Mindfulness - The Key to Unlocking Success and Growth in Business
The Power of Mindfulness
Dr Kabat-Zinn’s early focus was on using mindfulness to transform an individual ‘s relationship to pain. Indeed, in the last decade, mindfulness has been used within companies to lower health costs, increase employee productivity, help them stay on task and reduce stress.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore suggest that mindfulness meditation can help ease psychological stresses like anxiety, depression, and pain, as well as improve sleep patterns.
Recent studies have also shown that regular mindfulness practice can result in; increased neuroplasticity; greater enjoyment of work; increased happiness, focus, clarity of mind and calmness; improved decision-making; enhanced listening skills; and greater productivity.
Mindfulness training together with sustained practice can impact the important leadership capacities of resilience, collaboration, and managing challenging situations.
Today, next-generation companies are realizing the benefits of this and are promoting mindfulness practices and training to improve the well-being, engagement and decision-making capacities of their teams and leaders.
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital published a study in the Journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging showing that engaging in a mindfulness meditation program for eight weeks is linked with changes in the memory, empathy, stress, and the regions of the brain believed to store the sense of self, which impact well-being. The benefits and science behind it are also presented on the World Economic Forum’s website.
How to Practice in Work Context
- mindful eating,
- reflecting while walking, hiking, jogging, during yoga,
- empathetic listening during conversations,
- restricting multitasking and interruptions; instead focusing on one task at a time,
- noticing one’s surroundings with the five senses,
- being aware and accepting one’s emotional state as it occurs,
- regularly connecting with one’s personal purpose in life,
- taking the time for quiet reflection alone,
- positive reinforcement in relation to family, friends and co-workers,
- purposefully showing kindness to others,
- expressing gratitude as a routine activity,
- practicing self-compassion,
- intentionally responding, rather than unconsciously reacting,
- practicing beginner’s mind: approaching each person, event, and situation as though one had never experienced it before.
Successful Implementation of Mindfulness Programs in Corporate Setting
Aetna: Over 200 employees volunteered for the mindfulness program developed, and the results, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, showed reduced stress levels and medical costs. Since then, 6,000 Aetna employees and more than 20 employer clients have completed the program.
General Mills: 13 company executives in 2006 had mindfulness training. Today, every building on the company’s Minneapolis, Minnesota campus has a meditation room, and more than 500 General Mills employees and over 1,000 executives from other organizations (including the U.S. military, Medtronic, and P&G) have taken mindful leadership programs. According to the company’s research, 80 percent of participants say they feel it has improved their ability to make better decisions.
Google’s SIY: (Search Inside Yourself) program, billed as the “unexpected path to success and happiness at work,” was founded by Chade-Meng Tan.
SAP: is offering mindfulness programs across its global offices to reduce stress-related health issues, and to increase engagement and create stronger leaders.
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Developing a daily habit of introspection is the only way to become a mindful human and then a leader.
