Craving purpose in the workplace. In this episode Judith Germain speaks to Scott Shute about conscious business practices and mindfulness in the workplace. Scott shares that he had a career as an executive at LinkedIn, where he led the mindfulness and compassion programmes, and is now an entrepreneur and speaker focused on conscious business practices.
Key Takeaways
- Companies that operate with compassion and focus on employees, customers, and shareholders holistically are 1400% more profitable than average
- Psychological safety and having a sense of purpose are key drivers of high-performing teams
- Mindfulness programmes can improve employee wellbeing, focus, and productivity at relatively low cost
- Leaders should operationalise compassion by evaluating it in performance reviews and making decisions with humanity in mind
Topics
Conscious Business Practices
- Research shows companies with a “consciousness” mindset balancing employees, customers, and shareholders are 14x more profitable
- Requires a long-term view beyond just quarterly earnings
- Ask “what would love do?” when making decisions impacting stakeholders
High-Performing Teams
- Google found psychological safety is the biggest factor, not IQ or diversity
- People need to feel trusted and able to be themselves to do their best work
- Having a strong sense of purpose is also highly motivating
Mindfulness Programmes
- Can reduce stress, improve sleep, increase creativity and focus
- Low cost to implement relative to benefits for employee wellbeing
- Leaders should view it like a company gym for mental fitness
Compassionate Leadership
- Evaluate compassion in performance reviews and tie it to compensation
- Celebrate successes as much as addressing failures
- Influence and inspire rather than using coercive power
- Make decisions considering the humanity and impact on people
In this conversation Judith and Scott discuss how companies can embed compassion into their operations and decision-making, beyond just having mindfulness programmes. They stress the need to make humane choices that consider the impact on all stakeholders – employees, customers, and shareholders.
Judith and Scott discuss how leaders can drive high performance while still maintaining the humanity and well-being of their teams. They emphasise the importance of inspiring and rewarding people, not just focusing on the negatives.
Scott Shute seeks to curate the best practices of conscious business and make them more widely available. He is the author of the award winning book ‘The Full Body Yes’.
Maverick leadership is all about thinking outside the box and challenging the status quo. It’s about having the courage to take risks and the confidence to lead in a way that is authentic and genuine.
But amplifying your influence as a leader isn’t just about having a strong vision or a big personality. It’s also about having the right leadership capability and being able to execute on your ideas and plans.
The consequences of not having the right level of influence as a leader can be significant. Without the ability to inspire and motivate others, you may struggle to achieve your goals and make a real impact.
How Influential Are you? Take the scorecard at amplifyyourinfluence.scoreapp.com and see.
Scott Shute can be found on LinkedIn here. His website is here.
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