If ‘more’ no longer works, and ‘less’ does not accept a change of perspective, perhaps becoming ‘mindful’ can help.
Whosoever drinks saltwater gets thirsty! And whosoever are thirsty needs to drink to quench this thirst. But please, anything but more saltwater!
Obviously this is based on the body's metabolism. Based on the metabolism of society, we seem to disregard that the principle of higher, faster, further, like saltwater, becomes increasingly unpleasantly. Even the economic and ecological signs tell us unequivocally that something is out of control. But we do not know how to deal with this and therefore stay rutted in the previously proven multi-task approach of more growth, more resources, more pace and more of everything we don’t yet have and often don’t even need. But this more creates a deeper divide, a further distance between us and reality, aggravating the conditions under which we, consciously or unconsciously, are suffering. It’s just more saltwater for the thirsty ones, so no thirst is actually quenched.
Although we know a great deal about how we could do differently and better, we do not act accordingly, because we are being betrayed, albeit blindly, into day-to-day dependency, where the state, together with the economy, made a vicious pact that they want to push through and use all means, whatever it takes, to keep people dependent. But, does saltwater not contain all the minerals and trace elements that our body needs? Can it not lead to serious deficiencies if we would switch to clear tap water? We allow ourselves to be persuaded by intellect and logic that we are doing well. Perhaps not quite that well - but too good to know the exact opposite of practicing what we are doing so far.
If the conflict is bogging us down, perhaps a change of perspective can help. If the thirsty stubbornly oppose having tap water – maybe some well-intentioned advice will help to drink the tap water in the future, as it tastes good.
Interestingly enough, the body will have the correct recipes for the best water to intake when the logic block is bypassed. Similarly, if society and the economy stubbornly oppose the ‘less’ – what can help is to do what we feel intuitively is right, for the best approach, our internal tap water, is intuition.
Interestingly, nothing works in the creative entrepreneurial world without intuition. There is much being analysed, calculated, researched and assessed, but exciting new discoveries and innovations come through intuition.
Applying our intuition, empathy and self-knowledge (over rationality and logic) is based on a relatively new leadership philosophy: Mindful Leadership. Its essence and precondition is that we can live intuitively once again. Intuition can and should be our guide, especially when coupled with an empathetic curiosity for the unknown and the unexpected. With empathy, we can learn to dispel our prejudices and open up, really listening, better understanding the views of others. This plays an essential role in the lives of people in multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-national teams and groups in the work environment, because it binds us together again. It allows a new well-being to spring forth in life and in the work environment.
Let us try to live so that all around us people feel good: What consequences for nature and people would this have? What kind of better quality of life and work environment would we enjoy? What kind of global ‘win-win situation’ would this lead to?
Cultivating a mindful and attentive leadership approach takes us to levels which were previously closed to many, but now suddenly burst open because we gain a different insight, a new and refreshing perspective, capturing that which is meaningful and makes sense and is purpose-oriented. Thus far we have lived with the conviction that the world exists for itself and we derive from it the information which we allow to determine reality. This is a very limited manner, however, in which to see life and the world, because in this worldview, reality is independent of us. However, even modern physics now sees reality as a construction of our consciousness, not independent of us, but part of us. So we can decide, consciously and deliberately, whether we want to rely on our mental constructs or on our attentive perception.
With mindful leadership we can re-learn to find access into ourselves, find the confidence to accept ourselves the way we are, to better deal with conflicts by comprehending their sources, reacting intuitively, improving our swiftness, and reducing our fear. And we can lead the way forward toward (un)conditioned organisations, making a solid contribution towards a better mindful tomorrow: drinking fresh clear tap water, as more saltwater isn’t quenching our thirst!