Do you take your practice to work?

“Oh but she likes to boast that she meditates every morning, and goes to spiritual retreats a few times a year.”

My coaching client Janet (not her real name) was regaling me with stories of Shirley, her previous boss, who was literally the boss from hell. Shirley had been like a one-woman hive of bees, pollinating her team with distrust, anger and conflict. Her mouth was a gossip magazine, liberally spewing confidences shared, sowing discord between staff members. The result was an organization that was toxic and dysfunctional with team members sick, suffering and absolutely miserable. Janet had eventually left for her own health and wellbeing, but the experience still hurt.

As a facilitator and coach, I am often entrusted with organizational secrets whispered to me in confidence, and fearful admonitions not to say anything – like the young woman who asked if she could speak to me during a workshop break, and then burst into tears recalling the treatment by her boss; the charming CEO who I was told yells at his team, and sidelines anyone who challenges him. I know the bosses – they are wonderful people. They ask me for help, as they are not unaware of the dysfunction in their organizations. Their challenge is that they are not taking their practice to work. Read any article or book on the secrets of successful CEOs and you are likely to find that they each have a morning practice that they do consistently, no matter what. The part that’s unsaid is that they take that practice with them to work.

What does it mean to take your practice to work? Say you are Christian, and believe in the commandment “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” At work, how do you treat your team members? Are your processes and procedures reflecting this love? When an employee made a mistake, did you yell them out? Or did you go to a place of “loving thy neighbour” to have a conversation that helped the employee take responsibility and learn from the experience? Or if you have a meditation practice, which invariably leads to balance and peace, did you rant and rave when something went wrong? Or did you take your meditation practice to work, remaining calm and in a place of equanimity?

It’s not easy to take your practice with you. But it is possible, with consistent awareness and practice. Here are 5 daily steps to help:

1. Firstly, have a conscious practice of grounding yourself each morning before you leave home. Get up half an hour earlier than everyone else and spend time with yourself praying, meditating, chanting, sitting still, journaling, meditative walking, whatever it is that grounds you. Just do it consciously.
2. Plan how you will take this practice with you throughout your day. You put on clothes, make-up, shoes – put on your practice and wear it wherever you go!
3. Post reminders – write an affirmation, quote or intention on a post-it note and keep it with you. Or save it on your phone or laptop. Just make sure you can see it throughout the day.
4. Ask yourself at intervals: “Am I practicing?” If yes, carry on. If no, take a walk, a deep breath and PRACTICE!
5. At day’s end, reflect and recommit: how aligned was your day with your morning practice? Did you feel grounded, even as the crises and challenges reared and loomed? What could you have done differently?

Great leadership starts before you get to work. Have a morning practice, and then take it with you to work. And remember – practice makes perfect, so just do it every single day.

Here’s a similar blog by Marguerite:

“The Morning Ritual of a Boss from Hell” – click HERE to view article