Innovative Companies and Law Firms Assess, Select, Coach, Engage and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders; Executive Coaching; Leadership Development; Performance-Based Interviewing; Competency Modeling; Succession Management; Culture Change; Career Coaching and Leadership Retreats
Dr. Maynard Brusman
Consulting Psychologist and Executive Coach
Trusted Advisor to Senior Leadership Teams
Are you a leader who would like to reinvent yourself and have a more fulfilling life and career? For over thirty years, I have been working with people to discover their purpose and passion to create work that is fulfilling and profitable.
It takes self-awareness, energy and an entrepreneurial spirit to discover your true passion, identity and the work that you are meant to be doing. I have practiced mindfulness meditation for many years and enjoy work serving others that is filled with joy and financial well-being.
I have coached hundreds of people to create happier and more productive work lives. You can choose to work with an executive coach to help facilitate your career reinvention or practice self-coaching.
Being an executive and career coach has transformed my own life in countless ways. I’ve learned to be more comfortable not knowing and asking impactful questions at home and at work. I’ve become a more compassionate friend and a better listener.
I’ve experienced that shared learning and growing as leaders and people together, and not always having to be the “expert” is less work and more fun. I savor each precious moment in both my personal and professional relationships. I feel more fully expressed and in touch with my deeper self-identity. I believe that when you are in a state of intention "purpose will find you.”
It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top. — Arnold Bennett
The Mindful Leader: Sit and Be Still
“For leaders, the first task in management has nothing to do with leading others; step one poses the challenge of knowing and managing oneself.” – Daniel Goleman
Psychologist Daniel Goleman, an authority on emotional intelligence in organizations, calls this the leadership paradox in Primal Leadership:
This includes:
- Connecting with deep values that guide
- Imbuing actions with meaning
- Aligning emotions with goals
- Keeping ourselves motivated
- Keeping ourselves focused and on task
When we act in accord with these inner measures, we feel good about what we do. Our emotions become contagious. When we, as leaders, feel positive, energized and enthusiastic about our work, so do those we influence.
Honing the skills of awareness leads to mindfulness—becoming aware of what’s going on inside and around us on several levels. Mindfulness is living in a state of full, conscious awareness of one’s whole self, other people and the context in which we live and work.
Recent studies in management science, psychology and neuroscience point to the importance of developing mindfulness and experiencing meditation.
Mindfulness meditation has long been practiced by Buddhists and others seeking greater calm and peace of mind.
Mindfulness meditation addresses a wide range of topics, including:
- How to heal toxic workplace cultures where anxiety and stress impede creativity and performance
- How to cultivate courage and confidence in spite of workplace difficulties and economic recession
- How to pursue organizational goals without neglecting what’s happening here and now
- How to lead with wisdom and gentleness, not only with ambition, relentless drive and power
Becoming a mindful leader, requires us to explore the intimacy of sitting still and experiencing being you in the moment—in the now.
The greatest obstacle to managing others is lack of self-awareness and the inability to manage ourselves. If you fail to connect with yourself and are constantly “doing,” you’re not in touch or self-aware. You can’t be mindful of others without first being mindful of yourself.
Practicing mindfulness meditation can help you relax and slip into a more calm physical and emotional state. Enjoying this peaceful place you can ask yourself powerful questions that will help you reinvent yourself.
Mindfulness Meditation Exercise- Creating Resilience and Well-Being
Mindfulness involves awareness, attention and energy. Learning to become more "present" will free you to be more flexible and creative. Mindfulness reduces stress and promotes resilience. You can become more resilient, enjoying better health and well-being.
- Find yourself a comfortable position with as few distractions as possible.
- Gently close your eyes and focus your attention inward.
- Imagine a radiant light dissolving your stress.
- Take a few easy slow breaths, taking air in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.
- Say to yourself, “Alert mind, calm body”.
- Now take a deep, soothing breath all the way down to your abdomen.
- As you exhale, let your facial muscles, neck and shoulders relax.
- Feel a wave of warmth and heaviness sweep down to your toes.
- Allow the relaxation to re-energize your body and mind.
- Slowly open your eyes, stretch, and ease back into normal activities.
Self-Coaching Questions
The following self-coaching questions can help you become more self-aware and begin to discover your true passions and identity. Engaging in fierce conversations with yourself by asking questions that interrupt long standing patterns can help you reinvent yourself. The careers of many of my coaching clients began to flourish from engaging in this contemplative practice.
1. What makes my life most fulfilling?
2. How can I live my most important values?
3. How can I spend most of my time pursuing my unique interests?
4. How can I use my talents to the fullest extent?
5. How can I make a significant contribution to the world?
6. How can I seek out opportunities to share my gifts with others?
7. How can I design my future?
8. How can I attract my ideal clients?
9. What are my life's dreams?
10. What is my life's legacy?
11. How can I live my life with purpose and vision?
12. How can I realize my dreams?
13. How can I focus on my strengths?
14. What needs to end?
15. What do I need to stop doing?
16. How can I listen more to myself than others?
17. Who am I?
18. What is my true identity?
19. What is my authentic voice?
20. When am I most powerful?
21. What are my core beliefs and what needs to change?
22. What business will fulfill my passion?
23. What are my true values?
24. How do others seem me?
25. What scares me the most?
26. What have I learned from failure?
27. How is my self-esteem and confidence?
28. What makes me happy?
29. What secrets are no longer useful?
30. How can I best make a contribution?
31. Why am I here?
32. How can I be of service?
33. What inspires me?
34. What energizes me?
35. What matters most?
36. How can I live in the present moment?
Self-Coaching Practices
1. Daily meditative practice asking yourself core questions that emerge from your unconscious
2. Journaling reflecting on your personal life experience
3. Vociferous reading on a number of topics including works from philosophy, religion, psychology, history, historical biographies etc.
4. Playing in nature being mindful to pay attention and insights received
5. Fierce conversations with friends, family, and loved ones
6. Personal 360-degree feedback with work colleagues, friends, family, and sometimes even critics!
7. Spiritual practices
8. Extensive travel
9. Formal "purpose" exercises such as those in Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits of Effective People"
10. Reading books such as Victor Frankel's "Man's Search for Meaning" and Po Bronson's "What Should I Do with My Life"
11. Embrace the state of possibility
12. Stay in a state of gratitude and wonderment
13. Fall in love
14. Forgive fully
15. Partner with others
16. Stay conscious that life is fleeting and breathe fully into every moment
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."
—Victor Frankel
Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches provide leadership development to help leaders practice mindfulness meditation and reinvent themselves? Does your organization provide executive coaching for leaders who need to learn how to have self- coaching conversations? Enlightened leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to create a more fulfilling future.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “How can mindfulness meditation help me reinvent my career?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching to help leaders develop more effective teams.
Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help leaders build high performance organizations. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.
About Dr. Maynard Brusman
Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams. He is the president of Working Resources, a leadership consulting and executive coaching firm. We specialize in helping San Francisco Bay Area companies and law firms assess, select, coach, and retain emotionally intelligent leaders. Maynard is a highly sought-after speaker and workshop leader. He facilitates leadership retreats in Northern California and Costa Rica. The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded Dr. Maynard Brusman "Board Approved" designations in the specialties of Executive Coaching and Leadership Development.
For more information, please go to http://www.workingresources.com, write to mbrusman@workingresources.com, or call 415-546-1252.
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Great blog!It would be great if mindfulness and meoadititn were taught in schools. As a father of teens, I know that many kids (my own and their friends) opt out of religious studies as they aren't of a Christian belief. What do they do? They sit in the library or do their homework. Non-denominational mindfulness and meoadititn seems a perfect alternative. It's a productive way for kids to spend their time learning about themselves and tolerance of others. Isn't that what religious studies is all about?
Posted by: Rocky | September 20, 2012 at 10:01 PM