Recent progress in management practice is often likened to being an efficient machine: systematically processing problems, and racing to become as efficient and effective as we can be.
But is this the right way to approach leadership? If you take heed of academic studies into mindfulness, then no, it is not. There is a vital role for values within leadership, and that means being in touch with our emotional states, finding space to reflect and engage with the moment. Or, put another way: acting, therefore, with human mindfulness rather than automation.
At my college, we have a manager who, regardless of activity, responds like a Pavlovian dog to a dinner bell every time her mobile beeps. Another senior manager always has one crisis in front of them and a second one waiting at the door. This is far from unusual. The call of technology and 24/7 communication, as well as the firefighting mentality prevalent in FE, can be witnessed in every college campus. How many times have you made decisions while carrying in the emotion from a previous meeting? Is your day set up to support you doing one thing at a time or do you allow constant distraction?
Being in the moment
If time is one of the most precious gifts we can give as human beings, it is perhaps even more so as a leader. If we give our time to others, we owe it to ourselves and our teams to be present for those moments.
As Sylvia Boorstein, a great mindfulness teacher, said: “Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience. It isn’t more complicated than that. It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without clinging to it or rejecting it.”
In a time-poor college, the higher the levels of self-awareness we can manifest in daily practice, the better we can decide between competing options
Sportspeople often talk about being “in the moment” or a sense of “flow”. What is going on here is more than just automatic response based on habit. It is an ability to work in the immediate series of “now” moments, fully embedded in real-time data and being present with emotions and thoughts.
In a time-poor college, the higher the levels of self-awareness we can manifest in daily practice, the better we can decide between competing options. We can shift our focus and energy to where it is needed most.
One thing at a time
Do you ever read something and then seem unable to remember any of it? Have you been in a meeting and realised that you have begun thinking of something else? Do you switch quickly between tasks or allow interruption? Human beings cannot multitask. We are, though, capable of handling several tasks in succession. If we accept that we can do only one thing at a time, then it follows that we should do that thing wholeheartedly.
When we live in our heads, we tend to drift to the past, reliving issues and decisions that have already passed and can’t be changed. Alternatively, we try to anticipate the future. This involves second-guessing a series of as yet unwritten possibilities, sometimes outside our control.
The intrinsic nature of the mind is to dwell on the past or worry about the future. Both of these help us to learn and to prepare. This is essential for stepping away to allow creativity and innovation. But solely living in either the past or the future runs the risk of - more than likely - messing up the present.
Mindfulness allows us to quieten the mind and watch ourselves from the outside. Being mindful helps to counter the cognitive dissonance that comes from living in the past or worrying about the future. Put simply, being in the present not only makes us think more clearly but actually makes us happier.
For many, especially in educational leadership, the idea of simple acceptance is heresy. I don’t suggest ducking the hard decisions, being detached or giving up on difficult-to-solve problems. In mindfulness, embracing acceptance is actually taking hold and intentionally grasping; seeking to understand what is really going on.
In mindfulness, we do not try to switch off our minds but rather do the opposite. The more fully aware, the more skilful we become at working in the gap between stimulus and response. Victor Frankl said: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies growth and our freedom.”
The more we can practise operating in this space, the better our decision-making as college leaders will be. It’s mindfulness over automation that will win the day.
Stuart Rimmer is chief executive of Great Yarmouth College
@coachinception
