You no doubt, as a leader, have fires to put out, challenges to solve, and work to do. It’s really easy to get caught up in the day-to-day work that is life at the firm and not take a minute to come up for air. Working like this leaves little time for strategic thinking. Mindfulness and mindfulness training allows the time and space to let go of thinking about the everyday fires, the administrative tasks, and the daily firm operations. Freeing up that clutter leaves space for thinking at a more strategic level and approaching problems differently.

Mindfulness is amazing at helping us develop a deep awareness of ourselves and our emotions. By being in tune with ourselves and observing, without judgment, our thoughts, fears, and emotions, we become better able to regulate ourselves and approach situations, problems, and opportunities thoughtfully. We are able to take the time to listen, really listen, to others as opposed to composing our response to them while they talk or hurrying them through. We develop empathy for others as we become more aware of ourselves.

As humans, we are hardwired for survival. When emergencies arise or problems happen, we jump to extremes, creating a thousand catastrophizing “what if” scenarios. We make problems bigger by thinking of all the reasons why something is bad and could get worse. You would be shocked at how a simple reframe of thinking can help. If and when you find yourself thinking of all the reasons why something could go wrong or turn out badly, change your thought process from a “what if” to a “what is”. “What is” thoughts are simply statements of fact about the current situation, a pragmatic assessment of the issue. “What is” statements say, “I am having a problem. It feels big and scary, but here are the facts: I have a great team, and I stand by my firm and its service delivery. I can learn and grow. I can work to make things right.” That is what IS. Not panicking has a tremendous impact on your team as well. Others notice when you take a calm approach and thoughtfully respond. It makes you more open and approachable as well.

When we experience strong emotions, our ability to make decisions is negatively impacted. In fact, the stronger the emotion and the more swept away by it you become, the worse your decisions become! Mindfulness allows us to take a proverbial beat to examine our emotions and better regulate them. Once we are free from the hijack effect that emotions can bring, we are able to look at situations more objectively and make sound decisions based on fact, past experience, and objective data. We’ve all made decisions in the past based on emotion. I know I have, and those are some of the decisions I regret most!

Mindful leadership and the ability to look inward without judgment allows a leader to push past cognitive bias and the status quo. In general, most people avoid stepping out of the norm. We tend to value our ability to fit in. However, the status quo is often what holds us back. It’s our fear of failure, of the team’s failure, of disrupting the way we have always done things that makes innovation difficult or scary. Taking the time to examine ourselves, our emotions, our problems, and our opportunities allows space for new ideas and a productive challenge of the status quo. It can do wonders for innovation by helping us confront our fears and recover from them more quickly. If we aren’t afraid to fail and leave space for that, imagine the possibilities! This enhanced capacity for innovation has an effect on your team as well. When you leave safe space for failure, for brainstorming, for trying…your team becomes more open to innovation and problem solving as well. It’s a fantastic trickle down effect!