People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1 - 13

perspectives - counterpoint
Mindful
Self-Acceptance:
The Heart of
Healthy Leaders
Joshua Ehrlich, Ph.D.
Leaders perform well when they feel good
about themselves. Few are able to do so, though,
because they try to grow from the outside in
(building self-esteem) instead of from the inside
out (cultivating self-acceptance).

Building Self-Esteem vs. SelfAcceptance
Society teaches us to build self-esteem from:
* Stuff ("I have a lot of money.")
* Approval ("I get recognition.")
* Accomplishment ("I am winning.")
* Fantasy ("I am great!")
Yet this only makes leaders vulnerable to
market forces, which are inevitably uncontrollable and take away these sources of false
satisfaction. We add to this by telling leaders
they are never good enough ("You saved the
company $40M this year? Great. Next year
save $50M.") The result is battle-weary leaders who reveal their immaturity and survive
by depending on their dark side.
Contrast this with ways we can develop selfacceptance:
* Alignment ("I am in sync with my values
and purpose.")
* Self-regulation ("I can manage emotional
ups and downs.")
* Facing reality ("I can look myself in the
mirror.")
* Self-support ("I can treat myself with kindness instead of self-criticism.")

These factors are intrinsic and controllable,
and when we lead from this basis we are energized and passionate. Self-acceptance does not
lead to self-indulgence, complacency, or arrogance. It enables us to be open to feedback and
care about our impact. It helps leaders build
true self-confidence and to demonstrate integrity, humility, and stability.

* Emotion. Higher empathy, stability, positivity, psychological and moral maturity; tolerance for anxiety, ambiguity, and uncertainty.

Look around your organization for a moment
and ask yourself, would you prefer to follow
leaders who try to build their self-esteem or
leaders who work at developing their selfacceptance?

* Connecting. Improved listening and empathizing, clearer communication and stronger relationships; employee retention.

The Benefits of Mindful SelfAcceptance
Mindfulness is present, open, and engaged
attention with a quality of kindness and
warmth towards oneself. We can develop
self-acceptance by teaching leaders to be
mindful in six areas:
* Body. Paying attention to physical health,
especially exercise, diet, and sleep.
* Mind. Learning to stay focused and setting
boundaries to ensure time to think.
* Emotion. Cultivating gratitude, empathy,
and positivity.
* Spirit. Staying connected to sources of
meaning, values, and purpose.
* Connecting. Giving and getting support to
form strong, lasting relationships.
* Inspiring. Energizing others with your
vision and passion.
Research on the benefits of mindfulness continues to mount in the same six areas (Wallace
& Shapiro, 2006; Langer, 2009; Davis &
Hayes, 2012). Benefits include:
* Body. Lower stress, fatigue, burnout; higher immune response, life expectancy, resilience, and energy.
* Mind. Enhanced focus, job performance,
accuracy, clarity, flexibility, objectivity, perspective, learning, memory, creativity, and
problem solving.

* Spirit. Increased motivation, engagement,
empowerment, career development, job
and life satisfaction; customer loyalty; decreased absenteeism and theft.

* Inspiring. Increased innovation, new
product development, sales, quality
performance, leadership presence, and
attractiveness.
Companies such as Google, BlackRock, and
McKinsey are teaching mindfulness as both a
wellness and a productivity tool. Human
resources professionals can create mindful environments by leveraging performance management, engagement, recruiting, and assessment
processes. And leaders can build mindful teams
by establishing simple routines, such as exchanging the breathless back-to-back 60-minute
meeting schedule for a 45-minute norm.
At the heart of healthy companies are healthy
leaders. We can grow healthy leaders from the
inside out, not only by treating them well, but
by teaching them to treat themselves well.

References
Davis, D. and Hayes, J. What are the benefits of mindfulness? Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological
Association July 2012, Vol. 43, No. 7, page 64.
Langer, E. Counterclockwise. (2009) Ballantine Books; 1
edition (May 19, 2009)
Wallace, B. Alan, and Shauna L. Shapiro. Mental balance
and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and
western psychology. American Psychologist 61 (2006):
690-701.

Joshua Ehrlich, Ph.D., founded the Global Leadership Council, an international
network of experts in mindful leadership
and organizational transformation. He is
the author of Mindshifting: Focus for
Performance. He can be reached at josh@
globalleadershipcouncil.com.

VOLUME 38/ISSUE 1 - 2015

People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1