The Cause & Effect of Mindful Leadership
by Ronald Alexander Ph.D. & Brian Culkin B.A.
The idea of Cause and Effect has been discussed and debated throughout the ages. Cause is an emanation point. It is the source. It is the point in space where something originates. Effect is the receipt point. It receives a flow of some kind and is affected by it. The mark of a wise and mindful leader is his or her ability to extend an intention into space and become CAUSE.
If one was to look back in history at all the truly great leaders that attempted in some way to improve conditions in their sector or zone of influence they share this common quality of causation. George Washington was a cause point over the army of Lord Cornwallis. In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther was a cause point over the Catholic Church and its abuses at the time. Rosa Parks was a cause point over the discriminatory policies of the Montgomery bus system. Siddartha Gautama was a cause point over his own mind and became The Buddha. These individuals were great because they were not the effect of their environment but stepped outside it to be the cause of change.
An overwhelming majority of us are seeking to bring forth positive and wholesome actions and behaviors in this world. We desire to improve ourselves, our relationships, and our businesses. We want to see a better world emerge from these troubling times. One way to achieve this is to set your intention to be a wise and mindful leader in all aspects of your life. Those whose actions come from integrity cause wonderful effects everywhere they go.
A mindful leader leads from a position of mindful awareness, or mind strength, by knowing how to respond from awareness instead of reaction and how to make everyone on their team feel recognized, affirmed and valued. Mindfulness provides you with clarity and calm in a crisis, protecting you from the temptation to panic and jump from one bad situation to another or to blame others for the crisis and avoid looking at your role in it; plus it gives you the power to change it. Mindful communication is an extraordinary tool for problem solving. It allows you to tolerate the discomfort of confrontation with others and the embarrassment of discovering how you might have contributed to the problem. Mindfulness also allows you to find your creativity and resourcefulness, so that you can approach the situation differently and perhaps transform it. It helps you to easily tap into your core creativity to solve problems and achieve goals.
