Executive Coach Dr. TC North on ColoradoBiz TV with Associate Editor Lisa Ryckman. “Fearless Leaders” book Part 3: Develop Mindful Power – Mindfulness in Leadership!
Lisa: Let’s talk about the third defining characteristic of Fearless Leaders. Tell us about that.
Dr. North: The third defining characteristic is thinking with mindfulness [Mindfulness in leadership]. And, Lisa, I am so excited to bring in this. This is an evolution of my own work with leaders, to teach mindfulness in the success psychology of leadership.
Lisa: So what is mindfulness exactly?
Dr. North: An easy definition of mindfulness is choosing to be present in the moment without judgment. … it allows me you to solve problems at a different level. Because when you’re under stress, you’re actually releasing a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol blocks the use of the prefrontal cortex, which is the most advanced part of your brain.
And as a leader, you really need that part of your brain to come up with the best solutions. So in mindfulness, you actually become a better problem solver. You’re better in conflicts. You’re a better decision maker.
Lisa: So are there others teaching mindfulness to executives and leaders? Who is doing that?
Dr. North: Yes, more and more. Even Harvard Business School has a course in mindfulness now. One of the folks on my Fearless Mindful team used to be a Buddhist monk. He’s teaching mindfulness in PepsiCo and Google and places like that.
Lisa: And people are realizing that this is a very important leadership skill then, correct?
Dr. North: Yes. Learning mindfulness is a skill, but I want to look at it a little bit differently. It’s a way to use your mind. So, the other thing that’s happened is that we’re now looking at, measuring the bottom line of companies: with the three P’s (not just the one P, which is profit). We’re looking at profit. We’re looking at people. We’re looking at the planet. So the three P’s bottom line is a very mindful way to evaluate the success of a company.
Lisa: So presumably, if you’re having to teach people mindfulness, then they are not always being mindful. What’s the opposite of that? What kind of state are they in?
Dr. North: It’s the way we are most of the time, most of the day. It literally is being on auto-response. Reacting to the world, reacting to this conversation, reacting to everything the way I’ve always reacted. The beauty of having a mindfulness moment is, in that moment, you literally drop into a different part of your mind that’s not an auto-response. And you can see and know what your automatic response is, but you have an infinite number of other choices. That’s the beauty of the mindful moment.
Lisa: I see. OK, so any other thoughts about mindfulness that you can share with us?
Dr. North: Yeah, in that mindful moment, that’s where mental magic happens. As a leader, that’s where Steve Jobs would go. That’s how he was so creative. He meditated for years. And so he developed his mind so that he could create those mindful moments and connect dots in ways that other people didn’t even know dots existed.
Lisa: Awesome. Thanks so much, TC. Thanks for watching Colorado Business TV.
Dr. North: You’re welcome. Thank you, Lisa.
[The world needs more Mindfulness in leadership. With whomever you lead, beginning with yourself, be Mindful.]
Dr. TC North is an executive and leadership coach and speaker based in Denver Colorado. He co-leads mindfulness retreats in Colorado and is the co-author of the best selling book, Fearless Leaders.
