“Because those of us who work in large or small organizations frequently see ineffective leadership, it’s really uplifting to know there are people who care about improving their skills as supervisors and leaders in a mindful way. They want to be better supervisors, staff people, and employees - they want to be more whole at work.”
This is how Joan Gabriele, Director, Special Undergraduate Enrichment Programs, University of Colorado at Boulder, described the importance of integrating her personal values into a high-stress work environment to become a more humane and conscious leader. Joan manages a five-person team responsible for scholarship and grant funding programs for talented and motivated undergraduates. Her desire to become this type of leader led her to a series of Mind to Lead retreats presented by Suzanne Kryder, Inc., a Washington, DC-based training and coaching company.
Challenges
Fast-paced team operations
Personnel challenges
Desire to lead with integrity and humanity
Joan described the fast-paced nature of her team’s operations: “We have four programs that have different applications, timelines, and trajectories and involve lots of students and processes. There’s a ton of stuff going on at all times. It’s easy to get stressed out.”
Commenting on how personnel challenges contributed to individual and team stress, Joan said, “I had an employee who suddenly had a serious medical crisis that was affecting her ability to be present at work, and there was one task in particular that would send her into a tailspin. Of course that not only affected her work but the team dynamic as well.” She also talked about the stress of terminating employees: “Over the years in various positions I’ve had to let people go. Those situations were so exceedingly stressful because the institutional structure did not allow me to be as humane as I would have liked to be. Losing a person creates a relational rupture that, again, affects the entire office.”
Joan shared the effects of these challenges: “I’m a Type A person. I’ve always internalized my stress. Because my office has had high turnover, I’ve had to really examine whether I’m making bad hiring decisions or whether I’m an ineffective supervisor. These questions have led me to doubt my professional aptitude at times.”
Summarizing how she came to attend the retreats, she said, “There have been a number of work experiences over the years that showed me how I didn’t want to be as a ‘boss.’ Although things are changing somewhat, traditional supervisory structures and HR sponsored training have more clinical responses to employee development. I had been moving toward a mindfulness meditation practice for a while, so the idea of mindful leadership was attractive to me. I wanted to operate from a place of integrity and humanity as a leader.”
Services
Mind to Lead Retreats
Retreat Support System
At The Mind to Lead retreats, professionals learn NeuroLeadership techniques and mindfulness practices that help them integrate their personal values into their work to become more humane and conscious leaders.
Joan explained the importance of role plays at the retreats: “It’s refreshing to see that there are very typical scenarios and types of people that many supervisors have trouble with. Suzanne lays bare the internal dialog and the circumstances of what’s really happening. It’s like, ‘Oh, other people think that too?’ There’s a sense of shared experience with other supervisors that’s really helpful to me.”
Joan has integrated the practices into her daily work life: “The retreat helped me identify things I can do when I’m on my own. It’s not theoretical at all – the techniques are real things to do. For example, I do walking meditation as I walk up the stairs to my office.”
She liked the retreat support system for committing to follow-up actions that she said is missing from most professional development: “The accountability structure is really helpful in keeping the practice going. Suzanne matches people with a ‘mindfulness buddy.’ You set goals for yourself, and follow up. My mindfulness buddy and I have been in conversation for two years and have a professional mentoring partnership that has been extremely helpful to me.”
Joan talked about Suzanne’s expertise: “What I like about Suzanne’s whole being and her professional presentation is that she is showing you how to be a mindful leader. She’s a very direct communicator - probably the clearest communicator I’ve ever met. She does it very compassionately. She uses humor a lot. Even though it’s difficult, there’s levity to it. She does it in a very personable way. She’s really skilled at what she does, and very approachable at the same time.”
Results
Mindfulness practices for team
Reduced stress
Increased leader confidence
Joan’s retreat participation generated authentic and powerful benefits for her and her team.
When staff inquired about her retreat, Joan invited them to participate in the mindfulness practices: “We have monthly mindfulness sessions where we practice new techniques together like the questioning method or laser statements. We do a group meditation before our regular monthly meeting. Also, everybody has permission to go somewhere, close the door and breathe. We’ve really incorporated it into our day-to-day work. It’s not unusual to hear, ‘Can you say that in a laser statement?’ or ‘That’s a good statement for The Work.’ Mindfulness has really changed the culture of our office.”
Regarding her staff, Joan explained that the employee with the medical crisis used mindfulness practices not only to get her task done, but she found that it helped her manage her illness as well. “That was a really huge, visible change. Another staff member had a baby a couple years ago and used mindfulness during her labor. And one has a teenager - she uses it all the time. It’s actually changed people’s lives…in a deep and meaningful way.”
Joan noted the retreats are “like training and untraining at the same time. You do have to undo and let go a lot. Like the idea of what a ‘boss’ is . . . Growing up in the 60s, a boss was usually a white male like my dad who was in charge. I think a lot of mindfulness is really letting go and letting be. It’s tremendously powerful.”
Joan summarized the impact of the tools, “Mindful leadership techniques are terribly helpful. I don’t get as stressed at work. I’ve been so much calmer in the last two or three years. I’m not doubting my supervisory abilities so much. I trust myself more. I really feel like I’m able to be more human as a supervisor. Mindful leadership has been the number one enhancement for my professional development.”
