Stillness: the 3rd cornerstone of leadership

The third cornerstone of leadership is stillness.

Oftentimes, we tend to value action over stillness. As human beings we are predisposed  to get value in leaping from one side to another over stillness or waiting, even when it's obvious that stillness is needed.

Stillness is our friend especially when it comes to leadership or playing leadership role.

What exactly is stillness in practical terms?

-Stillness is when you pause before pressing the reply button when you're angry or triggered to anger.

-When we block out time in our calendars regularly for ''thinking" and stick to it.

-When a leadership team takes a day out of their busy schedules just to connect and explore how they're currently operating as a team.

-Stillness occur when a leader practice mindfulness.

-When we adopt the overnight test on an important decision instead of a knee - jerk reaction to a problematic situation.

No doubt about the fact that stillness can be an uncomfortable place to reside most especially for leaders, it can be boring, empty, uncomfortable,result lacking and unproductive. It makes us feel like someone with a soldier 🐜 ant in his pant, you want to get it out as fast as possible.

Stillness has the ability to lead us into a place where our deepest intuition can be heard. Although we may not like what's telling us but if we're constantly  doing without hitting the pause button. We'll  not miss the gifts that being can bring.

There's so much value in learning to be still in a world that's constantly changing- McAlpine

How do I cultivate the habit of stillness as a leader?

1.Meditation: meditation is a very potent tool when one is trying to make stillness an habit.Even if it's just for 5minute daily and regularly.

2. Have a time for thinking regularly, input it into your diary daily. A time seperated to think everyday and regularly.

3. Take a deep breath daily . We breath over 15,000 to 35,000 times a day. Over 90% of our energy comes from our breathing.But most of the time, we're not breathing deeply enough. Take a few moments, whenever you're aware and take 4 - 5 belly breaths. This engages the rest and digest  part of our brain (parasympathetic nervous system) which is the thinking part of our brain.

4. Journaling which is usually called free writing It's a great tool for reflection and problem solving.

5. Schedule regular pause and reset day with yourself and also with your team. Review progress towards your goals and what you need to adjust.

Let's stop here today, we'll continue from here in the next post.

Thank you for reading my post.