Getting Unstuck: Mindfulness Part 3 > Changing to Become a Mindful Leader – an Interview with Oksana Esberard
“Think of pausing in contemplative practice like swimming. Whether you’re swimming for 30 minutes or 30 seconds, you’re still wet. So get wet daily. The key to getting better at these practices and realizing their benefits is to take time out and practice a little bit everyday. – Oskana”
How often as a leader do you find yourself worrying about what happened yesterday, or catastrophizing about all the things that could happen tomorrow? If you are able to focus on the present, how able are you to be non-judgmental about things – literally to think, “it is what it is”? How often are you willing to pause to give yourself time to think through problems? How often do you show vulnerability by admitting “I don’t know. Let’s figure this out together”? In this episode of Getting Unstuck, the third in our series on mindfulness, we’ll get insight into these questions and others with mindfulness teacher Oksana Esberard.
Note: We’ll also attempt to experience mindfulness to a degree by participating in a brief “whole brain” meditation session. Please join us for that when we get to that part of the episode – except if you’re driving!
Oksana leading a training. “This practice won’t find you if you’re not ready.”
Listen for:
• The relationship between emotional intelligence, authenticity, and contemplative practices.• The key principles of mindfulness.• How there are differences between reality and our perceptions of reality.
• Why attempting to solve how you first define the problem may not be the actual problem needing to be solved.
• How Oksana defines “creativity” and why it’s critical to problem solving.
• Why pausing is not culturally accepted, but how creating the space for contemplation – pausing in “clarity breaks” – actually pays dividends to the leader and the team relative to problem solving.
• How a mindful culture exhibits differently than a non-mindful culture.
• Why your perception of time changes the more you engage in contemplative practices – taking a moment to pause.
After listening to the episode:
Oksana always starts her work with client by having them articulate their “pain point”? What yours?
If you participated in Oksana’s “whole brain” meditation, what was your experience?
For more information on Oksana’s practice: