Mindful Leadership

Democracy means paying attention…Robert Bellah

A couple of years ago, Marghi Hagan and I started a Community Leadership Class for

the Mendocino-Sonoma coast (referred to as Mendonoma).  To our astonishment,

36 people, ages 15 to 85, showed up.  It was a great success. In the second round, we were joined by Gail Taylor of Tomorrowmakers. For the third incarnation of our series, now being held monthly, each participant is a session leader. We take turns.

In January, Mary Dee Bowers helped us to examine “mindfulness,” a concept that has rightly gained attention in schooling, business, and politics.  Education around the world has found salvation in the ideas of mindfulness. Mindfulness has taken on magical meaning.  Mindfulness suggests paying attention in the moment—self-regulated and conscious awareness.

Mindful leadership tells us that when we truly attend, pay attention, know that spontaneous action arises from mindfulness, and realize that we are reciprocally responsible for each other’s learning and evolution, we are authentic leaders. As a mindful leader, ask yourself: Do you…

• follow your authentic, aware self, even if it means taking risks?

• allow yourself to be open and vulnerable to others?

• enjoy talking to and playing with young children?

• feel an ecstatic sense that the whole of reality or existence is present for

you now, in this moment?

• feel that an inner compass guides you (your deepest held values)?

(Zohar & Marshall)

Mindfulness is essential to self-organization, the capacity of complex systems to spontaneously create structures out of chaos.  Egypt comes to mind.

Thanks, Mary Dee

This entry was posted on Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 7:52 pm and is filed under Education, Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.