A few days after I had conducted a workshop on “Mindfulness for Excellence” for the Top Sales Leaders in an IT Company, I ran into one of the participants at the Pune airport. He was enthusiastic about the huge benefits that come from being present to our innermost core of Awareness.
I asked him what he specifically found to be of value, and he shared some thoughts. He said he had evolved to be:
- More conscious of his surroundings, other people and opportunities to serve
- More relaxed, energized, inspired and healthy
- Clearer in thought leading to more creative and agile decision making
- More Confident and Present ; and
- Better in interpersonal relations.
The beauty about meditation is that only one single practice yields these all-round results. You don’t need to follow separate courses of action for achieving them.
This is not surprising, considering that the most important instrument available to Leaders is the Mind. The Mind mediates everything that the person aspires for, perceives, feels, acts on, and achieves. It determines the quality of decision making, the person’s enthusiasm, his or her concern for others, oneself and the environment.
The mind provides the larger context and purpose for the work of all Leaders. The quality of their thoughts and affects what they create. The Mind is the foundation for all of life….the wellspring of all that happens or does not happen. The “collective mind” shapes the destiny of organisations and nations.
The true work of a Leader is to shape the minds of followers.
You can lead others only if you lead their thought processes.
It is impossible to lead other peoples’ thought processes if one cannot govern one’s own!
Meditation and Mindfulness enable the Leader to access a deeper Awareness which is beyond the mind. This leads to a spontaneous improvement in many dimensions of life. By paying attention to what is happening in the now, the quality of ones responses are more appropriate and creative. On days that I meditate in the morning, I find my work moving faster, with less distractions , and my interactions with people are far more joyful and easy.
There is a huge amount of research on the benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation. Even as I was writing this piece, an article on the Business Value of Mindfulness came into my Inbox! Companies like Google have started using Yoga and Meditation to increase productivity. The evidence is loud and clear.
When Pragati Leadership talked of Meditation for Leaders 27 years ago, many eyebrows would rise. Today, there is ample research evidence to show that it makes practical business sense.
Considering that Joy, Peace and Freedom is what man’s search is all about, Meditation simply says you can BE all these right now. And this makes huge personal and business sense.
Perhaps, communing with the Timeless is the best investment of 20 minutes of my time.
by Arun Wakhlu
