And so it became a paltry spectacle, the National Commemoration on Dam Square. Paltry because much of the citizenry that carries and underpins the commemoration was absent. The run-up to the commemoration was dominated by fears of its disruption. Wouldn’t there be shouting or demonstrations? Would we be able to handle the tension of remembering
Mindfulness is good for you, is the dominant message about this form of meditation. It helps against stress, anxiety, depression, eating disorders and more. And it makes you a better person, or at least a little bit. That message is usually supported by two claims. One that its positive effects are scientifically proven. The other
It almost feels inappropriate to wish each other a healthy and happy 2024. At the turn of the year, humanity is torn apart by pain and sorrow, the war in Ukraine, the unfathomable suffering in Gaza and Israel, displacement due to extreme drought or flooding, and politically shifting concerns. It’s hard to imagine it can
Have we become hypersensitive? It seems. Where we now unconcernedly expose our inner turmoil on social media, the flip side is that we no longer able to bear questions or comments – let alone criticisms – because they directly threaten our existence, our being. Have we lost our way in the unrestrained public expression of
Meditating has brought me a lot of good: easier access to peace and tranquility, more clarity of mind, and a more productive and beneficial way of dealing with emotions. And yet I regularly wonder what the point of meditation is. Spending time on a pillow paying attention to my physical and mental experiences. Why should
Hope is a theme not often mentioned in mindfulness. In mindfulness, we observe experiences in the moment. We try to stay away from ruminating about what could have been or from daydreaming about a bright future. We try to acknowledge every experience, without judgment. Seeing every experience as it is, moment by moment. That realism
Over the last few years, thanks to big corporations, the media and enthusiast practitioners mindfulness training at work has reached celebrity status. It’s promoted as a solution to many or most of our daily organizational problems and demands like stress and burn-out, bad communication and cooperation, creativity and high performance. What is the truth about
The impulse toward stress is almost constantly present in the life of a manager. The art is learning to cope with stress. Being able to make contact with the being mode, as we did with in previous exercises, is essential for this. Learning to switch mentally between doing mode and being mode is the next
Mindful leadership of your team begins by taking responsibility: do you dare accompany your team into the green zone of mindful teamwork? And if you do, what does your role look like? I would like to pause at the attitude of responsibility, the intention with which you set to work. As manager, do you allow
Persistence and perseverance are criteria for the selection of managers, but the pressure of the organization and the will-power and perseverance of the manager himself can be so great that he easily finds himself in a negative spiral of working too much and too hard and taking too little rest. You accept the pain and
Teams and organisations are constantly changing. High performance is expected, more intensive teamwork and profound innovation, not only to serve customers better but also to address important economic and social issues. One of the first management gurus, Peter Drucker stated that it was crucial for the survival of organisations that they systematically let go of