Becoming a Mindful Leader

  

Everyone is different, which is why various leadership styles exist.

Some of the most common ones include democratic, autocratic, laissez-faire, strategic, transformational, transactional, coach-style, and bureaucratic leadership. However, one often overlooked and quite effective leadership style is the mindful leader. 

Mindfulness is one’s ability to be fully present and observant while also being in control and not overreacting. 

Mindful leaders possess specific beneficial characteristics, making them stand out and be successful. 

Mindful leaders have emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to notice and manage one’s feelings while seeing and responding adequately to the emotions of others. 

Psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of The New York Times bestseller book Emotional Intelligence has created a model that divides emotional intelligence into 4 quadrants. 

• Self-awareness is the ability to be aware of one’s mood and thoughts and their impact on others. Some aspects of self-awareness include emotional self-awareness, accurate self-assessment, and self-confidence.
• Self-management is the ability to effectively manage one’s feelings, thoughts, and actions. Some aspects of self-management include emotional self-control, transparency, adaptability, and optimism.
• Social awareness is the ability to accurately gauge others’ emotions and situations, allowing you to make better decisions and actions. Some aspects of social awareness include empathy, organizational awareness, and service.
• Relationship management is using the above skills to manage social situations effectively. Some aspects of relationship management include influence, conflict management, and collaboration. 

According to the Harvard Business School, emotional intelligence accounts for nearly 90% of what makes high performers stand out. Responsible leaders are also sure to stand out. 

Mindful leaders take responsibility. 

When you let go of the desire to insert blame, you can take responsibility for yourself and the business better. 

Blaming people or situations is often a waste of time. Instead, observe to accurately understand the circumstances so you can focus on the decisions you can make while accepting the areas you can’t control. 

By taking responsibility, you open up doors to possibility. Blaming, victim thinking, and fear create limitations and barriers. By taking full responsibility for the aspects you can control, you’re opening yourself and the business up for success. 

Mindful leaders are powerful.

Power isn’t just for the loud and strong, it’s for those who acquire respect. 

Mindful leaders are often respected for their ability to…  

• Give the situation and the people before them 100% of their attention.
• Filter their thoughts before they speak.
• Lead by self-motivation instead of fear or manipulation.
• Stay calm under pressure.

Research has shown people spend 47% of their time thinking about something else and not on what they’re currently doing. Almost half of people’s time is spent not being mindful!

Where do you lie on the mindfulness spectrum? Try taking a quick self-assessment from the Harvard Business Review. If you’re like most people, you have room to grow.

Luckily, there are tactics you can use to become a more mindful person. 

Practice mindfulness to become a mindful leader.

Aim for at least five minutes every day of mindfulness. 

This means finding a quiet place to sit and focus on your breathing. It’s a way to calm down, push away future anxieties, and focus on the present. By practicing in neutral times, when stressful situations arise you’ll be better able to focus on your breath to calm down. 

Many find mornings the best time to practice mindfulness, mainly because we release the most stress hormones within minutes of waking up. Practicing mindfulness can be a great way to counteract this. 

Stop multitasking to become a mindful leader.

Multitasking fragments your focus. 

Multitasking is also ineffective because humans are terrible at it. Research found that only 2.5% of people can effectively multitask. Do yourself and your mind a favor by cutting back on this ineffective work tactic. 

Decrease distractions to become a mindful leader. 

By decreasing distractions that break your focus, you’ll be able to stay in the present. 

One major culprit of distractions is your phone. It’s constantly pinging with notifications from texts, missed calls, emails, and social media apps. Try sectioning off times of the day when you’ll be phone free. Communicate this with coworkers, friends, and family. Then, you can use these phone-free, distraction-free times to get your most challenging work done. 

Emails are another common distraction. They go off throughout your day. Responding to emails feels productive, but in reality, they disrupt your work. If possible, try pausing all email notifications, instead blocking off a time of day to check your email box. 

Mindfulness is both a leadership style and a way of life. By incorporating it into your life, you’ll be better able to calmly tackle day-to-day problems with focus. 

Mindfulness: Paper Versus Digital

Speaking of mindfulness, when it comes to advertising, you want your target audience to be as present and focused as possible.

Although digital advertising does have its advantages, one major problem is focus. It’s often harder for people to focus and be mindful when using screens because of all the distractions. 

However, paper can be a powerful tool to initiate mindfulness in the recipient. It’s much less distracting, allowing the viewer to focus their entire attention on the paper at hand.

We can help you capture your potential client’s attention with print! 

Advanced Leadership Skills for Managers

 

Managers can make or break the workplace atmosphere, seeping into a company’s outputs. 

Unfortunately, good management can sometimes be hard to find. Poor management costs $7 trillion globally, or  9-10% of the world’s GDP. This staggering number can decrease if companies hire and train better-equipped managers.  

Below are the top 4 skills required for advanced leadership in the workplace. 

Advanced Leadership Skill 1: Communication

Clear communication prevents workplace hiccups. 

Communication requires the ability to properly convey sometimes complex ideas to a wide range of people. Age, background, skill level, and personality can prevent clear communication. 

Sometimes the most difficult skills in life must be mastered through trial and error. However, you can keep a couple of critical aspects in mind when communicating. 

• Actively listen. If you catch your mind thinking about your extensive to-do list, stop and bring your focus back to the conversation.
• Positive body language. This includes smiling, making eye contact, and not crossing one’s arms.
• Connect. Connect with others through shared experiences by telling stories and being vulnerable. Also, try making time in your day to talk with your coworkers casually.
• Kindness. People are more likely to openly listen and talk to those who seem kind. So be kind throughout your life, and it’ll show.

Proper communication is necessary for any leader because it’s needed throughout the office, especially when explaining projects and tasks when delegating. 

Advanced Leadership Skill 2: Delegation 

The higher up you go, the more important it is to rely on others. 

However, it seems many people want to do everything themselves. This attitude ends up harming the entire team and company. 

Delegation is about first realizing you can’t do everything and pulling yourself away from micro-managing tendencies. 

The next step is being able to see your team without judgment. Knowing your team members’ strengths and weaknesses will help you delegate tasks in a way that benefits everyone. 

Proper delegation helps the workplace run smoothly and more efficiently. It leads to higher growth rates, revenue, and job creation. But you can’t delegate if you aren’t confident in yourself and your decisions. 

Advanced Leadership Skill 3: Confidence

All the intelligence and leadership capability in the world would be worth nothing without the confidence to execute it. 

Confidence is like the glue that holds everything together. Leaders must be confident in themselves, the company, and their own ideas to pursue greatness and fulfill their visions. 

A confident leader…

• doesn’t let fear deter them from opportunity.
• executes ideas into action.
• doesn’t overanalyze.
• shares the confidence bug.

Confident leaders help build a successful business. Therefore, be confident in yourself so you can pursue excellence. 

Advanced Leadership Skill 4: Pursue Excellence 

The inner drive to be your best self isn’t taught but comes from within.

This trait is what makes some managers stand out. Managers who pursue excellence genuinely want the company and the employees to succeed, and they’re willing to put in the extra time and effort to achieve excellence. 

These managers have high self-expectations and are willing to continually learn and grow through experts and daily experiences. Managers who pursue excellence are valuable assets to the company. 

Outstanding leadership brings the company together to pursue common goals. While you’re out leading, we’re here behind the scenes making sure all your print marketing initiatives go smoothly.

Top 3 Reasons Small Businesses Should Consider Offline Marketing

 

Jingles used to incorporate business phone numbers quite frequently.

But now, we direct people to our websites or a physical address. Sure, things have changed, but it’s still advertising. We still need to reach people and ask them to visit our location.

And now that more people are working from home, they have more time to read their mail.

You can send flyers, postcards, and brochures in the mail, and they’ll get noticed. So here are three reasons you should consider offline marketing in addition to your online marketing efforts.

1. Offline Is Still Relevant

Offline marketing tools reach many more people than just online. This is because people do much more than just spending time online looking at websites.

In 2018, Nielsen found that Americans spend half the day (11 hours) interacting with media. Out of those 11 hours, over four hours are live TV, 36 minutes are “time-shifted TV” (DVR), and almost two hours are radio.  

This means that seven hours has nothing to do with online. Radio, newsprint, and direct mail marketing are good reasons to shift your advertising offline. People want information more tangibly.

2. Solidify Your Message

 The more you get your name out in front of people, the better. And using different methods, such as offline, helps solidify the message and make your budget stretch farther.

Repeated brand exposure not only keeps a brand’s messaging and products top-of-mind for consumers, but Entrepreneur reports that it can also instill a sense of familiarity and trust.

Not everyone wants to spend time online looking for answers to their issues. And direct mail, for example, allows you to target specific people ideal to your market.

In addition, people perceive direct mail as more reliable and trustworthy.

3. Offline Marketing Is For All Ages

We tend to think offline advertising is for the older people who typically don’t use online to gather information. However, this is simply not true.

All ages love to get mail, listen to the radio, and watch TV.

The USPS Household Survey found that response rates from 18- to 21-years-olds doubled in 2016.

That’s good news because offline marketing is affordable.

Using both online and offline marketing is best to get optimal results, and we’d love to help you with it. Contact us today!