What can a Buddhist monk tell us about business?
Financial Times
23-05-21 17:20
Mindfulness is growing in popularity in executive education training, with schools using self-awareness and live-in-the-moment techniques to help business leaders adopt more reflective, analytical and collaborative managerial styles. This follows a trend towards encouraging reflection in executive education programmes that is not new. More than 25 years ago, Canadian academic Henry Mintzberg helped launch the International Masters Program for Managers, which focuses on five mindsets, one of which is the "reflective mindset", and emphasises the sharing of other people's management and decision-making styles. As we reported earlier this year, employers in the US are also being more proactive with mindfulness programmes, with more than half of all US employers offering some form of mindfulness training to workers. However, while studies have shown that mindfulness can improve self-esteem and reduce anxiety, some psychologists have warned that people who practice mindfulness may have the opposite effect, becoming anxious or leading to them having panic attacks.