target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#x6_x_6_i47"> FIGURE 1-3: Mindfulness evolution timeline.
Mindfulness, as cultivated in the WorkplaceMT exercises you find in Chapters 8 through 13, originated from ancient practices, which were a component of Buddhism. In the late 1890s to early 1900s, mindfulness practices were simplified and westernised in an attempt to safeguard their future survival in a time of colonialism.
This more secular version of mindfulness was popularised by the pioneering work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, who developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 1979. MBSR blended Jon’s scientific training with his Buddhist and yoga training. His work sparked the interest of the scientific community who started researching the impact of mindfulness. In the 1980s, about one scientific research paper on mindfulness was published each year.
In the 1990s, John Teasdale Zindel Segal and Mark Williams blended MBSR with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to form Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as a treatment for recurrent depression. In the 1990s, about ten research papers on mindfulness were published each year.
In 2004, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended MBCT as a treatment of choice for recurrent depression. This accelerated scientific interest in mindfulness further, and by 2013 about 500 papers on mindfulness were published each year.
Exactly who first applied mindfulness to the challenge of the modern-day workplace is unclear. In recent years, a number of prominent leaders have come forward and admitted that they’ve been practicing mindfulness for a number of years, and they’ve claimed that it’s been invaluable in their work as a leader.
In 2007, Google started to integrate mindfulness into its development programmes for staff. The success of Google’s Search Inside Yourself programme may have been one of the catalysts for mindfulness gaining increasing traction in the workplace.
In 2011, Professor Mark Williams (co-creator of MBCT) and Dr Danny Penman published Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World (Piatkus) as a self-help guide. This best-selling book marked a turning point for mindfulness at work. Although written for the population as a whole, it was the first book on mindfulness that was aimed at teaching a well population to be mindful.
Recent research into the use of shortened mindfulness exercises like the ones used in WorkplaceMT mindfulness training indicates similar benefits to the longer, widely researched practices developed as part of MBSR and MBCT, respectively. More research is needed, but initial research data looks promising.
Every journey really does start with a first step. You’ve taken that first step by looking into mindful leadership. The next steps are up to you. You may want to find out more about mindfulness and its practical applications before committing to learning it yourself. Chapters 2 through 6 will help you to do this. You may want to learn mindfulness through self-study as detailed in Chapters 8 through 13, or via an app (see Chapter 22 for some suggestions) or attending formal training. If you are considering introducing mindfulness to your organisation, Chapter 17 is for you. Whatever it is, do is something. Your mindful journey starts right here, right now!
Chapter 2
Discovering Why Mindfulness Matters to Leaders
IN THIS CHAPTER
Examining the leadership challenges of the modern workplace
Identifying sources of workplace pressure
Discovering mindful ways to improve your leadership
Media interest in mindfulness has exploded in the last few years. In parallel, the research base that connects mindfulness with decreased anxiety, depression and stress and increased resilience has become relatively well known. As the popularity of mindfulness has increased, interest has grown in the potential of mindfulness to transform the way people work. As interest and uptake of training has increased, researchers have started to explore its impact on workplace productivity, creativity and employee well-being. Research suggests that mindfulness aids focus, concentration and decision-making and improves relationships.
This chapter explores the role of mindfulness in modern leadership. It offers you some practical tips to help you improve your leadership by applying a little mindfulness.
Leadership Challenges of the Modern Workplace
To discover why mindfulness matters, you need to consider the leadership environment you’re currently operating within. Are you working in a VUCA world? Is change now the norm, rather than the exception? Its also wise to consider the sources of workplace pressure that can lead to stress. Doing so can help you develop mindful ways to increase resilience and maintain well-being.
The concept of a ‘VUCA world’ first originated in the U.S. military. In recent years, it’s become a popular management acronym, used to describe the difficult business environment many people lead within. It stands for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Some use the VUCA world as a scapegoat to delegate all responsibility for leading their organisation out of crisis.
Mindful leaders are self-aware and take personal responsibility. They know that although they can’t necessarily control the VUCA nature of the modern workplace, they can take full responsibility for their actions and control their response to it.
The following sections explore the meaning behind the VUCA acronym in more detail.
Volatile work challenges are unexpected, with an uncertain duration. The good news is the information is usually out there – you just need to find it. An example of a volatile work challenge may be share prices falling rapidly following a natural disaster.
Uncertainty at work may result from you knowing that something bad is coming but not knowing exactly what form it will take, how bad it will be or how long it will last. An example of this is the UK Government’s attempts to reduce the deficit. The public sector knew that cost-cutting measures would result in major budget cuts, but they didn’t know exactly which services would be impacted and by how much their budgets would be reduced.
Complexity can be caused by situations with interconnected parts or interdependencies and variables. Information is available, but the volume or nature of the information may be overwhelming or difficult to process. Global working is a good example of complexity: trying to deliver a good service to a business in many countries all with different cultures, currencies that fluctuate, and wildly differing legislation.
Ambiguity involves those ‘unknown unknowns’ that are difficult to predict and have no precedents. An example of this may be moving into a newly emerging market with a new product range unlike anything you’ve manufactured in the past.
In the past, many leadership models were largely based on the principle that although organisations would experience times of change and transition, eventually they would settle into a stable ‘business as usual’ state. For most modern organisations, change is now the norm.
