© 2019 by Marc Lesser
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Text design by Tona Pearce Myers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lesser, Marc, date, author.
Title: Seven practices of a mindful leader : lessons from Google and a Zen monastery kitchen / by Marc Lesser, Co-founder, Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute.
Description: Novato, California : New World Library, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018048514 (print) | LCCN 2018050811 (ebook) | ISBN 9781608685202 (e-book) | ISBN 9781608685196 (print : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Leadership. | Mindfulness (Psychology) | Organizational behavior. | Organizational effectiveness.
Classification: LCC HD57.7 (ebook) | LCC HD57.7 .L473 2019 (print) | DDC 658.4/092--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018048514
First printing, February 2019
ISBN 978-1-60868-519-6
Ebook ISBN 978-1-60868-520-2
Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper
| New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Responsible Publisher. Publisher certification awarded by Green Press Initiative. |
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CONTENTS
Foreword by Daniel J. Siegel, MD
Practice 3: Don’t Be an Expert
Practice 4: Connect to Your Pain
Practice 5: Connect to the Pain of Others
Practice 7: Keep Making It Simpler
Imagine the hard-earned wisdom of a compassionate mindfulness teacher woven seamlessly with the insights of an experienced organizational leader, and you can begin to picture the illuminating tapestry of this creative and empowering book. Our inspiring guide, Marc Lesser, distills his decades of meditative practice and entrepreneurial leadership in both small and large workplace settings to provide seven powerful practices that can make our professional and even personal lives more effective and rewarding.
Lesser teaches us how loving what we do while letting go of procrastination and our attachment to unhelpful habits can free us to engage with others, our selves, and our work more productively and creatively. So much of the mind’s energy is often spent avoiding discomfort — in ourselves or others — and yet learning to be compassionate and open to the inner experience at the core of who we are is the research-proven way to create healthier minds, bodies, and relationships.
“Connecting” to our own pain, the pain of others, and our mutual interdependence are key ways in which leaders can help cultivate work environments that support optimal productivity and innovation. How? As this insightful guide beautifully reveals, being fully present in our awareness — being open to what is, as it is happening — enables us to be present in our connections with others, which helps them feel seen, safe, and secure, the basis for feeling trust. It is this sense of trust and the ensuing experience of belonging to a larger whole, to the organizational group, that a mindful leader creates, bringing out the best in coworkers in an organization, optimizing not only their productivity but also their well-being. Fortunately, these key mindful-leadership skills can be learned, and this compact book teaches exactly how to do so.
But what does being a “mindful leader” really mean? While mindfulness has no final and fixed definition, the term broadly means being fully present for life, opening to what is without being swept up by judgments or getting lost in efforts to cling to or avoid experiences. Being mindful entails an open awareness that creates a state of trust in which the brain’s “social engagement system” is turned on and we connect with others, and even our own inner life, with more acceptance and clear thinking. A “mindful leader,” then, is an individual who is able to harness these characteristics of mindful awareness in ways that inspire others to become their best selves, optimize how they solve problems, and find innovative approaches to their organization’s challenges and goals. A mindful leader makes the work environment a generative social field in which compassion, connection, and creativity thrive.
The seven accessible practices in this book can teach you how to become just such a leader. This is the journey you are about to take, a journey you’ll be guided on every step of the way. Enjoy!
— Daniel J. Siegel, MD, executive director of Mindsight Institute and author of Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence
Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
— PETER DRUCKER
This famous quote by Peter Drucker, a world-leading business management writer, teacher, and consultant, may be one of the best-known and least-disputed aphorisms of business. It captures the truth that company culture is ultimately more important than business strategy for achieving success, and the wisdom of this statement has only become