Stress at work:
It is understandable that with the responsibility of handling a leading or managerial role, the challenges faced are likely to rise in difficulty. Specifically, in corporate companies, there is a larger responsibility for leaders to ensure things run smoothly. In some cases, the burden of something going wrong can contribute to increased stress levels amongst the additional challenges and responsibilities.
What is mindfulness?
An increasingly popular method of dealing with stress and anxiety that is being used more with corporate businesses is attention to mindfulness. According to mental health experts, mindfulness is being aware of the mental and physical well-being of our bodies within the moment. Former Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, Professor Mark Williams, says:
“It’s easy to stop noticing the world around us. It’s also easy to lose touch with the way our bodies are feeling and to end up living ‘in our heads’ – caught up in our thoughts without stopping to notice how those thoughts are driving our emotions and behaviour.”
Mindfulness in the workplace:
In addition to improving one’s own mental health, this practice can be used as an approach to corporate business and strategy. Whilst mindfulness originated in the East along with spiritual medicines and healings, early business models and strategies originated in the Western world.
Combining the two practices would involve taking the mental and physical aspects of mindfulness, ‘body ‘heart and ‘mind’, and applying these to aspects of the workforce. In this instance, ‘body’ represents the tangible assets of a business whether it is land, or other resources. ‘Heart’ represents the workforce, whether these are chefs, or lawyers. Lastly, ‘mind’ is representative of digital technology, in which intellectual property, social networks, and software all project the labour of the workforce’s heart and enhance the productivity of its body.
It is just as important to remember that as helpful as it can be to erase anxious thoughts, or to improve strategic processes, mindfulness is not the cure for all work-related issues. Professor Williams continues,
“Mindfulness isn’t the answer to everything, and it’s important that our enthusiasm doesn’t run ahead of the evidence…
There’s encouraging evidence for its use in health, education, prisons and workplaces, but it’s important to realise that research is still going on in all of these fields. Once we have the results, we’ll be able to see more clearly who mindfulness is most helpful for.”
When it comes to providing coaching services for corporate organisations, Anne Taylor is a qualified executive coach with a history of experience throughout London, as well as internationally. If you would like a chat regarding the leadership and managerial coaching that could be offered to your company, feel free to call on 02031 516 830, or alternatively, send an email to info@directions-coaching.com.
