Work. We spend most of our lives there but rarely give thought to how or why, caught in a constant cycle of to do lists, interruptions and demands. If you’re feeling the strain as a leader, little wonder. Organisations and individuals are struggling to keep up with the pace of constant change. Research from prof Mark Williams at Oxford University’s Mindfulness centre suggests that we’re more stressed today than we were 40 years ago. Workplace studies into mindful leadership demonstrate promising results suggesting a realistic antidote to the chaos. So how do you become a mindful leader? Here are our top 3 hacks.
5 Black Belt Mindfulness At Work Hacks
Research from the University of California found that we’re distracted an average of every three minutes at work. The Wall Street Journal reports that we check our emails a whopping 74 times daily. There’s no wonder we’re feeling stressed at work. Time to hone some ninja like workplace focusing skills with our black belt mindfulness hacks.
Stuck In Sacrifice Syndrome? Here’s How To Rekindle Renewal
Sacrifice Syndrome: The Cycle Of Wellbeing Deprivation
Sacrifice Syndrome. The cycle whereby leaders are caught in a corrosive pattern of workplace behaviours; working late, skipping lunch, catching up on weekends….the list is endless. The result? Dissonant leadership, bleeding into the rest of your organisation causing stress and burnout.
Mindfulness Myths: 5 Lies That Are Getting In Your Way
Mindfulness. What’s stopping you? Maybe you’ve been thinking about trying mindfulness on for size but there are a few things that are putting you off? We bust 5 of the most common mindfulness myths, paving your way towards pain free mindful practice.
What is Mindfulness? Find out with our Infographic
What is Mindfulness? Find out with our infographic.
You’ve heard about mindfulness but maybe you’re not sure exactly what it is. Perhaps you know someone who practices it but you’re not quite sure what they do? Does it all sound a bit nebulous and you don’t really know what everyone is going on about? Worry not, we’ve produced a handy ‘What is Mindfulness’ infographic to walk you through the mindfulness basics. Take a look and the next time someone talks to you about mindfulness, you’ll be able to talk about it like a pro. [Read more…]
Our Mindful Leadership Training Now In The UK, Europe, USA & Asia
We’re really excited to announce that we’re now offering our Mindful Leadership courses in the UK, Europe, USA & Asia. And if you’re wondering what mindful leadership is all about, or if it’s for you, read on.
Mindful Leadership Training
Leaders today operate in an increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex & ambiguous) world. We know from research and personal experience that the world is changing at an unprecedented rate. The corporate world has seen an explosion of interest in mindfulness over the past 10 years but what is it and how can it enhance your leadership? Mindful leadership training provides an opportunity for you to find a way to navigate the terrain of modern leadership.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the awareness of what is happening as it’s happening. It’s the ability to recognise and step out of autopilot. To move from the usual default mode of constantly doing to being present in the moment. A self-observation of thoughts, self talk, feelings and emotions without judgement allowing you to clear the mental clutter providing greater clarity of thinking and decision making.
Why use Positive Change Guru for your Mindful Leadership Training?
It’s likely that you’ll already have heard of mindfulness or know someone who practices it. Many organisations have developed their own programmes. We’ve delivered international mindful leadership training with organisations such as Deloitte, UKSport, Spotify, ICAEW, London School of Economics, Goldsmiths University, WaterAid and even the Victoria and Albert Museum amongst others to design and deliver mindfulness at work programmes, mindful leadership coaching and providing leadership retreat ideas. With our mindful leadership training you’ll be finding the space to lead.
We’ve trained with Google’s SYLI Emotional Intelligence for Leaders programme as well as training with Aberdeen University, Bangor University and Dr Patricia Collard to fulfil UK mindfulness teacher requirements. We’re committed to our own continuing professional development, our senior Mindful Leader facilitator, Gill Thackray, holds an MSc in Mindfulness Studies and is currently completing PhD mindfulness leadership research into the impact of mindfulness and compassion training on leadership efficacy. She regularly presents keynotes at leadership and management events and mindful leadership conferences.
Our own personal mindfulness practice spans 20 years. We draw upon this alongside our corporate experience of successfully building our own businesses working with FTSE 100 companies. We are committed to the UK Mindfulness Teachers Good Practice Guidelines and are registered with the International Mindfulness Teachers Association & on the UK Registered Mindfulness Teachers list.
We’re leaders in the field of Mindful Leadership
We write articles on the benefits of mindful leadership and mindfulness at work for national and international publications including The Guardian, Thrive Global, Ultra Sport, Success Magazine, Refinery 29, Dare Magazine and HR Zone.
Why Become a Mindful Leader?
The benefits of mindful leadership include;
- Increased resilience
- Enhanced wellbeing
- A reduction in stress and burnout
- The ability to skilfully manage change
- Improved metacognition (the ability to observe your thoughts, feelings & emotions)
- The development of emotional intelligence
- A more engaged workforce
- Increased positive emotional states
- Improved self awareness & self regulation
- Increased ‘Flow’ state to optimise performance
- Greater team cohesion
- Reduced staff turnover
- Increased neuroplasticity
- Reduced stress related absenteeism
- Greater clarity of thought
- Improved decision making
- Increased creativity and innovation
- The ability to identify individual habitual patterns of thinking and respond more effectively
Practicing mindfulness won’t magically decrease your workload, improve the economy or make your colleagues nicer to work with. What it will do is change the way that you perceive and respond to those events.
Core Components of Our Mindful Leadership Programme
Our programme is unique. We bring the latest research from mindfulness, emotional intelligence, positive psychology and compassion together in one place to help you develop the skills necessary to become a mindful leader.
Throughout the course you’ll learn scientifically evidenced mindful leadership practices that you can take away and start using straight away in real world situations. We’ll show you how to establish a regular practice using mindfulness to manage the complexities and pressures of your leadership role.
Course Content
In this mindful leadership workshop we’ll examine the latest scientific research in mindfulness and leadership effectiveness and focus upon how practical mindful leadership skills will give you the tools to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of the corporate world.
- What is mindful leadership?
- Mindfulness leadership research
- The neuroscience of mindful leadership
- It’s a VUCA world and why that matters to a mindful leader
- Recognising habitual mental habits & using mindful leadership to disrupt them
- Auto pilot and attentional training
- Sacrifice syndrome and how to overcome it
- The difference between stress, pressure and burnout
- Creating Flow states to optimise performance
- The key link between positive psychology and mindfulness
- Emotional intelligence and the mindful leader
- Self awareness and the mindful leader
- Self regulating under pressure – why it matters
- Skilfully managing change
- Developing agile thinking for critical situations
- Building resilience with mindfulness
- Managing your energy and circadian rhythms as a mindful leader
- Mindfulness, creativity and innovative leadership
- The importance of mindful leadership and compassion.
- Free post training 365 day support
How to become a Mindful Leader?
We’ll use facilitator input, discussion, dyads, group exercises, videos, light physical movement, guided scientifically proven practices and experiential learning to immerse you in mindful leadership for the duration of the course.
Mindful Leadership Course Outcomes:
By the end of the course delegates will have developed skills that will enable them to;
- Identify what mindfulness is
- Recognise the scientifically evidenced benefits of mindful leadership
- Identify how research in neuroscience underpins mindful leadership
- Develop increased resilience
- Enhance their wellbeing
- Improved communication skills
- Identify sacrifice syndrome & employ renewal strategies
- Skilfully meet the challenge of change
- Develop greater emotional intelligenceEnhance self awareness
- Enhanced mental agility
- Recognise the difference between stress, pressure and burnout
- Improved decision making
- Optimise performance
- Manage stressful situations skilfully
- Develop increased self compassion & compassionate leadership
- Recognise the interplay between mindfulness, neuroscience & positive psychology
- Utilise a practical toolkit of practices and strategies to start using straight away
- Develop an individual action plan
Mindful Leadership Training Outputs:
- Tools and techniques that you can take away & start using immediately:
- Access to Positive Change Guru’s Mindfulness assessment
- Access to growth mindset assessment
- Access to emotional intelligence assessment
- Sacrifice and renewal audit
- Access to individual resilience assessment
- Access to team resilience assessment
- Toolkit to assess areas of risk
- Simple practices house daily for mindful leadership
- Access to compassionate organisation assessment
- Mindful leadership workbook
- 365 dedicated post mindful leadership training support
Want to know more? Just ask! We deliver courses across the UK, in Europe and internationally which can take place at your workplace or at a separate venue. We also provide residential, bespoke Mindfulness Leadership and Mindfulness at work courses offering espresso bitesize taster training sessions, half day, 1, 2 or 4 day options, along with conference key notes.
We’re also currently researching the impact of mindfulness and compassion on leadership efficacy. To find out more about our research, mindful leadership or mindfulness training contact us at Contact us or visit our events page Our courses
We’d love to hear from you!
