How many different hats can you wear?

How many roles are you playing in your life?

Usually, we all have many… to name only a few:

  • You are a mother/father: with all the different activities, challenges, joys that come with it
  • You have a role to play in your working life, be it at home or outside of your home
  • You are a human being with its own needs and dreams
  • You are a daughter or son dealing with all sorts of issues
  • You are for sure also a partner, spouse, friend, sister, brother or many of these at the same time
Photo credit: noricum via Foter.com / CC BY-SA

Photo credit: noricum via Foter.com / CC BY-SA

All of these roles require your attention, your energy and commitment; sometimes it is difficult to switch from one to the other and/or to combine some of them at the same time. You might feel stretched to your limits, having not enough time to rest and for yourself leading to becoming irritable and stressed. There might be moments of doubts: “Am I a good father or mother? Or “All other spouses are surely doing a better job than myself”.

Photo credit: holyshared via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Photo credit: holyshared via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Feeling overwhelmed yourself very often leads to less patience: with your children, partner and other people surrounding you and of course with yourself. You react upon triggers not being able to calmly approach problems and challenges.

  • How about learning to cope with daily stress by learning how to introduce “brain breaks” into your daily routine, re-discovering your creativity and capacity of resilience?

Becoming familiar with and practicing mindfulness techniques is a skill that will help you deal with the stresses, uncertainty and complexity of life in the 21st century. By being more mindful yourself, you will also see that your relationships will change. They will unconsciously feel the change and respond to it with their own nervous system!

Of course you will still wear the same hats as you did before, but you will be able to remain yourself, non-judgmental and less prone to being hijacked by your own emotions, feelings and body sensations.

“We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

Photo credit: Wicker Paradise via Foter.com / CC BY

Photo credit: Wicker Paradise via Foter.com / CC BY

Employers: Time to use your Untapped Potential!

Women empowermentYesterday while trying to find my way to the bathroom in a restaurant, I stumbled upon this sign…. While it made me laugh, it also made me wonder about the various initiatives targeting women that are currently under way to ensure more diversity in companies, equal pay and related issues.

Not only the European Union with its 2020 priorities, but also the UN with the “He for She” initiative are embracing the issue of gender equality encompassing better access to employment and education. Many governments are also taking action by enforcing thresholds for women on boards, only recently to be followed in Germany.

Looking at the demographics for Europe, we believe that it is time for companies to use so far nearly untapped potential, meaning bringing not only women onboard and into leadership positions but also minorities and qualified migrants. Diversity gets a broader meaning and won’t be a nice slogan in some mission statement anymore. The capacity to attract a motivated and diverse workforce by offering them a flexible, sustainable work environment where they can co-create, be treated equally, have a chance to grow and use their creativity, in short get a sense of fulfillment is a must for any company nowadays.

Following a mindfulness based approach to leadership, training, coaching and consulting, we further believe that emotional intelligence is a key ingredient to personal development, team building and leadership development alike. Mutual trust, emotional intelligence, empathy and mindfulness are needed to achieving goals, developing further as an individual or an organisation and engaging in change.

 Do you agree with us? Or maybe not? We would be happy to hear from you…

Have a great weekend!

Jenny

We need a new model of communication!

Theater mask Communication
Otto Scharmer points out rightly that a new model of communication is needed, involving all stakeholders and being multilateral. A link needs to be created between all actors in society and economy, consumers to producers, leaders to staff etc. Many parties should join in the conversation, breaking up silos, sharing and opening up in dialogue. Being open and transparent will enable new ideas to emerge and this new connection will be far more effective than any extrinsic, monetary motivation and bonus. Think about it! Join me for a new journey in communications: a mindful one! Jenny