“Too many decisions are made by leaders and employees impacted by stress, overloaded brains, and constant interruptions,” notes award-winning author Steven Howard. “Leaders and managers need to learn to become first responders, not first reactors, when facing stressful and difficult workplace situations.”
Decision-making is a fundamental component of every leader’s daily life, both professionally and personally. Every day we make dozens, even hundreds, of decisions. Unfortunately, stress and other factors often lead good leaders to make bad decisions.
The daily juggling of data, reports, email, meetings, decisions, and way too much information makes it difficult to cope and results in leaders running on autopilot. We see these zoned out and inattentive leaders struggling to lead their teams and team members, as well as themselves.
Many leaders are so consumed with firefighting activities that few realize these fires have been caused by the bad decisions and choices they have made. Thus the cycle of stress-induced poor decision making is perpetuated by the stress of correcting unanticipated results from previous poor decisions.
No wonder so many leaders operate in a “mind full” mode. This is not good. A more effective method is to make decisions in a “mindful” mode. Fortunately, this is a skill that can be learned, ingrained, and practiced.
Mindfulness has been proven to be a skillful method for stress reduction and all of the many associated ills and problems that result from accumulated stress. Additionally, stress reduction through mindfulness practices is a proven leadership performance advantage that comes with the side benefits of greater happiness, health, and well-being.
Leadership Mindfulness Training
Mindfulness is no longer just a New Age buzzword with no relevance to the rough and tumble world of business and leadership. Rather, this centuries-old practice of paying purposeful attention in the present moment without judgment is now being used by an ever-growing list of corporate leaders from Silicon Valley to Wall Street.
Based on his award-winning book Better Decisions Better Thinking Better Outcomes, leadership author Steven Howard created a one-day workshop to help leaders and managers respond, rather than react, to workplace situations and stress. Called Better Decision Making: Shifting From Mind Full to Mindful Leadership Skills, the foundation of the workshop is the importance of improving short-term and long-term brain health, combined with steps on how to prevent emotional hijacking of the decision-making process.
“Many of our leaders and managers have been requesting mindful leadership training,” notes Ms. Angela DeSarro, Director IT Workforce Development, at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Recently trained as a certified facilitator of the program, she adds, “I was particularly impressed with how the workshop combines neurological research, easy-to-use mindfulness techniques, and important brain health information into a highly informative and engaging one-day workshop.”
In this workshop leaders and managers will learn:
- How stress leads to poor thinking and bad decisions.
- How the brain and body communicate during conflict and stress.
- How mindfulness can impact thoughts, reactions, and behaviors.
- How to use mindfulness to make better decisions.
- How to use mindfulness to reduce unconscious bias in decision making.
- How to easily shift into mindfulness at work or home with practical techniques and tips.
- The benefits of mindfulness on your attention, memory, people skills, and personal health.
- A range of methods for improving brain health.
- Why mindfulness produces better results than alternative brain training activities.
Steven is currently delivering Better Decision Making Mindful Leadership virtual workplace training for corporate groups through Mindful Life Training in Australia and the US. Book Steven for a workshop here. Or learn more about him here.
Originally Published in USA Today, Feb 19, 2020
: https://classifieds.usatoday.com/press/mindful-leadership-workshop-focuses-on-better-decision-making/