While there is no universal definition of leadership, popular definitions often include a reference to power and influence that shape or inform others’ thinking and acting. In Western societies, particularly the United States, leadership is highly associated with traditional masculine qualities such as assertion, control, achievement, competition, and material success. In other words, leaders are typically rewarded for doing.
In contrast, in the United States, traditional feminine qualities such as receptivity, cooperation, relationship-orientation, humility, and harmony have historically been deemphasized in leadership and the workplace. While this is starting to change (i.e., the growing recognition of the importance of these qualities in leadership effectiveness), the emphasis is still overwhelmingly on doing.
Consequently, today’s organizational manager-leaders report long hours and high demands that leave them overstretched, depleted, and disconnected. Consequently, the modern organizational manager-leader often lives an extremely unbalanced life with work consuming most of their days (and nights) with minimal time available for self-care, family time, spiritual renewal, or community engagement.
Overtime, this takes an immense toll on manager-leaders on many levels as they start “killing the goose” as illustrated in the wisdom of the Aesop Fable, The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg:
A man had a hen that laid a golden egg for him each and every day. The man was not satisfied with this daily profit, and instead he foolishly grasped for more. Expecting to find a treasure inside, the man slaughtered the hen. When he found that the hen did not have a treasure inside her after all, he remarked to himself, ‘While chasing after hopes of a treasure, I lost the profit I held in my hands!’
Ideally, manager-leaders make positive life changes before “slaughtering the hen.” Unfortunately, it often takes a significant crisis before a manager-leader recognizes the self-destructive path she/he is on. However, the first developmental theme of the mindful leaders in my study indicates that the growing interest in and practice of mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) by an increasing numbers of manager-leaders is resulting in a potential shift toward greater balance in their approach to leadership as depicted in the following example.
I guess another thing that changed for me is I’m starting to kind of shift my views on decision-making. And, so I mean that’s the primary role of a leader, right, is to make decisions about certain things. And I used to sit there and agonize, ‘Oh, well, what’s the right decision? What’s going to, you know, satisfy this criterion or, you know, make this person happy or, you know, achieve this goal or whatever?’ And I still kind of do that, but now I’m shifting a little bit more towards letting go of that process a little bit. It’s not that I don’t make a decision. It’s that I see the decision as kind of emerging on its own, which is a little bit strange, but again, it ties back to that aspect of, you know, the not sell or, you know, not (over) identifying. (Middle manager and academic in higher education)
Thus, a more integrated or balanced leadership style was the first and most represented theme of the mindful leaders studied followed by greater self-regulation, the topic of my next blog essay.
This essay is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Ten Developmental Themes of Mindful Leaders with a projected publication of December 2017.
As I write this blog essay, I realize it is my first one since the 2016 United States Presidential Elections. Over these last few months, I have reflected deeply about many aspects of my life to include my dreams for our country and world. I have also reflected deeply about how I need to respond to the outcome that had me in despair for over two weeks following the election results and continues to challenge me at every level of my being. This is so for me not because I dislike Mr. Trump (I do not know him obviously), but because, thus far, the actions of the Trump Administration contradict many things I believe to be good and true for our collective future (Americans and humanity in general).
The prolific American philosopher and Integral theorist, 
Leaders across the sectors are experiencing growing pressures to handle complexity, collaborate with diverse populations, and accept more responsibility for the impacts their organizations have on people and our planet. These increasing demands necessitate transformation of consciousness (i.e., perceptual shifts toward greater complexity and inclusivity) as well as deep inner work associated with surfacing and healing old wounds repressed in the basement of the unconscious (i.e., shadow work).
As mindfulness meditation grows in popularity, more people are beginning to realize that meditation is not what they thought. Actually, I was one of those people. In April-June 2010, I completed introductory meditation courses with the Boston Shambhala Center and the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program, with The Center of Mindfulness affiliated with UMass Medical School in Worcester, MA. Since that time I have had a regular sitting practice. While I still see myself as a beginner, I have noticed significant changes in how I see and relate to my own thoughts, feelings, and life experiences as well as other people and the world. Thus, I see tremendous value in starting and maintaining mindfulness meditation as a path to more conscious living and leading.
Metamorphosis 