If you are a mindful leader, that implies you have people to lead, am I right? Well, if there are people, there must be trust, and to build trust, you can work on a few different aspects of your leadership style, habits, and perspective. Read on to learn how you can begin developing trusting relationships with all of your employees… without getting overwhelmed.

What characteristics inspire trust in you and your abilities? If you’re in a leadership position and even just a little mindful, you will likely have at least some of these character traits naturally, especially if you’ve worked with integrity and genuine passion for a while. Whatever traits you have naturally, pay attention and be honest with yourself about recognizing them. From there, you can cultivate the rest of these character traits as you go through mental conditioning, meditation, and continuous mindfulness practice.

 The Key Ingredients to Cultivating Trust

·         Consistency. If you want to cultivate trust in you and your abilities as a leader, then lead by example. The little things done consistently each day are what will make all the difference in the long run. Once you begin to see results and your momentum builds, the proof is in the pudding and your team will have more trust in you.

·         Commitment. Your unwavering commitment to your business, company, project, or vision even during lean or difficult times is what will inspire trust in you for future projects. No matter what the outcome, the fact that your commitment was unwavering speaks volumes. You made a decision and stuck with it even if it seemed impossible or wasn’t popular at one point or another.

·         Clarity. Become very clear about your priorities, your purpose, your mission, and your expectations… make it a point not to be vague or ambiguous. Being straight forward is a great way to avoid wasting time beating around a problem as opposed to solving it.

·         Competence. You will find that people trust you more if you know what you’re doing, are always learning and staying up to date, and either know the answers or know where to find them. This is where applied knowledge becomes a very powerful tool.

·         Character. Are you the type of leader who does what is right over what is easy? If so, this is a characteristic that will help to inspire trust in your leadership. Life and business very often require doing what needs to be done whether we like it or not, so it’s no wonder that this trait inspires trust.

·         Gratitude. A leader who practices gratitude will have an amazing set of personality traits that everyone can appreciate. That’s what makes a mindful leader such a great connector. Grateful leaders don’t gossip, complain, or feel entitled. This mindset can always be achieved through practice.

·         Results. Nothing screams, “Follow me!” like achieving the results you set out to, or better. When you are able to produce positive and successful results on a consistent basis, your expertise expands, your team trusts you more and more, and you are able to be more confident and build upon your success no matter where you are on the overall ladder.

·         Empathy. Being compassionate toward others is essentially caring about things bigger than yourself or outside of yourself, and taking those things into consideration. This will ensure that you are working toward the best interests of the majority and the business as a whole, applying the golden rule as your default setting.

Now that you’ve read about some of the most important traits of a great leader, it’s time to put these habits into practice. The only thing you have to do to begin changing your life and leadership style for the absolute best it can be is to implement one of these small habits at a time until you practice all of them daily. Think incremental improvement at a relaxed pace so it sticks effortlessly and feels wonderful.

For more information on the Mindfulness Movement and the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

As a mindful leader, how can you cultivate, develop, and practice a sense of understanding toward your fellow human being, whether that be a co-worker, family member, or complete stranger? Cultivating understanding may seem a little daunting at first, but by the time you finish reading this article, you will have healthy mindfulness habits as a solid foundation to build your practice of understanding from. Read on to learn more.

First, why is understanding so important if you’re a mindful leader? There are many reasons, but one of the most important is that understanding allows you to see the people around you as the multifaceted individuals that they are. Where normally we might see only one aspect or characteristic of an individual, understanding allows us to more easily practice empathy and compassion toward those around us.

Now, despite some of these sounding a little harsh, blunt, brutal, or whatever other label you would like to use, I highly recommend reading these tips for understanding other people in relation to yourself with an open mind and reserved judgment, of yourself as well as everyone else.

7 Tricks to Understanding People (Including Yourself) Better

1. Remember that people are, for the most part, selfish, self-involved, and self-centered. We are each, after all, the center of our own universe because our thoughts and emotions are typically the only ones we know well and can directly witness. Because we cannot access others’ thoughts and emotions, they are not nearly as “loud” within our perception as we are to ourselves. Most of the time, people aren’t trying to be mean, cruel, or inconsiderate. They are just more worried about themselves than you.

2. People are forgetful by nature, so try not to take it as an affront to you personally. Typically speaking, it probably has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.

3. Everyone gets lonely sometimes. Loneliness is very common, but it can come with all kinds of other weird emotions and fears that may or may not adversely affect an individual’s emotional state. When a person feels like they are being judged, don’t fit in, or are excluded, it can make life that much more difficult for them and everyone around as well.

4. The best way to understand most people’s behaviors is to realize that much of it will come from selfish altruism or the opportunity for a win-win situation in which one or both parties help each other in some way or another.

5. Nobody can know what you’re feeling without you talking about it. Unless you work in an office full of highly sensitive empaths, chances are that if you’re having a bad day or feeling sad, nobody is going to know unless you communicate about it.

6. Humans are emotional beings. We feel deeply, some more so than others, but everyone has emotions and everyone’s emotions are valid to the point of being recognized and hopefully released, especially if they are uncomfortable or “negative” emotions. Typically, emotions are stronger than what anyone lets on to the outside world, so most of the time people will assume you’re fine if you haven’t been crying or just had an outburst of some kind. And that’s okay… just know that it has nothing to do with you.

7. Don’t take anything personally. No matter what the circumstances might be, chances are that the way someone interacts with you has way more to do with their own thoughts and emotions than it does with you.

Are there exceptions to these generalizations? Of course! If you’re an empath or a highly sensitive person, for example, many of these might make you feel terrible because you will automatically jump to feeling guilt for assuming and/or judging, jumping to conclusions.

Stop. Pause. Take a few deep breaths. Remember the definition of an empath and use your best discernment to find the facts. Talk with people instead of only relying on your intuition. The more misunderstandings and miscommunications you solve, the more honed your skills will become.

If you’re one of the few and far between people who has dedicated their life to service, sacrifice, and helping their fellow man, then you are also an exception to the rule. True, pure altruism is extremely rare, so typically, people will fall into some form of selfish altruism by looking for mutual benefits.

For more information on the Mindfulness Movement and the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

When we think of acceptance, various different things may come to mind depending on our life experiences and conditioning. However, when we think of what it’s like to feel accepted and loved, things become very much clearer to us. What do you think – does acceptance play an important role in effective mindful leadership? Why or why not? Read on to learn our theories on this practice and then weigh in in the comments if you feel called to do so. Let’s explore this topic further, shall we? 

Acceptance is something that we all want, crave, and need, but unfortunately it is much easier to demand than it is to give, especially if you have never consciously practiced before. That’s because people are automatically focused very much outside of themselves and not enough on how they feel and what their thought patterns are. A big part of the mindfulness practice is to pay attention and become very highly aware of everything, be it good, bad, or mediocre. The step after that? Feeling and moving through things without judgment, and with full acceptance of whomever you’re interacting with at the moment. In the moment is all that ever matters.

Here are a few things you may choose to keep in mind consciously in order to cultivate your levels of acceptance organically, with practice.

Five Ways to Practice Mindful Acceptance of Others

Some of these ideas may seem obvious sometimes. However, being a human also means we are imperfect and make mistakes, and thus our memories don’t always serve us in the ways we need them to. Sometimes things slip through the cracks, slip our minds, and so on. And you know what? That’s okay and perfectly normal. But who doesn’t want to remember not to forget?

The key is to practice these inner habits daily so that they become automatic and you can focus on deepening your practice after that. Some of these are simple things to keep in mind for the bigger picture and how you may affect it with the ways in which you interact with other people.

1.      Keep in mind that people are not two-dimensional. Yes, you may only see the coworker, boss, taxi driver, etc. However, these people have millions of things at play in their own lives, just like you do in yours. We are all multifaceted, complex, and experiencing various different things, problems, circumstances, challenges, etc.

2.      Keep in mind that you’re not alone… and neither is anyone else. Many of us have a lot of things going on, especially right now with so many people going through challenges, so accepting that you’re not alone and that others are also experiencing similar things will help you to maintain your positive perception of others. It will also help you to relate more easily to your fellow man/woman/human.

3.      Keep in mind that everything is connected. The more often you practice mindfulness and meditation, the deeper the connections you’ll be able to observe in your day to day life. More and more levels of connection and synchronicity begin to be revealed as you go, so dig deep.

4.      Be aware of what kind of influence you are on the people around you, and thus, the world. Are you spreading positive or negative energies? In more practical terms, are you being kind and helpful to others, showing them compassion rather than impatience and intolerance? Or are you going out into the world with a negative attitude, infecting those around you with negativity as you treat them badly and cause more pain, which could very well result in a ripple effect? Are you creating happy ripples or painful ones?

5.      Don’t fall into the complaining/bickering trap. The more often you allow negative complaints to pass through your lips, the easier those complaints begin to tumble out, and pretty soon that’s all you’re talking about. What you focus on grows, so if you want your problems to go away, don’t pay them any more attention than you absolutely have to, and if nothing can be done right now, just stop thinking about it. Driving yourself nuts won’t solve anything, after all.

I certainly hope that this helps you to practice accepting others in a way that creates more and more success for everyone involved.

For more information on the Mindfulness Movement and the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Allowing, Acceptance, Understanding, and Mutual Trust are all necessary components of a working relationship with your team that goes beyond the ordinary. These are also components of love… not the romantic kind, but the general kind that you can apply to yourself as well as your fellow man and the collective. It may seem a little strange at first, but bear with me here. If your team members all care about each other and each other’s ideas and skills, your team is able to work together much more effectively as they get to know each other better.

One aspect of developing this kind of closeness and mutual respect is Allowing. This is more for you as an individual than anything else, so whatever your position might be, Allowing can help you develop a positive attitude and feelings toward everything and everyone you encounter.

What is Allowing?

Allowing has two components:

1. Letting things unfold as they unfold without being anxious or nervous about it.

2. Trusting that, no matter how “bad” things may seem, everything will be okay.

This is essentially a relinquishing of the illusion of control. We are, after all, the creators of our lives, but we are not in control of anything except for our own thoughts and emotions, so we cannot seek to control the things and people outside of ourselves.

Begin a Practice of Letting Go

This is probably the easiest and most effective way to make letting go easier. Once you have this mastered, you can expect workplace nonsense like gossip and drama to go down drastically. Here we go:

·         Talk or write about it. This will help you to work out whatever is bothering you about the thing you’re dealing with.

·         Confront what’s bugging you. This will obviously vary depending on what your circumstances dictate, but confronting a problem can be the first step toward a solution.

·         Feel your feelings. However you need to do this, do so… if you have the urge to hike to the top of a mountain to scream at the top of your lungs about it, then do that. If you need to cry for a few hours until your head is pounding and you can’t breathe, then do that. You’ll be okay.

·         Do something with or about what’s bothering you. If this is the route you choose to take, try to maintain a positive stance and put a positive spin on whatever it is you end up doing.

·         Sit back and watch. If there isn’t much you can realistically or feasibly do about anything, then let it go and let the universe do its thing. “Let go and let God,” is one popular version of this idea.

Getting to the point of letting go takes practice, but you will find that problems often solve themselves or simply go away on their own, or the solutions begin popping up all over the place. You will see them and take notice if you’re paying attention.

As always, continue leading mindfully! 

For more information on the International Mindfulness Federation or the Mindfulness Movement, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Whether you’re delivering good news or bad news, you can go about it gracefully or not. This rings true no matter what announcement you have to make to your team or to an individual; as a mindful leader, part of your job is good spoken communication, especially when you have to address many people at the same time or deliver bad news, such as someone being let go. But how can you make sure you’re doing your best to communicate well? Here are a few tips with mindfulness in mind.

There’s a lot to be said for nuances such as tactfulness and subtlety. However, these small aspects may not be noticeable without a certain degree of self-awareness and mindfulness already present. Also, some news is sensitive or difficult to divulge, so how do you best handle that as a mindful leader?

Being Honest When it’s Difficult

Sometimes the news, announcement, or conversation you have to have is not one that you’re looking forward to. Whether this is because of what you have to tell this person or how you have to tell them doesn’t matter; a difficult conversation is a difficult conversation. Use these pointers to maintain your courage and remind yourself of the bigger picture; the greater good.

·         Take a deep breath and maintain your calm. Reactions can be unpredictable, and your staying calm will encourage the other person to handle the news gracefully, whatever it is.

·         Be sensitive to this person’s needs. Even if you can’t meet them, you can be understanding of them.

·         Respect their privacy and deliver whatever news you need to in private. Never confront someone in front of their coworkers as this decreases employees’ respect for you and damages their trust in you as well.

·         Be patient. You may be waiting for the right opportunity to tell someone something; that’s okay, but make sure you’re not falling into a habit of procrastination because you’re losing your nerve to tell them the truth.

·         Follow through. Again, don’t fall into the trap of procrastination and make it a habit; the sooner you can deliver the news, the better, and everyone will then be able to move on.

If you need to make an uncomfortable announcement to the entire office staff, there are a few things that you should remember as you go about planning your wording.

·         Be direct but gentle. A difficult truth is much easier to accept if the person telling you this truth uses some sensitivity and empathy. Be honest and loving at the same time.

·         Keep things as simple as possible, on a need to know basis, so to speak. If people have further questions or need more details, instruct them to email you with questions or speak to you directly.

·         If comfort is needed, don’t forget to provide it. Receiving bad news is much easier if leadership makes it a point to be supportive. This may mean having a therapist on staff for a few months to help people, depending on the situation.

·         Encourage everyone to be supportive of one another and work together during difficult times. This fosters a supportive work environment that will serve everyone well for years to come.

·         Prepare for people to be a little off balance for a while. Depending on the severity of the news and how everything is affected, this may take differing amounts of time.

As always, continue leading mindfully!

For more information on the Mindfulness Movement and the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://www.mindfulnessfederation.org/

Authenticity. Personal accountability. Honesty. Integrity. Openness. These are just some of the words that come to mind when we think of excellent and amazing leadership… and people. One of the most powerful ways of getting yourself and everyone on your team to a higher level of performance and productivity is by encouraging confidence, self-love, self-acceptance, reasonable risk-taking on projects, and non-judgment. Is there anything more liberating than being genuinely yourself and effortlessly succeeding? Of course not! Read on to learn ways to get there.

Being honest with yourself and teaching your team to do the same on an individual basis is a powerful tool for your company as well as for each of the individuals involved. You begin to take responsibility for your own behavior by taking notice of the little things like when you start getting irritated or annoyed. By taking notice when it first happens, allowing it to bubble up, and then letting it go, you can take responsibility for your emotions without letting them ruin your conversation… or your whole day, for that matter.

This takes practice! Don’t expect to be perfect at being mindful and don’t expect other people to fully understand what you’re going for right away, especially if they find themselves in a spirit of opposition or resistance. However, once you begin to improve your own behavior, the process takes on momentum and you get better and better at continuously improving. Those people who were full of resistance before will begin taking an interest and realizing exactly what you did if they begin the same practice.

Practical Mindfulness for Everyday Life

·         Don’t lie to yourself. If you do, you may find it difficult to trust yourself in the future. This is not ideal because your instincts are a powerful tool that you should be using to your advantage.

·         Let go of blaming others. You may find that it hurts quite a bit the first few times you admit to your own involvement in a scenario or circumstance that was traumatic or painful. However, once you let go of blame, the trauma holds less power.

·         Pay attention. Pay attention to what others are doing, how they react, what you’re doing and saying, and how people seem to perceive you. To test any theories, you may ask a friend or three if they remember what their first impression of you was. No matter what, paying attention to what’s going on around you as well as within you will increase your awareness of everything.

·         Meditate. This is a great way to begin practicing mindfulness subconsciously and creating a mindfulness habit.

·         Take good care of yourself. It’s important to put good, healthy food into your body, get daily exercise, be in nature, and enjoy some sunshine. Strive to maintain a healthy mind, body, and soul.

Have you ever noticed that some people are vibrant, alive, open, and charismatic but with absolutely zero negative undertones? These are the types of people others tend to be fascinated by. They feel so alive, they thrive, they love what they do, they are easily excited and very enthusiastic….

How do they do it? By making a series of small decisions every single day that lead toward inner joy. That inner joy is then constantly, habitually replenished while also being constantly, habitually shared, a bright light of love shining brightly and touching everything around you. If it comes from within, nothing from outside can destroy it, either.

As always, continue leading mindfully, and I wish you joy, my friends!

For more information about the Mindfulness Movement and the International Mindfulness Federation, please visit:

http://www.mindfulnessfederation.org/

So, is honesty the best policy? In short, the answer to that question is yes. Of course, there will always be circumstantial nuances surrounding your decision about how and when to be honest, as well as how much of your truth to share. However, as a general guideline, honesty is absolutely the best policy… especially when it comes to being honest with yourself… and your team. Let’s explore that thought a little more deeply, shall we?

Honesty is not only a virtue, but it’s a habit. A lifestyle, just like any other habit or recurring action is. Also just like any other habit, it has an opposite or reverse side of itself – the “negative” opposing habit you may fall into. Now, I don’t know what the opposite of being a liar is (is being a “truther” a thing?), but maybe we can just make it a point to do our best to be honest ;).

Now, are there ever times when honesty may not be your best bet? Typically speaking, being honest about what’s happening is more beneficial in the long run than not being honest. However, there are a few ways in which you can make sure you’re maintaining your integrity while also not shying away from tough leadership decisions, messages, and so on.

3 Ways to Be Honest and Tactful

Honesty is important because it builds trust between you and your team. However, just spewing out whatever pops into your head is not what we mean by being honest. Rather, to build and maintain trust and rapport with your team while being honest, some of the following ideas might help.

1. Take Time to Step Back and Think.

This is especially helpful if you have something challenging to talk about and/or solve. The challenging times are when you, as a mindful leader, need to take additional care to be at your absolute best so that you can help your team through the aspects of these challenges they may not know how to deal with. Taking a day or three to figure out your wording in order to maintain the best possible relationship with your team is a small price to pay for doing it right the first time.

2. Meditate.

When you meditate regularly, it is much easier to widen the gap between data coming in and reactions going out. That space is meant to give you the time and reflection necessary to go from reacting to responding on purpose. Remember… you don’t always have to respond right away. You can also take some time to think.

3. Don’t Tiptoe Around the Issue.

If you’ve thought about things all you can and planned your wording all you can, then don’t procrastinate. You should go ahead and address the issue at hand as soon as you’re ready but before you have a chance to talk yourself into waiting longer ;). Analysis paralysis is avoidable if you know what you’re dealing with, so keep that in mind moving forward.

The Benefits of Honest Leadership

·       Mutual Respect – leadership and employees respect each other and therefore take each other’s ideas more seriously.

·       Crisis Prevention – if everyone is on the same page to begin with, challenging times are much easier to handle.

·       Employee Encouragement – if you are honest about any challenges that come up and have enough confidence in your team to allow them to solve their own problems, not only will your team be more up to the task, but they will find ways to solve problems without having to ask for help if you allow them to.

As you can probably tell, honesty, more often than not, is definitely the best policy. Even though it may not always be the easiest way to handle things, it’s much easier than trying to keep track of lies or omissions of truth and which version of your story you told to which person. To keep things simple, maintain your integrity, and prevent the messes lies can create, it’s much easier to be honest to begin with.

As always, thanks for joining us here on the Mindful Leader Blog! Continue leading mindfully, and if you’d like to learn more about the International Mindfulness Federation and the Mindfulness Movement, please visit:

http://www.mindfulnessfederation.org/

One part of making sure you’re fostering a healthy work environment is guiding and encouraging your employees and team to work toward their goals and aspirations so that they may see success. There are a few different ways to do this, but for the sake of this article, we’re just going to stick with some of the basics. So, what are some basic and actionable ways in which you can do this each day? Read on to learn more.

The first and main idea is to lead by example. The reason is simple: if you strive for excellence and authenticity without worrying about perfection, your employees will naturally respect and admire you, and possibly do the same thing. But what exactly can you do to set these kinds of examples? And what habits can you encourage in the workplace to keep everyone at their best? Let’s take a look.

Leading Your Team to Success

There are a few small habits you can implement for yourself and your team that will help keep your work environment and company culture harmonious and positive.

·         Meditation. No matter who you are, meditation can be extremely beneficial and there isn’t really a “right” or “wrong” way to do it. Take 5-10 minutes once or twice a day to have everyone sit quietly and focus on their breathing and clearing their minds. Give it about a week and watch the magic happen!

·         Open communication. This part begins with you, the mindful leader. If your team knows that they can come to you with an issue, suggestion, or question, then they will have a lot more respect for you as well as feeling more comfortable being open with coworkers. If this is a brand new concept for your work environment or your communication habits need some work, you may consider having daily morning meetings for 15 minutes where anyone who has any questions or concerns can raise them and anyone with ideas or answers can help. Unless it’s a private or personal issue, this should be done with the whole group for best results. Get talking! 

·         Encourage mindfulness. This has to happen on an individual basis first, so any time you have an opportunity to teach a lesson in mindfulness, take it. No matter what the situation might be, chances are there’s a mindfulness lesson hidden in there somewhere; your job is to seek out those lessons and teach your employees how to be more mindful. It may or may not sink in right away, but there’s nothing wrong with making this a habit and implementing it.

·         Celebrate your wins. Even small victories can mean a lot to people, so don’t discount them! Maybe the first hurdle to overcome was a big one, even though the results are minimal. Celebrate it anyway – your celebrations don’t have to be huge. It could be as simple as having brownies after lunch or a glass of champagne in the evening before closing time. No matter how you choose to celebrate your wins, it will help to keep everyone motivated and working toward another one.

·         Encourage collaboration. When circumstances arise that force people to work together toward a common goal, magical things can begin to happen with so many different creative minds thinking together. If your work environment is normally pretty competitive, switching gears to collaborate every once in a while might be a nice break from the norm and refresh people. Of course this also depends on the people, so continue to use your best judgment in every unique situation.

·         Don’t micromanage. As the quote at the beginning of this post says, your employees should be awesome and have the freedom to express their awesomeness in the workplace, especially if creative or innovative thinking is required. Guide them if they have questions, but allow them the opportunity to learn in their own ways as well.

Which of these ideas do you think will benefit your employees or team the most? Do you have any other easy ideas for enhancing your company’s culture and work environment? Share them with us by leaving a comment below or sending us an email.

As always, continue leading mindfully and thanks for joining us!

For more information on the Mindfulness Movement and mindful leadership, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Need some help with your mindfulness practice?  The Mindful Moments can certainly help!

You can find it on Amazon.

The success of a team depends largely on its ability to work as a cohesive whole rather than just individual parts. However, the way in which these parts are put together and which jobs or tasks they are each assigned can play a huge role in whether a team functions well or not. Fostering a sense of teamwork, respect, and creativity can mean that you have to put in a bit of work, but it will be well worth it in the long run. Here are seven ways to foster teamwork, respect, and creativity.

It all begins with teamwork. That teamwork begins with you fostering an environment that encourages teamwork, so here are a few ways in which you can begin to do this.

7 Ways to Foster Teamwork, Respect, and Creativity

1.      Get to know your employees on an individual basis. Not only will this build trust, but it will also establish you as the leader and the go-to person in case of problems. Your employees will respect and trust you more once this has been established, so even if they don’t necessarily trust or like each other, they will respect your wishes anyway and cooperate.

2.      Establish some ground rules. Employees should all know who is in charge of what and whom they should go to in order to report any kind of conflict. Establishing a system for conflicts before they happen will help smooth out the resolution process. This will establish trust, preparedness, and allow employees to relax a little bit because they know there’s a plan in place.

3.      Build the team outside of work. No, this doesn’t mean mandatory office parties on personal time or other personally infringing demands. Rather, think of ways to get the team out of the office during work hours for a fresh perspective and some change of scenery. This could be a picnic lunch outing, a day trip somewhere, or a catered brunch event.

4.      Define your team’s mission. This will offer everyone a wonderful opportunity to collaborate and be closely involved in a planning phase, building a sense of unity and respect. Creative input is another strength here, so all areas can begin to shine with an exercise like this.

5.      Play to people’s natural strengths and talents. This in and of itself communicates so much about you as a leader and about the team as a whole. Hone your ability to recognize talents and strengths in others, and utilize their skills during projects at work. Your team will know that you appreciate and respect their skills, and they’ll feel wonderful being able to use their talents to contribute on a deeper level.

6.      Focus on clear communication. The best way to strengthen your team is by communicating honestly and concisely. Everyone should know who is in charge of what, what their roles or tasks are, and whom they can turn to for guidance. This ensures that your team feels respected and trusted.

7.      Be compassionate but fair. You may come upon challenging situations in your time as a leader, and the important thing to remember is to use your best judgment but be compassionate and fair. Kindness doesn’t mean weakness, and being compassionate in all situations will foster respect and caring toward you from your team.

I hope this helps you and your team to begin fostering a healthy, strong, and happy workplace environment. Incorporating mindfulness practices into your daily work routine could greatly improve the entire environment, so if you and your employees can, make time for 10 minutes once or twice a day to sit and meditate. It could work wonders on many fronts.

No matter what, continue leading mindfully and learning as you go. That's all we can do, isn't it?

For more information on the Mindfulness Movement and mindful leadership, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Need some help with your mindfulness practice?  The Mindful Moments can certainly help!

You can find it on Amazon.

Although you may not think so at first, company culture or environment and conflict resolution styles are intertwined within an organization or business. Depending on your company culture, you may choose to handle conflict in different ways. In this article, you’ll learn about the five different categories of conflict resolution and how different company cultures may benefit (or not) from each one of these resolution types.

According to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument model of assessing conflict resolution styles, there are five modes of conflict resolution. Every individual is capable of utilizing each of these conflict resolution styles, but each individual also tends to lean toward one more than the others.

Types of Conflict Resolution

As defined by the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument:

1. Competing is assertive and uncooperative—an individual pursues his own concerns at the other person's expense. This is a power-oriented mode in which you use whatever power seems appropriate to win your own position—your ability to argue, your rank, or economic sanctions. Competing means "standing up for your rights," defending a position which you believe is correct, or simply trying to win.
2. Accommodating is unassertive and cooperative—the complete opposite of competing. When accommodating, the individual neglects his own concerns to satisfy the concerns of the other person; there is an element of self-sacrifice in this mode. Accommodating might take the form of selfless generosity or charity, obeying another person's order when you would prefer not to, or yielding to another's point of view.
3. Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative—the person neither pursues his own concerns nor those of the other individual. Thus he does not deal with the conflict. Avoiding might take the form of diplomatically sidestepping an issue, postponing an issue until a better time, or simply withdrawing from a threatening situation.
4. Collaborating is both assertive and cooperative—the complete opposite of avoiding. Collaborating involves an attempt to work with others to find some solution that fully satisfies their concerns. It means digging into an issue to pinpoint the underlying needs and wants of the two individuals. Collaborating between two persons might take the form of exploring a disagreement to learn from each other's insights or trying to find a creative solution to an interpersonal problem.
5. Compromising is moderate in both assertiveness and cooperativeness. The objective is to find some expedient, mutually acceptable solution that partially satisfies both parties. It falls intermediate between competing and accommodating. Compromising gives up more than competing but less than accommodating. Likewise, it addresses an issue more directly than avoiding, but does not explore it in as much depth as collaborating. In some situations, compromising might mean splitting the difference between the two positions, exchanging concessions, or seeking a quick middle-ground solution.

(Source: http://www.kilmanndiagnostics.com/overview-thomas-kilmann-conflict-mode-instrument-tki)

Types of Organizational Culture

In this section we’ll cover five types of organizational culture and which modes of conflict resolution might typically work based on that culture. Please bear in mind that not all of the individuals working for your organization will be the same, so these generalized methods may not work for everyone. A more thorough assessment of your specific conflict and each individual involved will allow you to find the best possible solution. This article can serve as a starting point.

1.      Traditional Culture.

These companies typically have a numbers-focused approach, avoid risk if possible, have a clearly defined and almost rigid hierarchy, and probably have a dress code.

Recommended Conflict Resolution Type: Compromising.

Avoid Potential Traps: Accommodating, Avoiding.

2.      Team Culture.

These companies are typically team-oriented and focus mainly on employees’ happiness. Flexible scheduling, team outings, and opportunities to give feedback are common traits of this type of company.

Recommended Conflict Resolution Type: Collaborating, Compromising.

Avoid Potential Traps: Competing, Accommodating, Avoiding.

3.      Transitional Culture.

Companies that fall into this category have likely undergone a massive, company-wide change recently, or they are about to. This company culture is uncertain and can potentially instill fear in employees because of the “up-in-the-air” environment of everything.

Recommended Conflict Resolution Type: Collaborating, Compromising.

Avoid Potential Traps: Competing, Avoiding.

4.      Free Spirit Culture.

In this type of company, everyone collaborates, communicates, and pitches in. This is common for startups because everyone tends to be equally passionate and invested in the company’s launch and growth.

Recommended Conflict Resolution Type: Collaborating, Compromising.

Avoid Potential Traps: Avoiding, Competing.

5.      Elite Culture.

These companies are typically so trailblazing that they invent an entire new industry. They hire only the best of the best, and expectations are extremely high, with long hours. Employees often put their work first in their lives, so they often spend long hours working.

Recommended Conflict Resolution Type: Compromising, Collaborating.

Avoid Potential Traps: Competing, Accommodating, Avoiding.

When it comes to conflict resolution, there are a number of variables to take into consideration, and every situation is unique. In order to maintain the health and wellbeing of your employees, it’s best to find peaceful ways of resolving issues that work for everyone (or as many people as possible, at least). You may also consider how each individual is predisposed to reacting in a conflict, and you may even be able to help them grow through different types of conflict resolution.

As always, continue leading mindfully and resolve any issues with compassion and wisdom.

For more information on the Mindfulness Movement and mindful leadership, please visit:

http://executivecoachinguniversity.com/mindfulness-movement

Need some help with your mindfulness practice?  The Mindful Moments can certainly help!

You can find it on Amazon.