When people hear that I practise and teachmindfulness, they sometimes imagine a calm and spacious life.
My days are not like that.
I founded and run a management consulting firm advising banks on strategy and transformation. I also run two not-for-profit social enterprises. Most days involve decisions, difficult conversations, competing priorities and responsibility that does not switch off easily.
Earlier in my career I believed effectiveness meant speed. Respond quickly. Decide quickly. Move things forward.
Over time I noticed something uncomfortable. Many of the mistakes I made were not due to lack of knowledge.They came from reacting to a narrow picture of the situation.
Pressure does something predictable to the mind. Attention tightens. Certain signals become louder while others disappear. Confidence can rise at the very moment perspective shrinks.
I sometimes think of it like the signal strength on a phone. The capabilities of the phone remain the same. When the connection weakens, many functions simply do not work well. Under stress our human capacities behave in a similar way. Judgement, listening and perspective are still there. Access to them drops.
Mindfulness and Clarity
Mindfulness helped me notice when that signal was weakening.
My practice began very simply. Sitting fora few minutes in the morning. Noticing the breath. Feeling the body. Watching thoughts come and go.
At first, it seemed unrelated to work. Overtime, I noticed small shifts.
In tense meetings I could feel the surge of defensiveness earlier. When a proposal was challenged, I could sense the urge to interrupt or close the discussion. A small space appeared where I could pause and listen.
That small space changed many conversations.
Sometimes I asked a question instead of defending a position. Sometimes I realised I had misunderstood something important. Sometimes I still reacted, though I recognised it sooner.
Clarity, I have found, is less about thinking harder and more about seeing more.
Mindfulness helped me notice when my view had become too narrow. It also helped me stay open for a few extra moments when things felt uncertain. In complex environments those moments matter.
Leadership brings constant ambiguity. Incomplete information, strong opinions and real consequences are part of daily work. The pull towards quick certainty is strong.
Mindfulness offered steadiness in those moments.
Steadiness to listen before deciding.
Steadiness to sit with uncomfortable feedback.
Steadiness to admit when I was wrong.
It also shaped how I relate to people. When my own urgency settles, it becomes easier to notice how others are experiencing the conversation. I can sense when someone has withdrawn or when my words are closing the space for dialogue. These small moments shape trust and culture over time.
Training for Awareness
I now see mindfulness less as a wellbeing practice and more as training for awareness. Like physical conditioning for the body, it helps restore access to the capacities we already have.
Stress still appears. Difficult decisions still arise. The difference is that I notice narrowing earlier and recover perspective more quickly.
Alongside my work in consulting and social enterprise, it has been a pleasure to teach mindful leadership with OxfordMindfulness. From Kyoto to Bangkok to Oxford, I meet leaders who care deeply about their responsibilities and are navigating demanding environments.
Across cultures, the challenge is similar.People are capable and committed. The difficulty lies in maintaining access to clarity, judgement and care when pressure rises.
If mindfulness contributes anything, it is this: a way of strengthening the quality of awareness through which we lead; a way of meeting complexity with a little more clarity and a little more care.
For me, that has made all the difference.
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