Team Mindfulness: Shifting from Drama to Collaborative Success and Well-being
During my years working as a Conscious Leadership Executive Coach, I have discovered that there is some level of drama and conflict inside ALL companies. It exists within each person, as well as within all teams.
Noticing this inner conflict and looking for ways to take responsibility both personally, and as a team, RADICALLY changes your team’s results. This involves practicing Conscious Leadership and shifting to new patterns of well-being and connection, to attain sustainable desired outcomes. In a nutshell, this means moving from blaming yourself, someone else, or the situation, for what is wrong — and getting curious about how your role created what you don’t want and don’t have.
It is exciting to see so many studies being published on the practice of mindfulness and its huge impact across the board! The Harvard Business Review article, linked below, discusses several studies on mindfulness in the workplace. These studies all show that the higher the level of team mindfulness, the lower the level of relationship conflict. LinkedIn, Google, Ford and Aetna are examples of companies leading the way in how teams relate to each other using team mindfulness practices, and seeing transformational results.
Here are a few of my favorite excerpts from the HBR article:
“Conflict may lead to stronger connection and greater outcomes, yet many times ‘task conflict’ turns personal, and team members begin to resent their coworkers’ comments or actions, or treat disagreements as attacks. What’s more, if left unchecked, that personal friction — known as ‘relationship conflict’ — can lead to social undermining, which happens when people retaliate against coworkers and actively attempt to undercut them by spreading gossip, giving them the cold shoulder, or mistreating them in other ways.”
“These more damaging forms of discord have been shown to be highly detrimental in teams, and organizations spend significant time and money on efforts to reduce them — but too often use unproven strategies that fail to produce results. Ultimately, this type of chronic conflict can negatively affect employee effectiveness, motivation and well-being, workforce retention, and ultimately, the company’s bottom line.”
“How can leaders help teams before they get to this stage? One possibility is mindfulness. Mindfulness, defined as ‘a receptive attention to and awareness of present events and experience,’ has been shown to help individuals stay on task, approach problems with an open mind, and avoid taking disagreements personally.”
“Team mindfulness, however, is the collective awareness of what a team is experiencing at a given moment, without the prejudgments that arise at the individual level.”
“Putting this type of mindfulness into practice can be challenging. Workplaces have become increasingly rife with distraction, with employees scrolling through their cell phones during meetings rather than listening and participating. Add to that the fact that more people are working remotely, and that more companies are employing people with a diverse range of languages, cultural backgrounds, and working styles, where miscommunications and misinterpretations can easily occur.”
“The most important thing organizations can do to increase team mindfulness is to encourage present-focused attention, non-judgmental processing, and respectful communication, as well as an openness to collecting and understanding information before processing it. This helps reduce emotional or reflexive responses, leaving room for teams with diverse knowledge and different functional backgrounds to reach a greater potential.”
Read more here: https://hbr.org/2019/05/what-mindfulness-can-do-for-a-team
If you are considering how you may LEAD your business in a more mindful way, reach out to me to have a discussion. My expertise is in evaluating your current culture, then strategizing, developing and implementing a plan to transform your personal and team well-being.
The greatest gift you can give yourself and your teams is expanding your consciousness as a leader and taking radical responsibility for your results.
Contact me today to start the conversation: Debra@SunderlandCoaching.com. Or book a 30-minute introductory meeting with me here. I am here to support you on your journey!
To your fulfillment and success!
xxoo,
Debra
Exquisite Leader. Exquisite Life.