The all-round leader: from east to west

Harvard Business School is embracing the idea of "mindful leadership”, a process that develops self-awareness and self-compassion in leaders.

A tradition that comes from the East, namely Tibet, is thought to be a tradition from which western leaders could benefit. The Harvard Business School Professor, Bill George, who is pioneering work in this area believes that leaders who don't develop self-awareness are subject to becoming seduced by external rewards, such as power, money, and recognition.

Leaders with low emotional intelligence (EQ) often lack self-awareness and self-compassion, which can lead to a lack of self-regulation. This also makes it very difficult for them to feel compassion and empathy for others. Thus, they struggle to establish sustainable, authentic relationships.

Leaders who have low emotional intelligence (EQ) can also often feel a pressure to be so perfect that they cannot admit vulnerabilities and acknowledge mistakes. This difficulty acknowledging mistakes is an Achilles' heel that has crippled a number of CEOs who have appeared in the news recently. Some of the difficulties of Hewlett-Packard, British Petroleum, CEOs of failed Wall Street firms, and dozens of leaders who failed in the post-Enron era are examples of this.

If you’d like to learn more about “mindful leadership” the following books are recommended. Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Wherever You Go, There You Are, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche's books The Joy of Living and Joyful Wisdom and Bill George’s book True North .