This is what I learned from the Mindfulness Business Conference. What is mindfulness? Why is it important for businesses? And how can you practice it?

1. What I learned at
Mindfulness in Business:
The what, why, and how

2. Why should I listen to what you have to say about mindfulness?
What is mindfulness?
Why is mindfulness important?
How can I practice mindfulness?
Table of Contents

3. Why should I listen to what you have
to say about mindfulness?

4. You shouldn’t!
You should listen to the experts:
Dan Harris
Correspondent
@ ABC News
and author of
10% Happier
Howard
Behar
Former
President of
Starbucks
Coffee
Company
International
Manish
Chopra
Principal @
McKinsey
Bill Duane
Head of Well-
being @
Google
(former Senior
Engineer)
Chris Bertish
Champion big
wave surfer
(Mavericks Big
Wave
International)
Major General
Walt Piatt
US Army,
Director of
Operations,
Readiness &
Mobilization
Dr. Amishi
Jha
Associate
Professor of
Psychology
and Director of
Contemplative
Neuroscience,
Mindfulness
Research &
Practice
Initiative,
University of
Miami
Michael Gervais
Sports
Psychologist for
Seattle
Seahawks,
Principal @ Win
Forever
Consulting
Julia Freeman
Chief Learning
Officer,
Mondelez
International
Cheryl Jones
Director of
Mindfulness,
Aetna

5. What is mindfulness?

6. Can you please define mindfulness?
There’s not really one definition since it’s actually a pretty broad term. But I think this is a great way to sum
it up.
Mindfulness is about gaining self-awareness and the ability to notice your
current state in order to remain more resourceful and to restore personal
choice.

7. Mindfulness is a skill or muscle that can be built up.**
**Though it’s probably something you’re already doing, without realizing it. Some examples of tools that help bring about
mindfulness are:

8. So how exactly is mindfulness a skill?
What exactly does it teach us?

9. Building resilience and thinking more openly

10. Knowing what is happening in your mind
without acting on it
● Noticing how you’re thinking and/or
feeling without judging your reaction
● Knowing your emotions and how to
respond to them
● Turning towards your discomfort
“Drawing the line between useless rumination & constructive anguish” - Dan Harris

11. Practicing acceptance
● Remembering and accepting that you
can’t control every situation

12. Training yourself to be “in the zone” in a
more purposeful way
● Choosing when to enter the zone vs.
just letting it happen
● Focusing in a way that eliminates
clutter and distraction
● Achieving mental readiness
Source: Chris Bertish

13. ● Self-awareness
● Self-regulation
● Compassion
Are there basic principles to being mindful?
Source: Bill Duane, Head of Well-being @ Google

14. Mindfulness is NOT meditation.
Meditation does NOT always beget mindfulness (though it can help).
“Worship the god of treating people well, not the god of
mindfulness or meditation”
● Howard Behar
So I just need to meditate, right?

15. Why is mindfulness important?

16. “To see what really is, you have to look beyond your own
expectations of what is happening”
- Major General Walt Piatt

17. “Attention suffers when we’re under high stress but, ironically,
attention is the thing we need most to get through that high
stress situation.”
- Dr. Amishi Jha

18. Bring attention to the workplace
What are the goals of mindfulness at work?
Source: Howard Behar, former President @ Starbucks
● Be in tune with what’s going on with other
people
● Acknowledge emotions around the office
and recognize them for what they are
● Sense your way through problems without
being guided by fear or expectation
● See what no one else sees (spot trends,
unique problems, etc.)

19. Create a system free of fear
“Turn your fear into faith” - Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald’s)
What are the goals of mindfulness at work?
Source: Howard Behar, former President @ Starbucks
● Fear leads to stasis
● Fear forces people to make
decisions based on avoiding
judgment vs. doing what’s right

20. Mindfulness helps overcome Mindtraps...
Source: Julia Freeman, Chief Learning Officer @ Mondelez International, founder of Be At My Best Program
Mindtraps are the voices in your head that are
getting in the way. They are often reactions to trigger
events.
Mindtraps are not facts. They are simply emotions or
feelings.
Examples: self-critic, fear, etc.
Mindfulness allows us to become aware of our
mindtraps when they’re happening and choose how
to respond or react (if at all).

21. ...and also insecurities
Source: Manish Chopra, Principal @ McKinsey
Everyone faces insecurities in the office:
1. People leaving you out of conversations
2. Losing a piece of business
Mindfulness allows us to choose how we
respond to these insecurities:
1. Using the time saved in those missed
conversations to do work
2. Recognizing what went wrong and learning
from it

22. There have been studies to show that mindfulness helps with:
● Better decision making
● Greater creativity
● Better emotional intelligence
● Conscious choice
● Better memory formation and retention
● Processing of emotions / stress
Also...
Source: Jason Voss, Content Director @ CFA Institute

23. How can I practice mindfulness?

24. It all starts with YOU
First, you have to start with being okay with yourself.
The best place to start is learning how to cope with
your own fears of failure, of not being successful, of
being judged, etc.
What’s the first step?

25. There’s not one answer, but here’s a few things you can try:
● Keep a trigger diary
○ When do your mindtraps activate?
○ How do you respond?
● Check in with yourself periodically throughout the day
● Practice E.T.C.
Ugh...how do I do that?
Source: Julia Freeman, Chief Learning Officer @ Mondelez International, founder of Be At My Best Program

26. Emotions (breath) Truth (breath) Choices (breath)
● E. Connect to and name the emotions you’re feeling
○ (breathe)
● T. Notice the self talk and observe it. Question what it is.
○ (breathe)
● C. What response are you choosing to actually act upon?
○ (breathe)
What is E.T.C.
Source: Julia Freeman, Chief Learning Officer @ Mondelez International, founder of Be At My Best Program

27. Be present…
Or…
There’s also a great leadership exercise in the appendix that will help you determine what kind of leader you
want to be.
Great! Now how do I become a mindful leader?
Sit in the shit!
○ Sit with what is true
○ Do this with a thoughtful, open mind (do not judge)
○ Stay grounded
Source: Cheryl Jones, Director of Mindfulness @ Aetna

28. ● Incorporate “meditation” into daily routine
○ This does not have to be the act of meditating. It can be running, knitting, etc. (whatever
activity allows you practice getting “in the zone”)
● Combat email addiction
○ Avoid checking email for the first 2 hours of every day and use the morning for the most
cognitively difficult tasks (e.g., prioritizing the day)
■ NOTE: Times of day and length of time will differ for every person
● Make an effort to focus on one cognitive activity at a time, AKA:
STOP MULTITASKING!!!
○ Use your time wisely and efficiently
■ When in a meeting, be 100% present. If that’s not possible or the meeting won’t be
relevant enough to make that happen, then don’t attend.
○ Only use one device at a time
○ Be more present in meetings
How can I possibly get more present?
Source: Manish Chopra, Principal @ McKinsey

29. ● Start every meeting with a clear objective
○ Why is everyone here? What will they get out of this meeting?
● Ensure everyone really needs to be there
○ If people are fidgeting or not paying attention, chances are they do not need to be
there
● Do check-ins at the beginning, at the end, and periodically throughout
○ Are people present? If not, why?
○ Are attendees getting out of this meeting what they expected?
○ What was the impact of the meeting?
● Focus on the meeting
How can I practice mindfulness in meetings?
Source: Julia Freeman, Chief Learning Officer @ Mondelez International, founder of Be At My Best Program

30. Don’t give up!
Mindfulness requires practice and patience. Nobody is perfectly mindful all the
time.
But most importantly…

31. Appendix

32. ● Organization: Emotional Intelligence Consortium
● Article: Meaningful Life & Emotional Intelligence
● Article: Meditation on Wall Street
● Article: John Tudor Jones Leaning Out
● Article: Meditation and making money on wall street
● Article: The Mindfulness Business
● Article: Lotus pose on two (Seattle Seahawks and
mindfulness)
● Research: Military Resilience
● Research: Amishi Jha Lab
Resources
● Guided Meditation: Kelly McGonigal Ph.D.*
● Guided Meditation: Headspace app
● Guided Meditation: Calm app
● Guided Meditation: UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research
Center*
● Guided Meditation: Inner Critic
● Reference List: Mindful NYU
● Podcast: Meditate This
● Chrome Extension: Bell of Mindfulness*
● Book: Headspace by Andy Puddicombe*
● Author: Sharon Salzberg*
*Things I’ve personally tried

33. Answer these questions to help determine what kind of leader you want to be
● What are you passionate about?
● What is your intention for how you wish to show up at work?
● If you were a fly on the wall, what would you hope people would be saying about you?
● How do you want people to feel when they leave your presence?
● Write 3 sentences that reflect your brand
● Practice it
● Notice what it feels like to give voice to your brand
● Identify qualities or skills you possess now. Celebrate them.
● Explore what your growth edge is.
● Practice mindfulness to develop your leadership brand.
What is your personal leadership brand?
Source: Cheryl Jones, Director of Mindfulness @ Aetna