What is mindfulness? or Mindful management?

Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.

Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We feel more alive. We also gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation, and healing. (Jon Kabat-Zinn)

In a nutshell –it is being fully conscious of, and in the present moment and paying attention to whatever that moment can bring.

Mindfulness practices like meditation or breathing exercises help us to manage our emotions and bring clarity to thought processes. It is through this, that we can enhance our connection with others.

However, in the fast paced world we live in, practicing mindfulness could even be just stopping what we are doing to take the proverbial “deep breath”, slow down for a moment and reconnect with ourselves and what we are doing in that moment, that can make us mindful.

We can see through this explanation that mindfulness is a leadership trait, but how does it help us to manage mindfully?

Taking a mindful approach in our interactions with others, impacts the interaction. For example, a manager ensures instructions are carried out by those under them.

So, if a manager was mindful in the way they executed and managed the instructions given, perhaps the relationship and the desired outcomes could also be enhanced?

How would that work?

Being present in the moment and conscious of ourselves would mean we are more aware of our actions and the impact those actions have on others.

So the approach taken in managing others is considering how we influence them and what impact our actions towards others will have on the outcomes we want.

We might think we are being mindful when we manage, but it’s more than just being caring and considerate – it is being open to what is happening then and there in that moment.

It is to really immerse yourself into the present moment and consider all impacts that your actions as a manager can have, that results in mindful managing.

It is only when we are truly conscious of how we are influencing others in the workplace and what impact we have on them, that we can reflect on our behaviour and adapt or change it.

This is how we start to become self-aware and can enhance our relationships with our staff.

Below is a video and insights on Jon Kabat Zinn mindfulness exercises at a session he did for the Google team.

Why The Bigger Picture is Important for Business Growth!

Sometimes we just get stuck in the operations of our business – trying to make the customer happy while facing challenges with suppliers, debtors, creditors, staff and everything else that goes with having your own small business.

We forget to stand back and take a deeper look at who and what we are and where we are going and most importantly, how we are going to get there.

What are my company growth strategies?

Yes, it is scary sometimes as we crawl to stay ahead of economic downturns, but when we are stuck in an operational rut (inertia) we lose sight of opportunities not only for sustainability, but for growth and change.

Types of growth strategies.

Tip 1:    When in doubt, pull yourself back – away from all the small detail and look at the bigger picture.  This clears out the clutter and helps you keep aligned with your vision, mission and promise.

Tip 2:    Find more perspectives – a business associate or mentor to give you that fresh insight and another world view.  The power of knowledgeable, practical and relevant feedback that is away from the operational (emotional) connection to your business yet relevant to your specific needs, is profound.

Tip 3:    Always be open to learn and grow.

Circular management is about engaging in perspectives with those around you, specifically your management team.

As top managers in business, the ability to look at situations holistically and from the widest viewpoint possible is a prerequisite so that the decisions we make are as informed and as accurate as possible so our chances of assessing a problem and sourcing a solution are improved.

Yet why don’t we engage the perspectives of our management team and staff around us?

Each of our views of the world are incomplete versions of the actual reality.

Enhancing communication and being open to discussing perspectives, ideas and solutions with your management team not only provides a collective and deeper awareness of situations.

Plus a circular management team also empowers the individuals and the team to take initiative and think strategically, which is a win / win scenario in any situation.

How to be an effective manager and run a management team successfully is a process and all available methodologies needs exploring for optimum results.

As said last week, inviting the perspectives of your management team and staff empowers individuals to take initiative and think strategically.  Productivity, efficacy and efficiency are pretty much a job expectation and a paid for service, but how can you make someone want to do something better?

If we didn’t have to work, we wouldn’t. Yes, we need to find something that stimulates our minds and keeps us active but why should someone be going the extra mile for us?

As a manager you need to get your staff’s buy-in to have eager and empowered staff.  To do this, you need to create desirability and feasibility for the employee.

Desirability in this context refers to a measure of attractiveness of an outcome for the employee – in most cases it is the opportunity to excel, prove they can do something by being entrusted with contributing more than what you contractually engaged them to do – and the chance to learn and grow.

Feasibility in this context refers to the relevance – it makes sense to do as you have suggested, as the employee can now see the future benefits (for them) which creates desirability.   If you can start to consider the staff’s perspectives and their future value of contributing to the bigger picture, you can create this buy-in and work in a circular-management format which will go a long way towards contributing to creating an environment of eager and empowered staff.

Growth is a natural evolution of adapting to changes over time. Even if your company does not grow in size, complexity, market share or turnover – there are fundamentals of change inherently happening in your company. The environment and market you operate in is constantly changing. Your staff are growing and changing over time – individually and collectively as a workforce.

To keep up with this type of ‘change’, the company will need to continually adapt to these external and internal forces to stay focused on their objectives. We know that as people, we grow over time through our experiences. We then reflect on these experiences and adapt our behaviour and thinking as we move forward. This applies to company growth too. To look ahead and have the capability to adapt to the natural changes and growth of your environment – your company also needs to grow, adapt and change.

Therefore, before we look at ‘growing’ the company’s turnover and profit– we need to look at the adaptability of the company to these inherent changes and growths happening around you.

How do you do this?

Look at the level of your company’s resilience to changes in your environment as discussed above. How in-tune and adaptable are you with what is going on around you? Understand your mission, vision and promise. Ask yourself the following:

1. Where are we as a company now?
2. Do we know where we are going?
3. Are we moving toward where we want to go?
4. If not, how are we going to get there?

If you can answer these questions you will therefore have a deeper awareness of your company’s resilience to the inevitable change and growth around you, then your fear of growth and change can be greatly reduced.

Next week we will look at how to take this understanding and transition from an income generating (craft) to a profit generating (enterprise) entity.

Understanding the transitioning from an income generating (craft) to a profit generating (enterprise) entity

From what I have seen, many SMEs are the result of what could be called ‘accidental entrepreneurship’.

With many South Africans needing to provide their own income steam due to the high demands on the employment sector, many take the leap to create this income stream through honing their craft and passion or creating a small operating entity (an SMME), selling a service or products as an entrepreneur.

After a while with the initial objective being achieved of generating an income, we often continue on the same course as a means to an end without considering the implications of evolutionary growth (as discussed last week).

Once our ‘company’ has survived the first year, then the second and so on – we suddenly realised that our little craft or entity has become lucrative and is suddenly a company – with more staff, structure and complexity, and is moving from a mere income generating to profit generating business.

The fear of what to do next with the implications and consequences attached to being a shareholder/manager is often the down fall of most SMEs at this stage.

As discussed last week, before you can grow your company you need to know where you are right now (income generating or profit generating), to where you are going and how you want to get there.

The thought of contemplating new processes, capital, statutory and HR issues (including being the staff psychologist and personal banker) and everything else in-between that goes with being a shareholder/manager, is enough to send us running for the hills.

But if we can stop and reflect where we are in a trusted space and give ourselves the opportunity to grown in unison with our companies and structure, failure can be averted.

This is where mentorship is providing an essential support system not only for providing a guiding framework to evolve you and your company to the next level, but the sharing of skillsets and knowledge through the experiences of others over time is the best investment one can make into their future sustainable growth.

Thus, without a single doubt I can say that understanding the transitioning from an income generating (craft) to a profit generating (enterprise) entity is absolutely vital to your success!