本文源自2015年6月Toastmasters雜志期刊文章
https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/articles/mindful-leadership
作者：琳達(dá)·艾倫
琳達(dá)·艾倫，ACS, CL，是俄克拉何馬州伊尼德平原演講協(xié)會(huì)的成員。她是一名作家、演說(shuō)家和培訓(xùn)師，專門研究文化意識(shí)、職業(yè)和個(gè)人發(fā)展以及領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力。
當(dāng)大量的信息、培訓(xùn)和材料競(jìng)相吸引我們的注意力時(shí)，當(dāng)你想提高你的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)技能時(shí)，你如何知道從哪里開始呢?你怎樣才能更好地鼓舞、激勵(lì)、吸引和激勵(lì)他人?
企業(yè)、政府、大學(xué)、市民團(tuán)體和個(gè)人都發(fā)現(xiàn)，真正偉大的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力來(lái)自能夠首先領(lǐng)導(dǎo)自己的人。積極參加社團(tuán)活動(dòng)是一個(gè)很好的開始，如果你選擇追求領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的軌道，你會(huì)獲得額外的洞察力。
雖然你可能不認(rèn)為自己是Toastmasters之外的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，但我們每個(gè)人都會(huì)在我們的互動(dòng)中作為榜樣、導(dǎo)師、同事、家人和朋友影響他人。即使是陌生人也會(huì)觀察你的行為和反應(yīng)，并根據(jù)他們所看到的做出決定。你的影響力的力量和影響比你意識(shí)到的要大。
心理學(xué)家、《工作中的正念》(Mindfulness at Work)一書的作者斯蒂芬·麥肯齊博士寫道:“好的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力就是知道該把人帶到哪里?！薄爸廊绾晤I(lǐng)導(dǎo)別人的本質(zhì)就是知道如何領(lǐng)導(dǎo)自己?！蔽覀儽仨毾劝l(fā)現(xiàn)自己的全部工作潛力，然后才能引導(dǎo)別人發(fā)現(xiàn)他們的全部工作潛力?！?/p>
近距離接觸
領(lǐng)導(dǎo)自己的第一步是了解自己是誰(shuí)——你的價(jià)值觀、性格和本質(zhì)。包括蘇格拉底、老子、佛陀、莎士比亞、拉爾夫·沃爾多·愛默生等在內(nèi)的來(lái)自不同文化和時(shí)代的受人尊敬的聲音，都表達(dá)了某種形式的“認(rèn)識(shí)你自己”，以指導(dǎo)后代尋求生活的目的和意義。
要真正了解自己，你必須近距離地獨(dú)處，安靜地問(wèn)自己并回答“我是誰(shuí)?”我們經(jīng)?；乇苓@個(gè)令人困惑的問(wèn)題，因?yàn)槲覀兛紤]的是我們不是誰(shuí)，而不是我們能成為誰(shuí)。別人的意見，無(wú)論是積極的還是消極的，也會(huì)影響我們對(duì)自己的看法。每個(gè)人的答案都是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的，沒(méi)有正確或錯(cuò)誤的答案。
大多數(shù)人通過(guò)他們生活的內(nèi)容——經(jīng)歷、思想、事業(yè)、物質(zhì)對(duì)象和人際關(guān)系——來(lái)定義自己。了解自己就是做自己，不再滿足于滿足，”暢銷書《當(dāng)下的力量》和《新地球》的作者?？斯亍ね袪栒f(shuō)。
但是，當(dāng)你被超負(fù)荷的生活所淹沒(méi)時(shí)，找到時(shí)間和空間來(lái)詢問(wèn)和回答關(guān)于身份的深層次問(wèn)題可能是一項(xiàng)挑戰(zhàn)。過(guò)去的智者給了我們另一條忠告:保持安靜。
一個(gè)古老的習(xí)俗
在當(dāng)今這個(gè)多任務(wù)處理和信息過(guò)載的世界里，我們的大腦經(jīng)常自動(dòng)運(yùn)行，只是為了跟上工作和個(gè)人生活的要求和責(zé)任。當(dāng)周圍世界的噪音打斷你的一天，干擾你的思想和注意力時(shí)，你怎么能找到一個(gè)安靜和內(nèi)心平靜的地方呢?
正念是靜止與和平的空間，在這里你可以安靜你的思想，放松你的思想。這是一種古老的做法，它正在吸引新的注意力，作為一種減緩思維和重新引導(dǎo)你分散的注意力的方法。正念是多任務(wù)處理、自動(dòng)工作和生活的對(duì)立面。它教會(huì)你通過(guò)靜止來(lái)控制你的思想和想法。幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，正念的持久力和價(jià)值已被證明是正確的。
情緒健康
如果你認(rèn)為你更頻繁地看到像正念、有目的、有意識(shí)、自我意識(shí)和參與這樣的詞，你是對(duì)的。它們已經(jīng)悄悄進(jìn)入了主流意識(shí)，甚至進(jìn)入了商業(yè)詞匯，這些詞匯傳統(tǒng)上嘲笑處理情緒的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)品質(zhì)。在國(guó)際經(jīng)濟(jì)會(huì)議上舉辦的正念研討會(huì)吸引了全場(chǎng)爆滿的人群。
谷歌有一個(gè)名為“搜索你內(nèi)心”的正念課程，是該公司最受歡迎的培訓(xùn)項(xiàng)目。大約有2000名員工參加了這個(gè)項(xiàng)目。Tan chad - meng(音譯)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了這門課程的創(chuàng)建，他有一個(gè)不同尋常的頭銜——“快樂(lè)的好伙伴”。他通過(guò)幫助谷歌員工在生活中創(chuàng)造和平、快樂(lè)和善良，鼓勵(lì)他們保持情感健康。當(dāng)你帶著這三個(gè)特質(zhì)生活時(shí)，你就能引導(dǎo)別人擁有同樣的經(jīng)歷。沒(méi)有這個(gè)基礎(chǔ)，很難做正確的事情，Tan說(shuō)。
和其他公司一樣，谷歌也發(fā)現(xiàn)了正念對(duì)公司利潤(rùn)和成功的積極影響。人們開始為了更大的利益去幫助別人。Tan認(rèn)為，谷歌在通信技術(shù)方面的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)地位將刺激軟件和應(yīng)用程序的發(fā)展，這些軟件和應(yīng)用程序?qū)颜罱坏綌?shù)字用戶手中。
Janice L. Marturano是正念領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力研究所的創(chuàng)始人和執(zhí)行董事，也是《尋找領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的空間》一書的作者，她將正念領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力作為一種簡(jiǎn)單有效的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和生活得更好的方法來(lái)實(shí)踐。在通用磨坊(General Mills)擔(dān)任高管期間，她通過(guò)對(duì)日程安排過(guò)多的生活中最響亮的聲音做出反應(yīng)，平衡了職業(yè)、公民和個(gè)人責(zé)任。
當(dāng)家庭和公司的決策挑戰(zhàn)了她通常的解決問(wèn)題的模式時(shí)，瑪圖拉諾發(fā)現(xiàn)了正念。她發(fā)現(xiàn)了正念冥想，并在幾周內(nèi)注意到她的反應(yīng)如何變成了回應(yīng)，她擺脫條件行為、瑣碎擔(dān)憂和精神混亂的能力也增強(qiáng)了。她成了一個(gè)“秘密的冥想者”，不愿與同事分享她非傳統(tǒng)的解決問(wèn)題的方法。
當(dāng)她練習(xí)正念冥想時(shí)，她的日子變得更有成效和創(chuàng)造力，這也影響了她的個(gè)人生活。人們開始注意到她的變化，想知道她的“秘密”。在通用磨坊的最后五年里，她開發(fā)并教授了公司的“正念領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力”培訓(xùn)，現(xiàn)在這是所有感興趣的員工工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)的一部分。2010年，她離開公司，在新澤西州奧克蘭創(chuàng)立了正念領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力研究所(Institute for Mindful Leadership)，并在世界各地的組織教授正念領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力，包括在瑞士達(dá)沃斯和中國(guó)天津舉行的世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇(world Economic Forum)會(huì)議。
互補(bǔ)對(duì)
在接受馬圖拉諾的電話采訪時(shí)，她對(duì)自己的話進(jìn)行了深思熟慮。她講述了自己是如何意識(shí)到正念和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力訓(xùn)練是可以兼容的——它們相輔相成，相互交織。為了進(jìn)入正念狀態(tài)，馬圖拉諾建議每天冥想兩次，每次10分鐘，讓你在無(wú)數(shù)分心的事情中重新集中注意力。這就是寧?kù)o的來(lái)源——寧?kù)o到足以注意到你的呼吸。她說(shuō):“正念在你的思想周圍創(chuàng)造空間。從那個(gè)空間中產(chǎn)生了敏感的、有意識(shí)的選擇。你不只是關(guān)注短期結(jié)果，你有機(jī)會(huì)問(wèn)“現(xiàn)在最好的選擇是什么?”’你加強(qiáng)和培養(yǎng)你的思想，讓它活在當(dāng)下，讓它在你做出的選擇中充分發(fā)揮你最好的能力?！?/p>
在接受澳大利亞咨詢公司About Time Management Solutions經(jīng)理埃利奧特·海耶斯(Elliot Hayes)的在線采訪時(shí)，心理學(xué)家麥肯齊表示，工作場(chǎng)所的專注力可以提高決策能力，從而帶來(lái)高質(zhì)量的結(jié)果。正念為決策帶來(lái)簡(jiǎn)單和自然的能力。
壓力是注意力不集中的表現(xiàn)。許多錯(cuò)誤都是由于沒(méi)有注意到自己在做什么而造成的，這樣的壓力是沒(méi)有注意到的一個(gè)指標(biāo)。很多錯(cuò)誤都是由于沒(méi)有注意自己正在做的事情而造成的，比如在一封不該發(fā)送的郵件上點(diǎn)擊了發(fā)送按鈕。你的注意力不是集中在當(dāng)下發(fā)生的事情上，而是被生活和預(yù)測(cè)未來(lái)分散了注意力。
要從不需要?jiǎng)幽X的工作習(xí)慣轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)閷Ｗ⒂谀阏谧龅氖虑?，麥肯齊建議把注意力集中在你的呼吸上。
麥肯齊將用心的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者描述為那些看到機(jī)會(huì)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)自己和他人的人。他們給出明確的方向，并留出安靜的空間，以便其他人可以確定自己的最佳方式，成為整體有效工作的一部分。沒(méi)有技術(shù)干擾的談話(或者你的自我計(jì)劃對(duì)談話的反應(yīng))會(huì)讓別人感到被重視、被傾聽和被理解。
從馬圖拉諾的角度來(lái)看，“具有諷刺意味的是，創(chuàng)造技術(shù)是為了更容易、更快速地將我們聯(lián)系起來(lái)，實(shí)際上卻使我們與高質(zhì)量的關(guān)系脫節(jié)?！彼窒砹艘粋€(gè)研討會(huì)參與者的例子，他回到工作崗位，開始在與同事交談時(shí)關(guān)閉筆記本電腦的做法。他注意到，當(dāng)他傾聽并充分關(guān)注對(duì)方時(shí)，談話是多么的不同。他的團(tuán)隊(duì)成員表示，他們感到被傾聽、被尊重和被理解。
另一位參加馬圖拉諾研討會(huì)的人，在一天晚上放下智能手機(jī)后，抬頭看著繁星滿天的天空，意識(shí)到他已經(jīng)有20年沒(méi)見過(guò)星星了。他真正“頓悟”的時(shí)刻是，他在想自己盯著手機(jī)時(shí)可能還錯(cuò)過(guò)了什么。
它顯示了
如果你是一個(gè)正念的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，你的反應(yīng)來(lái)自一個(gè)和平的中心。你的措辭深思熟慮，流露出冷靜和善良，這讓你感覺很舒服。第十六地區(qū)總監(jiān)潘杰良，DTM，將這些品質(zhì)帶進(jìn)他領(lǐng)導(dǎo)俄克拉何馬國(guó)際演講會(huì)扶輪社及社員的責(zé)任中。他將自己的正念描述為完全致力于并遵循自己的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)職責(zé)。當(dāng)你和潘在一起時(shí)，你會(huì)感受到他正直、尊重、服務(wù)和真誠(chéng)的價(jià)值觀。他希望所有的國(guó)際演講會(huì)會(huì)員都能體驗(yàn)到他擔(dān)任領(lǐng)導(dǎo)角色的快樂(lè)。
“正念是一段不斷成長(zhǎng)的旅程。你必須不斷學(xué)習(xí)才能成長(zhǎng)，”潘說(shuō)。服務(wù)、學(xué)習(xí)和成長(zhǎng)是個(gè)人、專業(yè)和演講會(huì)會(huì)員有效領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的關(guān)鍵。我們必須不斷相互學(xué)習(xí)，才能繼續(xù)成長(zhǎng)。”
通過(guò)正念冥想來(lái)了解自己，可以讓你對(duì)自己和外部世界有一個(gè)誠(chéng)實(shí)的看法，從而提高你的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能力。正念領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的持久而深遠(yuǎn)的影響會(huì)從你的工作或領(lǐng)導(dǎo)職位蔓延到你的個(gè)人生活和世界。當(dāng)你的外在生活反映出你內(nèi)心的平靜和控制時(shí)，別人就會(huì)注意到。他們能感覺到你的真誠(chéng)、真實(shí)和同情心。這時(shí)，正念式領(lǐng)導(dǎo)就會(huì)成為一個(gè)雙贏的局面。你已經(jīng)激勵(lì)他們陪你踏上正念之旅，去了解他們是誰(shuí)，然后成為正念的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，激發(fā)世界的積極變化。
享受你的旅程!
本文的另一個(gè)版本發(fā)表于Toastmaster雜志2015年6月號(hào)。
With a wealth of information, training and materials competing for our attention, how do you know where to start when you want to improve your leadership skills? How do you become better at inspiring, motivating, engaging and energizing others?
Businesses, governments, universities, civic groups and individuals are finding that truly great leadership comes from people who can lead themselves first. The idea is that by learning to lead yourself, you will become a more sensitive and effective leader. You are off to a great start by being active in your club, and if you choose to pursue the leadership track you’ll gain additional insight.
Although you may not consider yourself a leader outside of Toastmasters, each of us influences others in our interactions as role models, mentors, colleagues, family members and friends. Even strangers observe how you act and react, and they make decisions based on what they see. The power and impact of your influence is greater than you realize.
“Good leadership is knowing where to lead people,” wrote Dr. Stephen McKenzie, psychologist and author of Mindfulness at Work. “The essence of knowing where to lead other people is knowing where to lead ourselves. We have to discover our full working potential before we can lead others to discovering their full working potential.”
Up-Close and Personal
The first step in leading yourself is to know who you are—your values, character and essence. A list of respected voices from all cultures and times, including Socrates, Lao Tzu, Buddha, Shakespeare, Ralph Waldo Emerson and more, have expressed some version of “Know thyself” to guide future generations in their quest for purpose and meaning in their lives.
To truly know yourself, you have to get up-close and personal by spending quiet time alone to ask and answer the question “Who am I?” We often avoid that puzzling question because we consider who we are not—instead of who we can be. The opinions of others, whether positive or negative, also influence who we believe we are. Each person’s answer will be unique—there is no right or wrong answer.
“Most people define themselves through the content of their lives—experiences, thoughts, career, material objects and relationships. Knowing yourself is being yourself and ceasing to identify with content,” says Eckhart Tolle, author of the bestselling books, The Power of Now and A New Earth.
But, finding the time and space to ask and answer deep questions of identity can be challenging when you are overwhelmed by an overscheduled life. Wise voices from the past give us another piece of advice: Be still.
An Old Practice
In today’s world of multitasking and information overload, our minds often run on autopilot just to keep up with the demands and responsibilities of work and our personal lives. How can you find a place of stillness and inner peace when the noise of the world around you interrupts your day and intrudes on your thoughts and concentration?
Mindfulness is the space of stillness and peace where you can quiet your thoughts and relax your mind in the present moment. It’s an old practice that is attracting new attention as a way to slow down the mind and redirect your wandering attention. Mindfulness is the opposite of multitasking, working and living on autopilot. It teaches you to control your mind and your thoughts through stillness. For centuries, the staying power and value of mindfulness have proven true.
Emotional Fitness
If you think you’re seeing words like mindful-ness, purposeful, intentional, self-awareness and engagement more frequently, you’re right. They’ve crept into mainstream awareness and even into business vocabulary, which has traditionally scoffed at leadership qualities that deal with emotions. Mindfulness workshops at international economic conferences have attracted standing-room-only crowds.
A mindfulness course at Google called “Search Inside Yourself” is the company’s most popular training program. Approximately 2,000 employees have participated in it. Chade-Meng Tan, who has the unconventional title of Jolly Good Fellow, led the creation of the course. He encourages emotional fitness in Google employees by helping them create peace, joy and kindness in their lives. When you lead your life with these three attributes, you can lead others to have the same experience. Without that foundation, it’s hard to do the right thing, says Tan.
Like other companies, Google has discovered the positive effect that mindfulness has on the company’s profit and success. People begin to help others for the greater good. Tan believes Google’s leadership in communication technology will spur the development of software and apps that will put mindfulness into the hands of digital users.
Janice L. Marturano, founder and executive director of the Institute for Mindful Leadership and author of Finding the Space to Lead, practices mindful leadership as a simple and effective way to lead and live better. While a top executive at General Mills, she juggled career, civic and personal responsibilities by reacting to the loudest voice in her overscheduled life.
Marturano discovered mindfulness when family and corporate decisions challenged her usual pattern of problem-solving. She found mindfulness meditation, and within a few weeks noticed how her reactions had changed to responses, and her ability to let go of conditioned behaviors, trivial worries and mental clutter expanded. She became a “closet meditator,” reluctant to share her unconventional problem-solving method with her colleagues.
As she practiced mindfulness meditation, her days became more productive and creative, which spilled over into her personal life. People began to notice the change in her and wanted to learn her “secret.” During her last five years at General Mills, she developed and taught the company’s Mindful Leadership training, which is now part of the work experience for all interested employees. In 2010, she left the company to found the Institute for Mindful Leadership in Oakland, New Jersey, and has taught mindful leadership at organizations around the world, including World Economic Forum gatherings in Davos, Switzerland and Tianjin, China.
A Complementary Pair
In a phone interview with Marturano, she spoke with thoughtful consideration of her words. She told how she realized that mindfulness and leadership training are compatible—they complement each other and are intertwined. To tap into mindfulness, Marturano recommends 10 minutes of daily meditation twice a day to redirect your focus in the midst of countless distractions. That’s where being still comes in—being still enough to notice your breath. She says: “Mindfulness creates space around your thoughts. From that space come responsive, conscious choices. You are not just focused on the short-term outcomes, you have a chance to ask ‘What is the best choice now?’ You strengthen and cultivate your mind to be present and to bring your full and best capacity to the choices you make.”
In an online interview with Elliot Hayes, manager of About Time Management Solutions, an Australian consulting company, psychologist McKenzie said mindfulness in the workplace improves decision-making skills, which leads to quality results. Mindfulness brings simplicity and natural abilities to decision-making.
Stress is an indicator of not being mindful. Many mistakes are caused by not paying attention to what you are doing, such Stress is an indicator of not being mindful. Many mistakes are caused by not paying attention to what you are doing, such as hitting the send button on an email that you should not send. Instead of focusing on what is happening in the moment, your mind is distracted by living in, and anticipating, the future.
To go from mindless work habits to paying mindful attention and focusing on what you are doing, McKenzie suggests focusing on your breath.
McKenzie describes mindful leaders as those who see opportunities to lead themselves and others. They give clear directions and allow for quiet space so that others can identify their own best way to be an effective working part of the whole. Conversations without distractions of technology (or your ego planning its responses to the conversation) make others feel valued, heard and understood.
From Marturano’s point of view, “It’s ironic that the technology that was created to connect us easier and faster actually disconnects us from quality relationships.” She shared the example of a workshop attendee who returned to work and started the practice of closing his laptop whenever he had a conversation with col-leagues. He noticed how different the conversations were when he listened and paid full attention to the other person. His team members commented they felt heard, respected and understood.
Another one of Marturano’s workshop participants, after put-ting his smartphone away one evening, looked up at the star-filled sky and realized he hadn’t seen the stars in the last 20 years. His true “aha” moment was when he wondered what else he may have missed while staring at his phone.
It Shows
If you are a mindful leader, your responses come from a center of peace. You choose your words thoughtfully and exude calmness and kindness, which makes you feel comfortable. District 16 Governor Jieliang Pan, DTM, brings these qualities to his leadership responsibilities with Oklahoma Toastmasters clubs and members. He describes his own mindfulness as being fully committed to, and following through on, his leadership responsibilities. When you are with Pan, you feel his values of integrity, respect, service and sincerity. He wants all Toastmasters to experience the joy he does in his leadership role.
“Mindfulness is a journey to keep growing. You have to keep learning in order to grow,” Pan says. “Serving, learning and growing are the keys to effective leadership personally, professionally and as a Toastmaster. We have to keep learning from each other to continue to grow.”
Getting to know yourself through mindful meditation gives you insight into yourself as well as an honest perspective of the external world, which improves your leadership skills. Long-lasting and far-reaching effects of mindful leadership ripple beyond your job or leadership position to your personal life and out to the world. As your external life mirrors your internal peace and control, others notice. They sense your sincerity, authenticity and compassion. That’s when mindful leadership becomes a win-win-win for every-one. You’ve inspired them to accompany you on the mindfulness journey to get to know who they are and then to become mindful leaders who will inspire positive changes in the world.
Enjoy your journey!
A version of this article appeared in the June 2015 issue of the Toastmaster magazine.
Linda Allen
Linda Allen, ACS, CL, is a member of the Enid Speakers of the Plains Toastmasters in Enid, Oklahoma. She is a writer, speaker and trainer specializing in cultural awareness, professional and personal development, and leadership.
