The Mindful Leader

For many of the leaders I am working with the summer feels like a distant memory. The world feels like it has suddenly speeded up.  We are all too quickly in plate spinning mode again, living on high alert and constantly busy. Add to that the beginning of the season of coughs and colds and the ever present concern of Covid -19 infection, its no wonder that so many leaders feel they are working harder than ever to maintain focus, and stay ‘on top of’ their role.

Simon Morley of Boston West Academy in Lincolnshire describes a habit he has cultivated over time as a leader to deal with these multiple demands on his time. How many of us recognise this?

In my day-to-day work, I quite often found myself attempting to do several things at once. I might be physically present in a meeting but also glancing at my phone to check for messages, jotting down things I needed to do, reading over an important email, thinking about a meeting coming up or preparing for a conversation with a parent or member of staff. This had become a habit and like most school leaders, I certainly wasn’t prioritising time for myself and my inner world. Although I was doing lots of things at once, I’m not sure I was always doing them as effectively as possible.

This is a very common trait that leaders can fall into. Robert Poynton Robert Poynton  describes this as a state of ‘ continuous partial attention’, when we are rarely still and never fully present. We can be in a conversation, but thinking about the next meeting, or teaching, but thinking about what we are planning to do at the end of the day. All too soon we feel ourselves ‘ going through the motions’ of our day but not fully there., distracted and barely there for ourselves our others.

It’s not easy to break this habit, because for a while it can feel like the only thing that’s keeping us afloat. But it’s not sustainable, and over time is erosive of our well being and our leadership effectiveness. Our energy, and our effort is our most precious resource. So how might we use it more skillfully at times of high stress when we are experiencing constant demands on our time?

Take deep breaths

The simple act of reminding ourselves to breathe deeply will make us pause, take a look around and observe how we’re feeling and thinking, and what exists around us. A long out breath will help to balance us, and down regulate stress hormones especially when we are feeling a little scattered and day seems to be running away with us.

Use transitions in the day for micro moments of renewal

Notice how you can feel guilty when we stop for a moment. The best way to attend to this is to be fully attentive to it. Where do you feel the ‘ got to keep going’ impulse? Is your body poised for action? Is your heart beating faster with the mental drum beat of ‘no time to lose’.  Notice, and name these thoughts and feelings. This allows you to ‘decentre’ from them and very gradually and ever so slightly let them lose their hold on you. Ground yourself by feeling your feet on the floor – literally plant yourself for a moment. Before rushing from one thing to the next, from one meeting to the next, from one phone call to the next – pause, take a breath, drink a glass of water with full attention, and then carry on.

Let in the good

When we are rushed, we tend to focus on the risky and the worrisome. Instead why not reorient yourself by taking a moment to open up to the lovely, and that which gladdens your heart. Watch a child at play, listen to the sound of a trusted colleague’s voice, walk round the school building and open up all your sense to that which is lovely. Savour it, feel the imprint of what you notice in your body – what is the sensation of your ‘spirit lifting’. This very act will open up your senses and calm your nervous system. It will help you to shift from the ‘ striving doing’ mode of leading to the ‘ sensing experiencing mode’. Both are equally important and need to be in balance.

Be fully attentive to one thing only

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of multitasking when busy. Begin to break this habit by deliberately attending to one job at a time. Notice the impulse to start multiple tasks or switch from one task to the other and resist it.  You will be less effective and more harassed.  Keep in mind this Zen proverb: “When walking, walk. When eating, eat.”  Start by doing something simple with complete attention- boil the kettle, tidy your pens, walk up and down the corridor, open the window and take a breath. 

What about Simon?  He has now chosen to practice being in the present moment, fully attentive and wholly focused at the start of the school day. This daily practice has helped him to be more attentive to when he is falling into ‘continuous partial attention’, during the rest of the day. As he says – it makes a difference.

I go out to the gate every morning and rather than simply going through the motions with hundreds of other thoughts in my head about the day ahead, I try to look each child in the eye as they arrive and greet them; engaging with their excitement about starting the school day. I tell myself – however much is waiting for me when I go back into the building, however much my mind is trying to distract me – this is what I am doing now, let me be wholly present while I am doing it. Let me enjoy it. It makes a difference.

This month’s invitation

This month I invite you to find your own ‘moment of leadership presence’. It could be at the start of a meeting, it could be waiting in the hall for the children to come into assembly, it could be at the start of the day just before you go into the corridor to welcome children into the classroom. Take the time to pause, and to intentionally tell yourself that you are going to be fully present for the next few moments, to savour them, to open up your senses to the faces, the voices, the movements and notice every micro moment. 

Why not choose one leadership act that you do regularly, and commit to being present for it. Notice how this actually feels so you are more able to be aware of when you are only partially attentive, and can more easily, take a breath, stand up straight, re-set and re-focus and come back into full leadership presence.

Maggie Farrar is a leadership consultant and formerly worked for the National College Of School Leadership

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