We’ve got cluttered minds” was the statement made by Steve Hansen, coach to the All Blacks, after their first test match in Auckland against England last weekend. Many errors and too much on their minds nearly cost the famous New Zealand Rugby team a loss at Eden Park where they won the World Cup in 2011
Hansen also said; “And if we have cluttered minds it’s probably because we’ve [the coaches] made them cluttered through the week giving them too much to do.” Do those words resonate with what’s happening around you? ’Overwhelm and overload’ seems to be the current situation in many businesses. It’s almost as if people are mind-filled, rather than mindful, and don’t take time to think clearly, listen deeply and make the best quality decisions, all because they’ve got too much on their minds.
Mind-filled or Mindful
Imagine if you were having an operation and the surgeon was ‘mind-filled’ – in mental overload -do you think he might be likely to make a mistake? A friend recently had an accident and cut off the top of his thumb. Within a few hours he and the detached piece of thumb were in an operating theatre for several hours – about ten hours. He woke up with the thumb re-attached, and is now on the road to recovery. The surgeon had only one thing on his mind – to do everything he could to have the piece of thumb re-connected with his patient’s hand and body. I’m sure he wasn’t thinking about the next operation or anything else. So what has this to do with your work environment and how you lead and interact with others?
Is Mindfulness a Fad?
There is a growing interest about mindfulness, particularly in the workplace environment. Last month I attended a seminar in Auckland about mindfulness. The room was full of business people wanting to find out how they could apply, to their job and work environment, what they heard from the speaker. Although mindfulness has only recently been embraced by Western psychology, it is an ancient practice found in a wide range of Eastern philosophies, including Buddhism, Taoism and Yoga.
The speaker had attended a conference in San Francisco earlier this year called Wisdom 2.0, which is defined as “a global community of people dedicated to living with deeper wisdom, compassion, and awareness in the digital age”. Her presentation started, introducing the audience to Mindfulness, and within minutes the hotel fire alarm went off. We were told by the speaker to leave all our bags in the room and leave the building. I noticed everyone took all their belongings with them!
This interruption, a false alarm, appeared to impact upon the speaker’s ability to get back into the moment when we returned. She was open about the newness of what she had been learning and I respected her courage to talk about something which was quite new to her and to her colleagues.
She talked to us about an interview with Jeff Weiner CEO of LinkedIn, at the 2014 Wisdom 2.0 conference. He spoke about the importance of a culture of coaching and compassion. This seemed to be new information to those people at my table –to actually take the time to coach people, and operate from a place of compassion. Most of the people attending this seminar were over 30 and many a lot older, yet the idea was almost revolutionary.
Mindfulness is a technique-based approach to become more fully aware of the present moment – non-judgmentally and completely – rather than dwelling in the past or projecting into the future. Actions that may include meditation, deep breathing etc. are designed to reduce stress and achieve a state of general well-being.
Beyond Mindfulness Techniques – Simple Yet Profound
Living with deeper wisdom, compassion and awareness is fundamental, not just because of us being part of the digital age. Simply put, understanding how our thinking works has immense implications. For some people meditation and other similar mindfulness techniques work; others find making time every day difficult and in the ‘too hard’ basket. Using mindfulness techniques the results are often temporary, like putting a Band-Aid on a wound without dealing with the source of the pain. This is why understanding the principles that underlie all human experience is so important.
When people see that their thinking is not coming from something outside of them but coming instead from theirthought in the moment, it’s like a light-bulb moment. Being aware of our feeling state tells us how mind-filled we are about anything in any moment. We get to choose whether we dwell on the thoughts or let them go.
Compassion in the Workplace
Dr Robin Youngson, author of “Time to Care” – says “Healthcare’s focus on physical disease and bio-medicine is unbalanced. We need to pay much more attention to emotional, psychological and spiritual wellbeing and the huge importance of healing relationships.” He is an inspiring visionary and catalyst for truly compassionate, holistic, mindful and healing healthcare and is all about putting “Heart back into Healthcare – Champions for Compassionate Care”. His message equally applies in business. A patient is not just another number or statistic; neither is any employee.
It’s time to put heart back into the workplace. To care about those who come to work every day and to find out what’s really going on for those people who under-perform. It may be nothing to do with work. It could be a health issue, as a client recently discovered when one of his managers told him that he has a life-threatening health issue. Or it may be a family situation. Whatever it is, being compassionate and caring applies to you too. By being less self-critical, being kinder to you, you will become more resilient and sagacious and more compassionate towards others.