Mindfulness is key to good leadership
I love it and it’s an integral part of who I am, but it can be difficult to be at your best when you are distracted and thinking about a million things rather than the task at hand.
Everything is about managing my energy. As a leader, I am meant to be the anchor and the engine. Being mindful has allowed me to centre myself and be a better leader.
Living in the moment has enhanced my ability to be there for my teams and to properly hear what they are saying and to act with empathy and in their best interests. After all, the people working in the businesses are, like me, trying to build their careers, grow their families and live their dreams. It takes effort, but you can train and develop your brain; you can do it, and when you start doing it, the benefits are felt immediately.
Mirabai Bush, who introduced the concept to Google, explained in The Guardian that mindfulness does not prevent conflict or difficult issues from arising but it means that they are more likely to be “skilfully acknowledged, held and responded to by the group”.
From my experience, mindfulness has made me more self-aware and given me more control over my physical, intellectual and emotional responses to situations. I like to think of it as taming the ancient lizard part of my brain, which is all about fight or flight.
There is no doubt that it has helped me to focus on what needs doing, improve how I communicate, deal with stress and develop my emotional intelligence. I have days where I have conference calls in the car and 18 meetings, one after the other.
It’s easy to get so wrapped up in rushing from on thing to another that you lose sight of what’s important and end up working in the business rather than on the business.
So every day I shut the door for half an hour just to think.
Every Sunday evening, I take stock of the weeks past and ahead, and every three to six months I take a complete break and head off somewhere just to recharge. I eat well, exercise religiously and push myself with endurance sports.
It’s all about balancing living in the moment but taking enough time to reflect.
This way I can balance my business and personal lives, and the impact I want to have on society. My personal plans, business plans and family plans are all aligned.
It’s all about balance and managing energy.
Andrew Robinson is the chief executive of Kit Group.