Is it possible to turn becoming a more mindful leader into a no-brainer? Maybe not, but mindfulness expert, coach, speaker, author, former meeting professional, and regular MeetingsNet contributor Holly Duckworth makes it about as easy as possible in her new book, Mindful Leadership: The A to Z Guide for Stress-Free Leadership.
The stress we all are experiencing not only gets in the way of our becoming effective leaders—it is causing an epidemic of ill health effects that range from heart attacks to obesity and diabetes, Duckworth says in the book’s introduction. While learning new things could just add more stress, she instead provides an infotainment approach to mindfulness: A meditative coloring book. Anyone who has glommed onto the adult coloring craze will enjoy coloring in the mandala letters while taking in each of the 26 lessons—one for each letter of the alphabet.
As she signed on my copy, you can use this book to “Color your life mindful.”
“There is no right or wrong way to flip through the concepts and practices,” she says in the introduction, though she does recommend spending some time each day journaling your thoughts as you go deeper into the concepts that go with each letter mandala. “Take a few moments each day to really take in each page and let it tell you the story it wants you to know,” she says.
You can start with “A” (affirmation) and work your way through to “Z” (zeal and zest), or pick a letter at random—the order doesn’t matter. Each short entry includes a brief explanation, an example, and a suggested journal practice you can do to help tailor the message to your own life and leadership style.
The book is available on Amazon.
