Leader Checklist For A Mindful Team

Mindfulness, the ability to be aware and pay attention in the present moment, is regarded as an essential practice in high-stress environments for people leaders and the teams they lead.

A mindful leader has the ability to focus on what matters most in the moment, to manage their emotions and to manage the emotions of the people they lead.

Your presence as a leader will determine how well your team members cope in challenging situations. Use these strategies daily to help ensure the wellbeing of your team.

1. Provide a warm and responsive presence: show care and compassion.

• Be a soothing presence: during meetings, slow down the pace of your speech and movements and lower the tone of your voice. Benefit: help regulate your team’s nervous system

• Create a sense of safety: express your commitment to providing caring support in times of stress. Benefit: establish reliability and trust and help to shift away from a stress response

• Let your team know you are present: connect with and take the time to fully pay attention to your team and acknowledge their experience. Benefit: bolster wellbeing and performance

2. Promote self-care: through modeling and coaching

• Share your experience: Practice coping skills and tell your team what you are doing. Benefit: model the behaviour of your team

• Reinforce the importance of self-care: At meetings and in communications, talk about the importance of wellbeing and encourage your team to use the resources available to them. Benefit: enhance personal health and wellbeing.

• Provide opportunities to practice: make self-care a part of the day, promote and support mindful breaks, use mindful practices with your team whenever possible. Benefit: reduce stress and improve engagement.

3. Create a sense of security: provide consistent, predictable routines and expectations.

• Communicate regularly with your team: foster respectful openness to discuss mental health challenges and share resources that may be helpful. Benefit: create a sense of safety.

• Regular face-time: Check in with your team; provide acknowledgement of their presence with a smile; ask “How are you today? How are you managing today?”. Benefit: promote a sense of psychological support.

• Express gratitude and kindness: “Thank you for….”. “I really appreciate that you….” “I’m grateful for/that….”. Benefit: bolster health and wellbeing.

References

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Cooper, C. L., & Cartwright, S. (1994). Healthy mind; healthy organization—A proactive approach to occupational stress. Human Relations, 47(4), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679404700405

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall.

Sinek, S. (2014). Leaders eat last: Why some teams pull together and others don’t. Portfolio/Penguin. https://icrrd.com/public/media/16-05-2021-042803Leaders-Eat-Last-Simon-Sinek.pdf

Leka, S., & Jain, A. (2010). Health impact of psychosocial hazards at work: An overview. World Health Organization.