“Meditation has probably been the single most important reason for whatever success I’ve had.”
- Ray Dalio, Founder & CEO, Bridgewater Associates
The whole meditation and mindfulness wave have certainly gained more and more momentum over the last few years, but is still considered a relatively new trend for many people. Especially amongst members of the older generation. However, don't get me wrong, the practice of meditation itself, for example, dates all the way back to around 1500 BCE.
But to us here at MĒSENTIALS at least, it doesn't come as a big surprise when we see that some of the biggest names in the world of CEO's today are using mindfulness and meditation in the workplace to increase both their own success as a leader, but also the results of their employees. It might even be, as Ray Dalio said, the very reason for their success in the first place.
But why is that? Let's dive deeper.
First, let's look at some of the names of these CEO's we're talking about:
- Ray Dalio, Founder & CEO, Bridgewater Associates
- Jack Dorsey, Founder & Former CEO, Twitter
- Ariana Huffington, Founder & CEO, The Huffington Post
- Marc Benioff, Founder & CEO, Salesforce
- Jeff Weiner, Former CEO, LinkedIn
- Oprah Winfrey, CEO, Harpo Productions
So, what does the actual implementation of mindfulness used in the workplace look like? Well, take our lead quote Ray Dalio for example, he has been a very vocal advocate of mindfulness in the workplace and has even written a book on the matter called "Principles". At his company offices of Bridgewater, they have created a meditation room for employees as well as offering free mindfulness training. Very much like Ray, Marc Benioff of Salesforce, have also been a strong proponent of mindfulness in the workplace. He created a mindfulness program called "Mindfulness at Salesforce", that offers classes, workshops and other resources to his employees.
Good example of a meditation room for employees, Forbes.
The reason for this? Well, meditation and mindfulness has been found to be an absolute essential when it comes to stress reduction, increased focus and overall well-being. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see why that would be incredibly beneficial for both the CEO's on a personal level, but even more so spread amongst all employees in their companies.
Yet, so many companies and CEO's of today don't put mindfulness in the workplace as a priority. This is something we at MĒSENTIALS think needs to change asap. From a logical standpoint, it just makes sense that a person who can handle stress, that is filled with calm and focus, with a decluttered mind ready for creativity, always will outperform the person who's not.
So our call out to you reading this, is to take a good look at your current workplace and what's being done at the moment for your and the rest of the employees well-being as well as what resources are available for you to practice mindfulness. Not happy with the current situation? Talk to your colleagues about it, talk to your boss about it. Explain to them why mindfulness in the workplace is the code to unlock the highest potential of the company. He/She will thank you for it later.
We promise.