The Mind of the Leader

“The Mind of the Leader”, written by Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter, is a book that promotes an effective approach to leadership applying mindfulness, selflessness and compassion. The challenge outlined in the book is that “77% of leaders think that they do a good job of engaging their people, yet 88% of employees say their leaders don’t engage enough.” 

The organisational culture and how people interact and function become the critical factors in dealing with the challenges and developing a competitive edge. People need to be at the centre of a company’s strategy and approach. There are two key components of this. Mindfulness training for staff and management of the organisation and an application of an MSC approach by management, where S stands for Selflessness. “Selflessness combines strong self-confidence with a humble intention to be of service”. The C as in Compassion “is the intention of being of service to other people’s happiness and the desire to help alleviate their problems”. 

The book contains powerful examples from the real life of organisations that have applied this approach successfully. I am convinced that a systematic implementation of these components will result in increased performance of the organisation, more content and less stressed staff members and a more conducive working environment in which staff contributions to the organisation are enhanced. This in turn leads to improved performance of the organisation and profitability.

Per Bertilsson is a senior leader of various public and private organisations and now devotes his time to writing and giving talks on the topics of Mindfulness, Socio- and Geopolitical issues and Universal Ethics.