Stop. Look. Listen.

I don’t get over to John Agno’s Coaching Tip blog often enough, though I did make it over the other day and found this timely post: In Stressful Encounters, Rewire Yourself to Listen.  He points out that:

In a stressful encounter, you may have less than two minutes to gain control and salvage the situation. 

The paradox is that we need to be deliberate, calm, and open at a time when our instincts are screaming “react!”.  John’s tips — and those of Mark Goulston — are very practical. 

My only addition: cultivate the habit of mindfulness so you can access such knowledge and don’t default to merely emotional responses.

But isn’t this called mindfulness?

I occasionally pop over to Growing Business Link (here) and find some useful stuff.  And so it was with this article that purports to demonstrate a link between “Conscious Leadership” and company performance (post here).  Here’s a summary of what “Conscious Leadership” brings.

“While other approaches involve managing your emotions and being aware of your impact on people, says Steven M. Swavely, Ph.D., senior consultant and psychologist with Farr Associates, Conscious Leadership takes it a step further in assessing leadership effectiveness beyond just emotions that may be driving automatic or reflex behaviors but also examines an individuals’ belief systems and how those beliefs drive behaviors”….

Conscious Leadership requires an individual to acknowledge their beliefs and biases and how they influence his or her situational awareness, to understand other people’s points of view, and to discern, for example, when to be assertive and when to allow others to take the lead.

All good stuff, though I’m not sure why we have to come up with a New Phrase to describe what sounds a lot like mindfulness.