“It’s Just Business – NO It’s Not…”
Shared by Kristina Smedley
There is a trend among us. More and more businesses are starting to realize and internalize that business isn’t just business, business is about people.
PEOPLE doing business with other PEOPLE.
Taking care of our people is therefore becoming more of a high-ranking priority and with that, we are seeing more wellness-based programs popping up at the workplace, especially meditation/mindfulness opportunities.
Had I been writing this a year ago, I would have guessed that meditation and mindfulness might be practiced at more progressive companies, such as Google, Nike, Apple, etc.
But it’s not just these companies!
We are hearing of mindfulness programs being offered at McKinsey & Company, Proctor & Gamble, Prentice Hall Publishing, Daimler Trucks (Breanne and I actually took a course there in Portland earlier this year!)…
AND AT BOEING!
(I’ll tell you more about that in a second.)
First, are you not sure what a “mindfulness practice” is?
A quick description: the purposeful focus on the present moment, without judgment or emotional reaction, with an attitude of openness and curiosity.
Some people practice focused attention meditation, others prefer mindful walking, some use a mantra, and some practice mindful eating, journaling, and/or body scans.
There are endless ways to practice mindfulness and essentially no way to go wrong, as long as you are purposefully paying attention to the present moment with an open and curious mind.
The positive benefits of meditation/mindfulness practices are being shown through scientific research and evidence-based results. Studies are actually showing that daily meditation can change how the brain processes information, resulting in (to name a few):
- Increased empathy and emotional intelligence
- Improved focus and productivity
- Elevated energy, happiness, and memory capacity
- Easier decision-making
- Higher patience, tolerance, and resilience
I’ve included a few interesting article links below.
Now back to mindfulness programs at Boeing…
Last year, a group of us were working on improving employee development at our site. Through conducting many personal interviews, we learned that we really needed to work on the relationships between employee levels – employees/managers, managers/directors, etc.
Ah-ha!
I’ve said this before… I truly believe that relationships are the foundation of accomplishment!
As we started searching out how we would intentionally work on these relationships, one of our Directors shared the great work his Executive Coach was doing around mindfulness.
We were sold! And couldn’t wait to bring mindfulness to our primarily Engineering colleagues.
I know you’re thinking, “Engineers… are they really going to believe in this stuff. Don’t they like science and proof?”
They do. And she had the science to share.
AND it was a hit!
Since then, I’ve moved back to Seattle and have lost touch with the initiative.
But tonight I heard the best news while grabbing dinner with a SoCal friend…
She and some of our colleagues attend an every Thursday mindfulness session during lunch.
It started small with just a few people joining in a conference room.
But every week they are seeing more and more colleagues join. And they love it!
She shared that last week she hopped off the elevator and another colleague asked her, “Why are you so happy?”
“Thursday mindfulness sessions! Come join us!” she responded.
And so it grows.
And so the relationships are formed.
And so we accomplish more together.
I’m really proud of Boeing for offering these classes and allowing regular sessions for employees to get together and practice with one another.
As a Mindfluent leader in training, I am purposeful about building my mindfulness practices and understanding the positive effects this can have on my relationships, my happiness, and my leadership skills (to name a few).
And I’m always curious and eager to learn more.
I hope you’re a little curious now too!
#MindfullyEvolving
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