“Mindful leadership is stretching self-awareness to grasp the whole of a situation.”
According to one U.S. government Office of Personnel Management guideline, a successful leader “manages self,” i.e., “sets well-defined and realistic personal goals; displays a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment towards completing assignments in a timely manner; works with minimal supervision; is motivated to achieve; demonstrates responsible behavior; assesses and recognizes own strengths and weaknesses; pursues self-development.”
These personal characteristics reflect a self-awareness that sets the stage for mindful leadership, the capacity to grasp a situation holistically to include the people, the problem, and the goals. Perhaps more importantly, mindful leadership involves a personal commitment to motivate others to accomplish a common goal. This is difficult to measure. One simple question would be this: Today, was I truly aware of what was going on both in the situation and in my head? Yes or no?
It is about being more in the present and thereby being able to do everything with more discipline and focus.
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