader.

If you want a quick fix, a simple technique to make discomfort disappear and the leadership journey easy, you will find little of value in this book. If, however, you are interested in what da Vinci refers to as the greatest mastery of all, then this book will help you achieve your full potential.

I invite you to enter this journey home to yourself, to your deepest longing for aliveness, authenticity, happiness, meaning – and leadership greatness.