Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire branch event on 5th June 2013

1. Anne Parker
‘Mindfulness’ and Mind
Management Training for
Leadership and Project
Efficiency

2. Who Am I?
A ‘Human Resources Professional’ who
followed a journey of:
Processes and Procedures/Professional
Qualifications
The Processes of Learning
Skills/Attitude/Personal Growth/Self Development
‘Strengths Psychology’/’Positive Psychology’
‘The Psychology of Happiness’

3. Exciting Times!
The Convergence of
Sciences and other
Disciplines:
Psychology inc. Sports
Psychology
Neuroscience/Biology
Biochemistry
Economics
A splash of the ‘Ancient
Wisdoms’

4. This Talk
Will talk about your
brain as one of your
most important
Project
Resources.....Ever..
And will give you
some of the
knowledge and
technique to
maximise that
resource
I hope some of it will
be:
Informative
Practical and useful
Common Sense
Bonkers
Embarrassingly
Simple
Relevant

5. We shall Visit
A range of Global
Sources
Nobel Prize Winners
Bradley Wiggins
Goldie Hawn
Sleepless Nights
Project Management
Dried Fruit

6. The Human Brain

7. The Human Stress Response
‘FFF’
An amazing Survival
Mechanism
A full Body/Mind set
of responses
But a liability of
‘Amygdala Hijack’

8. Improved Activity in the
Pre-Frontal Cortex
A Widened Perception
‘The Attentional Muscle’; Powers of
Concentration
Improved Listening
Strategic Thinking
Regulated Emotions i.e. Greater Calm
Sense of Happiness/Compassion/
Ability to be in Flow (NB Dan Pink)

9. Mindfulness
An Ancient Tradition
Thich Nhat Hanh
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mark Williams
Treatment of Problems vs. Growth of
Capacity and Excellence

10. Mindfulness
‘Mindfulness means paying
attention, in a particular way,
on purpose, in the present
moment, non-judgementally’
Jon Kabat-Zinn

11. Research from Ashridge
‘....whilst meditation has long been
associated with stress reduction and the
treatment of depression it is increasingly
being recognised as important in
developing the type of cognitive capacities
required of knowledge workers in the
modern economy’

12. The Gifts of Neuroscience
Neurogenesis
Neuroplasticity
What this means for your learning potential,
and your habitual thoughts and behaviours
Astonishing time spans
The happiest man in the world

13. The Entry of Mindfulness
into the UK
For Anxiety and Depression – The Mental
Health Route
In Schools (The Hawn Foundation) – The
Behavioural Angle
For Health and Wellbeing – The Happiness
Route
In Sport – the ‘Gold Medal’ Route
In a Corporate Context – The
Leadership/Safety/Efficiency Route

14. Chade Meng Tan @ Google
‘Jolly Good Fellow’
The 20% Rule
The Siyli.org
Programme
Guest speakers
The links to
Emotional Intelligence

15. Tony Schwartz and
‘The Energy Project’
‘We’re not meant to operate in the
same way machines do: at high
speeds, for long periods of
time; running multiple
programs. Human Beings are
designed to pulse between the
expenditure and intermittent
renewal of energy’
The 21st
Century has challenges of
CAPACITY as well as
COMPETENCY
Examples at Sony; Unilever

16. Leadership/Management
Development
A growing interest in personality
Increased need to generate change
Pressure to generate efficiencies that
create ‘more for less’
Changing job design from mechanistic
jobs to knowledge/service based cultures
Changing workers attitudes

17. Case Study 1
Busy Operations
Manager
‘Macho’
Aggressive
Short Fuse
Considered a ‘Do-Er’
High Energy

18. Results with Training
Ability to Regulate Emotion
Awareness of Varied Brain Activity
Started to Think Strategically
Started to Have Ideas for Business
Improvement
Had new compassion for team/Co-
workers

19. Case Study 2
Site Manager
Had a serious HSE
incident on site
Didn’t sleep well/Worked
Long Hours
Anxious
Short Term Thinking
Reactionary
Heavily Sarcastic
Flippant/Volatile
Impatient

20. Training Results
‘I’m working Less hours (less by 30-40%)
but getting twice as much done’
‘It’s lovely to feel calm’!
‘Don’t wake up at 2 in the morning with my
brain going like a washing machine any
more’
‘Can see loads of stressed people around
me!’

21. Breathing Exercise

22. Eating Exercise

23. Compare and Contrast..
‘The Revving Amygdala’
Only hearing what you want to
hear – or what you fear
hearing
Constantly reacting – jumping
always onto problems and
being critical, not building on
what goes well or giving praise
Doing tasks with poor
attention/compromised
memory and perception i.e.
making mistakes, missing
things
Using the PFC
Noticing things you have never
noticed before
Noticing things that give you
new ideas – thus generating
new possibilities
Strengthening Leadership with
a stronger sense of ‘Anything
is Possible’
Adding an improved depth and
quality to tasks

24. Continued...
‘Revving’ Amygdala
Being fearful and
communicating various plans
that don’t all ‘join up’
Fighting ‘what is’ and thus
wasting time and energy
Being negative, pessimistic
and critical – alienating others
Being defensive, using a lot of
blame and/or aggression
Using the PFC
Being more ‘in touch’ with your full
experience, knowledge and true
response to a situation
Calmly understanding what can be
changed and what can’t and
generating creative solutions to
maintain progress
Enrolling people on projects as
‘co-conspirators’ and enthusing
their efforts
Incorporating the principles of
being there to serve as well as to
lead or manage

25. The links to Stress and Depression, Health and
Wellbeing
World Health Organisation stats and
predictions
The impact of ‘Multi-Tasking’ on brain
activity
The mind-body as a whole –
concentration of receptors in brain, heart,
gut

26. Thankyou for Listening!
Anne Parker
0797 684 9986
anne@anneparker.co.u
k
www.anneparker.co.uk