Presentation from the February 2017 Mindfulness Symposium at Rider University. Focuses on Mindful Leadership: Self-reflection and self-care in leadership, and empathic and reflectiove reflective leadership

1. Mindful Leadership
Sharon Sherman and Juleen Buser
Rider University
Mindfulness and Education Symposium, February 2017

2. Novel View of Leadership
 The strategies of leadership and the qualities of an effective leader:
Leadership as an “art and a science” (Pipe & Bortz, 2009, p. 35)
 Viewing leadership from a different perspective:
“Excellent leadership has at its core a focus on
healing, nurturing, and bringing about optimal states
of healing for individuals and organizations.”
(Pipe & Bortz, 2009, p. 35)

3. Self-Reflective Leadership
 Knowing oneself  important in effective leadership
 Triggers
 Places of personal fulfillment
 Core values
 Align leadership activities with core values
 Cognizance of stress/burnout
Strategies:
 Journaling
 Coaching/Counseling
 Values Exercises
(Ehrlich, 2015; Forsyth & Eifert, 2007; George, 2017; Pipe & Bortz, 2009; Wilson & Groom, 2002)

4. Leadership and Self-Care
 Managing stress important in effective leadership
Power Stress:
“the unique brand of stress that is a basic part of being a leader . . .”
(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005, p.7)
Complicated problems
Solitary nature of leadership
Sacrifice Syndrome
“Slippery slope. . . starts when we are doing the right things”
(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005, p. 51)
Job top priority consistently
(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005 ; Pipe & Bortz, 2009; Wells, 2015)

5. Strategies for Self Care
Mindfulness practices
 Reductions in anxiety, stress, depression
 Meditations specific to self-care issues
 Increase in tolerating negativity
Sources of refilling separate from leadership roles
Boundaries between work and home
Seeking support to mitigate loneliness
(Ehrlich, 2015; Boyatzis & McKee, 2013; Hunter & Chaskalson, 2013; Pipe & Bortz, 2009; Wells, 2015)

6. Empathic Leadership
 Empathic and compassionate leadership
 “Mindfulness enables leaders to be fully present, aware of themselves
and their impact on other people, and sensitive to their reactions to
stressful situations.”
(George, 2017: http://www.billgeorge.org/page/mindful-leadership-
compassion-contemplation-and-meditation-develop-effective-leaders)
 Beneficial relationships with colleagues
 Team atmosphere
 Improved personal reactions to conflicts
(Ehrlich, 2015; Gates & Gilbert, 2016; George, 2017; Hunter & Chaskalson, 2013; Pipe & Bortz, 2009; Wells, 2015)

7. Creative Leadership
 Creative leadership
“Cultivating uncertainty” as leadership principle
(Raney, 2014, p. 317)
Open to change
Fears and anxieties about future do not inhibit shifts
Stress management, self-awareness, mindful presence
facilitative of creativity
(Gates & Gilbert, 2016; Hunter & Chaskalson, 2013; Raney, 2014)

8. Example
At a middle school, classes were held for teachers and
school leaders for addressing:
stress at work,
reducing pain,
improving attention and quality of communication, and
increasing clarity and depth of thinking.
They were taught to notice and tune into their own
thoughts and feelings.

9. Noticing
“The next time you are in an interaction with a parent,
colleague or student—consider asking one or more of
the following questions.
 What do you think/feel?
 What do you notice?
 What does situation remind you of?
 What about this situation/issue matters to you?
 How can I support you?”
(Wilensky, 2016: http://passageworks.org/mindful-leadership-for-educators/)

10. Tuning into your own self
“The next time you are in an interaction with a parent,
colleague or student—consider tuning into the following in
your own self:
 What bodily sensations am I feeling as I relate to this person?
 What’s happening with my breath?
 Am I present or distracted?
 Am I meeting this person with a fresh perspective and willingness to learn or with
pre-conceptions about who they are or what they are saying?
 Am I being my authentic self with this person?
 What biases, world views, filters, perspectives might I be bringing to this
situation?”
(Wilensky, 2016: http://passageworks.org/mindful-leadership-for-educators/)

11. A quick exercise
Planning a
Mindfulness
Initiative in Your School

12. Thinking about your own work
environment
Describe your work environment.
Is there a constant onslaught of inputs and stimuli?
What are your strategies for maintaining presence of
mind and good health?

13. Assessing organizational culture and
setting goals
What will be the reaction to a mindfulness initiative
in your organization?
What will be your goals and objectives? What will be
your plan?
How will you assess the outcomes of your plan?

14. Planning, implementing & communicating
What steps will you take to implement your plan?
What resources will you need to make it happen?
What will be the benefits and risks?
How will you get the word out?

15. Sharing out