“When you frame up mindfulness as an avenue to level up leadership and performance, well-being is a natural by-product.”
When I picked up a mindfulness practice to help me move through the adversity of withdrawing from a pharmaceutical medication I had no idea it would amplify skills vital to leadership and performance like focus, self-awareness and presence. After a couple of months of consistent mindfulness meditation, I realized why elite athletes like Kobe Bryant, visionary CEOs like Steve Jobs, and luminaries like Oprah all had some form of a meditation practice.
Just like an exercise program changes your body, meditation changes your brain. When you strength train or lift weights your muscles break down and grow back stronger. You see physical evidence of change. When you have a consistent meditation practice your brain changes as well. There is an area in the front of your brain called your neocortex that is responsible for your executive function, decision making, and self-awareness. This area actually grows in MRI scans. There is a part at the base of your brain called your amygdala that is responsible for your fight, flight or freeze response. This area actually shrinks making you less reactive to stress. The less reactive you are to stress, external stimuli or distractions the more present you will be in the moment focused on the task at hand.
Simply put mindfulness has had a profound impact on my life and my work. It’s something I continue to study and implement to this day. One person that I’ve been learning from is EY Americas Mindfulness Leader, Clif Smith, who is our guest this week on The MindShift Lab.
A US Army veteran, former diplomat and intelligence officer, Clif serves as EY’s foremost advisor on mindfulness and is an internationally recognized leader for bringing mindfulness into the corporate world. He brings over 25 years of experience leading through high-pressure situations into his teachings and demonstrates the value of adopting mindfulness as a fundamental part of our personal and professional lives. Following his passion for developing others, he built EY’s Mindful Leadership program, delivering practical training to over 60,000 EY and client personnel across the globe.
“Life does deal us a set of cards in the beginning that we cannot change, but we get to make our own decisions about how we are going to respond to life; mindfulness moves us from an automatic reaction to a thoughtful response.” – Clif Smith
We talk about why mindfulness can be used in a completely secular way as a cutting-edge tool to level up your leadership, performance and well-being by training your attention, awareness and focus. He also shares why you don’t have to be at rock bottom or have an underlying condition to implement a practice. Additionally, Clif gives us a sneak peek at what’s in his upcoming book, Mindfulness Without The Bells and Beads, which will be released April 20th, 2021. Grab your coffee and let’s live in.
