Effective Mind Management for Leaders

How many people truly know how to use their mind effectively? Firstly in this demanding World today most people are reactive. Something happens to us and we instantly react either in a negative or positive way. We feel disappointment when things don't go our way, or we even feel angry or hurt and this impacts our mind and in turn impacts our attitudes, our efficiency, effectiveness and performance. Every negative or self destructive thought or feeling or action creates an obstacle that hinders the true capability of the Mind. The more we react to circumstances around us in this kind of way then we are very effectively training our Mind to go down this reactive negative and self destructive path.

By following this mental process we are creating habits. When it is a habit then it just happens automatically and so the damage continually expands in our Mind and interrupts our capability to be a truly Noble Inspirational Leader.

A true Leader should be unaffected by such things-they should have the capability to rise above all the circumstances that can drag one down. Their role is to give hope and encouragement to others and this can never happen if the Leader is constantly being negatively affected in their mind.

So let us look at the way this can be achieved. Most people would of course say that they are not like this-that they have some destructive thoughts towards themselves or towards others but this does not affect their work performance. It is easy to say it but logically it just does not happen. It is in the nature of humans to be negative and destructive mentally. This is why stress, anxiety and depression is constantly rising throughout the World. If this is unbelievable to you then please just look at any aspect of the media and the truth of negativity sits clearly there. We are constantly bombarded with destructive news and information. The media machine seems to feed on anxiety, disasters, terrorist threats and celebrity gossip.

So what can a leader do to keep their mind free of all the external information and all the internal self destructive ways of thinking and yet, at the same time keep their mind healthy and logical?

This is one of many ways:

Imagine yourself to be the kind of leader that you would admire. Someone who is calm in all circumstances. Someone who is respected by all. Someone who holds themselves with poise and dignity and who is free of all discriminatory ways of thinking. In other words visualise your ideal Leader filled with integrity and authenticity. This then is your ideal.

Everyday you must visualise in absolute clarity that this is your goal-this kind of Leader is the way you want to be. Practice the art of watching your mind. See the kind of words that you use in your self talk. Patiently remove all the negative self talk and replace it with your own creation words and phrases that epitomize the leadership characteristics that you want. Don't try to adopt too many at once -be patient and select 2 or 3 only. As you repeat these words and phrases to yourself you must be calm and relaxed and really focused on those words and the meaning of them for you. This is critical -you have to give your mind the time to listen and understand the objective. Remember that you are breaking well practiced thought patterns which are habitual and so this will take time.

These phrases to practice will become your personal corporate mantra and so to attain this level you can practice the following:

"In every possible way throughout every moment of each day I am filled with poise, clarity and calmness".

Practice this often-this should be done hundreds of times each day and slowly over time you will see the nature of your self-talk change as you start to Self Manage your Mind.

The Endless Source of Inspiration

I am very fortunate to have lived and worked in many parts of the World and experienced many cultures. Throughout this time I have met many leaders and had the opportunity to watch them work and see how they function as human beings. In my own life both personally and professionally I have enjoyed the benefits of both success and failure. In fact I have probably gained the most benefit from failure but along the way I have observed the following characteristics of Inspiration.

Where does it come from and what is the constant source of inspiration that we may look for as leaders? Is it financial? Is it the sense of achievement gained when we see revenue or financial targets being reached? Is it the feeling of success when we attract a new client or customer?

From the many leaders that I have known and observed I can see that in reality it is none of these things. Most of those things are transient and they come and go because they are only "material things". The reaching of financial targets is great but of itself has little to offer in giving me inspiration. Getting new clients are great but have little to do with inspiration although how I interact with those clients may have a lot to do with Inspiration.

Such Inspiration can only come from people and our relationships with them. When one is inspired then you feel good about yourself, you feel renewed, confident and act with a sense of purpose.

When you do something to help someone else then you will feel the same benefits. If you do it well for their benefit, if you give them hope (one of the clear characteristics of a truly Noble Leader) , if you give them confidence to do something which they felt was beyond their capability then you will have inspired them. In so doing you will enjoy the benefits back yourself-you in turn will feel inspired.

If is from our development of others that we can derive this sense of inspiration. When we can see that it is possible to transform people from being what they think they are into something which they would like to be then we can see the possibility in all people. Of course as we go we are all learning the skills of self development and as we learn more about others then we learn more about ourselves and in so doing we create another aspect of Inspiration.

In practicality Inspiration does not come from reading books or articles about Inspiration. It only comes from the practical application of reaching out to others to help them achieve their objectives and helping them to reach their aspirations and this process creates a catalyst for our enduring Self Inspiration.