Mindful Leadership

By John J. Murphy, guest contributor

One practical definition of leadership is going first. Leading the way. Walking the talk. I like this definition because it challenges leaders to be genuine and authentic, to lead by example. This is especially important when bringing mindfulness into a corporate culture. You will have a lot of skeptics and doubters. To many people, the idea of mindfulness brings images of yogis sitting on a mountaintop, chanting mantras. Who has time for this? We have deadl…

By Jay Forte, guest contributor

Though a workplace continually changes, the past year showed us just how fast the changes can be. How does an organization stay current with the skills needed to keep the organization growing and performing as the environment around it changes? 

The answer: organizational bandwidth.

The historical way of hiring employees has assessed them for the specific abilities – their strengths, skills, and experience – as it relates to the role they are applying for. If w…

By Martin Boroson and Carmel Moore, guest contributors

Looking at your calendar can be soul-destroying. 

Sadly, we do it many times a day.

If you believe your calendar, life is a grid. And time is not a flow of experience, but a stack of blocks—equal, interchangeable, and soulless. 

The way we actually experience time, however, is neither regular nor mechanical. It is subjective, depending on factors such as mood, stage of life, and whatever we’re doing. For example, time flies when you’re h…

By Bridgette Morehouse, guest contributor

How well companies can create cultures of connection is the new superpower. In our future of self-driving cars and artificial intelligence, the power of human connection will become increasingly evident. The multiplier effect of workplace wellbeing, inclusivity, and belongingness is already well documented. And yet…

The realities of work today are straining our ability to connect in meaningful ways. So many of us feel the weight of the work that is nee…

By Jay Forte, MBA, CPC, CGC, ELI-MP, guest contributor

When you’re the leader, the focus is always on you. People watch your every move, ready to judge what you decide to do and how you do it, regardless of the situation at hand. This holds especially true in challenging times because there is more at stake.  

Consider how some well-known organizations responded to challenging times. Some of the responses ruined careers because the careless, self-centered, or reactive comments created a negati…

By Dr. Karlyn Borysenko, guest contributor

There's not a leader out there who would tell you their goal is to create less productive employees, and yet data shows us that is precisely what many of them end up doing. About two-thirds of employees in the United States and Canada self-report that they are unengaged at work, 79% of employees do not see professional growth opportunities in their current organization, and 79% of employees who quit their job credit a "lack of appreciation" as their re…

By Georgina Miranda, guest contributor

Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world. As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

We can consider these impactful words when it comes to leadership today. Developing the art of leading ourselves, our personal leadership, becomes a critical step before we can lead others on the path to greatness and success. Human…

By Jay Forte, guest contributor

It might seem hard to believe now, but just a few short months ago, one of the biggest challenges organizations faced was keeping its employees engaged. In fact, the Gallup Organization reported in its The State of the American Workplace report that the percentage of engaged employees hovered around only 30% of the workforce for most of the past 20 years. 

Let’s put that into perspective: only 30% of employees were engaged in their work. They brought their A-gam…

By Meggan Davis, José Ramos, and Jeremy Scharf, guest contributors

We started Mindfulness and Leadership (“M&L”) in 2019 as a student-led initiative at MIT’s Sloan School of Management with a firm belief that to lead others well we must first know ourselves. Despite research recognizing some inner knowledge is key to effective leadership, many MBA students graduate without a toolkit for understanding themselves or how they relate to others.

Jeremy Scharf, one of our co-founders and a second-ye…

By Mark Morey, guest contributor

Remote worker burn-out is a tsunami slowly rolling towards every manager who thinks they dodged a pandemic bullet. 

As New York Times columnist Jennifer Senior put the matter bluntly in her recent op-ed: “We are not, as a nation, all right.” (1)

The ground is shifting beneath our feet. Life is confusing and yet our responsibilities are still requiring our participation and leadership. If you are in a company and have direct reports you have already seen the si…