What Are The Benefits Of Mindful Leadership Coaching?
Find Some Inner Zen
Cultivating Happiness
We all know it’s a good idea to sleep plenty, exercise regularly, eat healthily, meditate daily, prioritize relationships, practice gratitude, and have some fun! But, few find the time for all of these habits and truly enjoy them, often erroneously thinking they’re less important than service or productivity. This is normal given the current state of the world combined with biological and cultural limitations. I’ll help you balance your indvidual needs with your responsibilities by customizing wellness practices to bring you the peace, love, joy, meaning, health…and success, you deserve.
“While I started my sessions with Andy for executive professional help, where I found the most value ultimately was with my personal relationships and I’m forever grateful to Andy for that. As those improved, professional soon followed. The one relationship that I cared most to heal and improve, with my husband, is better than ever.” — Caroline J., Software CS Leader
Improving Personal Relationships And Team Cohesion
Most people navigate conflict (subconsciously) trying to alleviate unpleasant feelings. This generally does harm to the individual and relationship. I teach clients how to feel their feelings, regulate, and effectively communicate from a place of love. This transforms challenges at home and in the office into increased closeness.
Stepping Into Flow
Do you remember the passion that brought you to your company? What percentage of your day do you experience that, now? I help clients embody their unique genius…and then delegate the rest! The results — working fewer hours, more effectively, having more fun, and more positive results in all areas of life.
Finding Meaning
Ikigai (Japanese, pronounced EEY-key-gaa-e), a reason for being, is the intersection between what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid to do. This is a radical shift from the fear-based red-lining most high-achievers employ at the cost of individual and collective health, happiness, and wellbeing. Let me show you the way.
Balancing Healthy Masculine And Feminine Energy
“In those rare moments when all the opposites meet within a man, good and also evil, light and also darkness, spirit and also body, brain and also heart, masculine focused consciousness and at the same time feminine diffuse awareness, wisdom of maturity and childlike wonder; when all are allowed and none displaces any other in the mind of a man, then that man, though he may utter no word, is an attitude of prayer. Whether he knows it or not his own receptive allowing will affect all those around him; rain will fall on the parched fields, and tears will turn bitter grief to flowering sorrow, while stricken children dry their eyes and laugh.”
Allowing And Responding
The cobra is a symbol of awakening — confidently poised, he commands reverence. He prefers peace, and he will attack if provoked.
Through skillful meditation practice, you can develop awareness and compassion, which support you in both seeing and allowing things as they are, as well as in knowing when and how to skillfully respond, unattached to the results — soft front, strong back. Think: Mahatma Gandhi. Shifting in this way, reactivity and unwholesome behaviors that no longer serve naturally let go.
Gandhi considered the Bhagavad Gita his personal guidebook — composed over 2,000 years ago, it is one of the most revered Indian texts. Ralph Waldo Emerson called it “the first of books” and “the voice of an old intelligence.” Gandhi had it memorized and published his own trasnlation of it. Here’s what the Gita says about allowing and responding:
“The wise see that there is action in the midst of inaction and inaction in the midst of action. Their consciousness is unified, and every act is done with complete awareness.”
Action And Reward
Gandhi said the end of chapter 2 of the Gita holds its entire key. This is how the section begins:
“You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. Perform work in this world…as a [person] established within [themself] — without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind.”
“Seek refuge in the attitude of detachment and you will amass the wealth of spiritual awareness. Those who are motivated only by desire for the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do. When consciousness is unified, however, all vain anxiety is left behind. There is no cause for worry, whether things go well or ill. Therefore, devote yourself to the disciplines of yoga, for yoga is skill in action.”
Navigating Pain
Pain is a fact of life. Sometimes it’s a signal to change behavior — like pulling the hand back from a hot stove. Other times, it’s an inescapable part of the path forward. All times, it’s an invitation to let go of resistance, since suffering is only that — resistance to pain.
Developing True Power
Thich Nhat Hanh says, “power without spiritual power causes suffering…spiritual power is never challenged.” It is love, wisdom, and freedom from affliction. He closes, “We are so all motivated by the desire to be happy. And we know that we should have some power to be really happy. But what kind of power should we acquire? That is the question, and this is a real topic of meditation for everyone.”
In summary, I teach leaders how to…
Be happy
experience peace
build habits
change skillfully
Improve relationships
embody integrity
keep boundaries
communicate effectively
Have fun!
find meaning
live in genius
see clearly
Live healthily
meditate skillfully
prioritize and focus
feel feelings
…and then all the rest of the “success” stuff just kinda magically happens! But seriously, there’s plenty of straightforward advice out there on all the other things. I offer occasional strategy support when appropriate — that seems to be about 20% of the time. On that front, I specialize in company values, recruiting strategy, technology vision, guerilla marketing, fundraising, and negotiation.
I was interviewed for a PhD dissertation investigating the benefits of my practice which found: “Mindful leadership programs transform leaders...promote presence...deeper awareness and emotional regulation...providing a resource to address workplace stress and enhance the development of leadership behavior...providing implications for positive social change at individual as well as organizational levels.”
Let’s Chat!
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I look forward to connecting with you 🙏🏻.