Mindful leaders and their effect on organisational development

It’s no surprise that the leader of a company has a transformational impact on organisational development.

But how do you navigate leadership and organisational development when disaster strikes?

That was the question I asked myself when COVID-19 first hit and we all collectively scrambled to reorganise ourselves and the workplace. Suddenly, the physical workplace was ripped out from under our feet and while this was necessary for everyone’s safety and wellbeing, it was an adjustment that we had to get used to.

There was a lot of uncertainty at this time and even I, despite being a mindfulness practitioner, struggled. It’s also times like this, however, that truly emphasise the value of mindful leadership to me.

There are countless ways to define mindfulness, but in the context of leadership, it is the state of ‘paying attention in a particular way: On purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally’.

There’s a reason why mindfulness often feels like a fairly recent phenomenon despite being rooted in philosophies that date back thousands of years. This may be why the goals of a mindful leader seem to be at odds with most corporate leaders, who are results-oriented.

In recent years, however, we’ve all discovered the impact our mental and physical health has on our performance. The human aspect of doing business has never been a more pervasive topic than it is today.

I remember our first video conference as a company; suddenly seeing each other as floating heads on a screen (that froze up too often for comfort), rather than over lunch or around the coffee machine.

On that first company conference call, I outlined what our organisational development goals were and how we would proceed through this crisis. Then, we took the time to chat with each other and share how we were handling the pandemic.

Towards the end of the call, I called out, ‘Anything else?’.

It was at this time that one of my employees said something along the lines of, ‘Well, I’ve lost count of how many sighs of relief I let out over the past two hours’. We all laughed at that point and I had to agree. Even as the leader of my teams, outlining our organisational development goals for the future helped me feel as relieved as my team probably felt.

As a leader during this time, I had to balance my feelings about the shift, the wellbeing of my employees, and the sudden impact of the crisis on the company. There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders, but being able to draw from my mindfulness practice and apply these principles to my crisis response helped me immeasurably.

I was able to guide myself, my employees, and organisational development through mindfulness.

The qualities of a mindful leader

Mindful leadership improves employee wellbeing and organisational development in the long run.

It’s clear why this is the case. A mindful leader is empathetic and brings out the best in themselves and their team.

They are creative, adaptable, and maintain their awareness even while switching their focus rapidly between tasks as a leader is often forced to do.

They encourage and maintain employee engagement, a rare factor in most corporations that value organisational development over the wellbeing of employees.

Mindful leadership recognises that organisational development is only sustainable when employees are motivated, engaged, happy, and feel valued by the company they work for. This is especially important during times of crisis when disruption can lead to poor motivation and performance across the board.

A mindful leader can keep organisational development on track even when a crisis throws everything we thought we knew about business off the rails.

How Awakened Mind can guide your organisational development

Organisational development requires a systematic approach to enhance effectiveness.

As one of the most technologically advanced mindfulness platforms on the market, Awakened Mind will help you adopt the principles of a mindful leader and create a cohesive, company-wide focus on organisational development.

Leveraging Awakened Mind in your organisation will add mindfulness to your corporate culture and nurture employees that are more engaged, happy, productive, and loyal to the company.

Discover the many advantages of a mindful workplace and accelerate your organisational development today by downloading our app.