I hope this finds you well and that you are taking time to enjoy summer in whatever way has meaning for you! This month, I want to share two things: 1) a meditation to help cultivate presence and 2) a four-part work series that addresses important topics including mental health, imposter syndrome, jerks, and mindfulness at work.

For the first part, I want to discuss a skill that many clients are working on called executive presence. This type of presence is about showing up confident, clear-minded, calm, and grounded – especially in complex, politically charged environments. And while presence is a crucial skill in the workplace, it is also an important personal leadership life skill because cultivating a clear-minded, calm, and grounded presence helps us show up better for our families and communities.

While I appreciate that meditation is not for everyone, I believe it is one of the most effective and efficient ways to self-manage and regulate emotions … based on research, and client and personal experiences.

Norman Fischer beautifully captures this by saying, “We’re stepping back from our calculating, intelligent, controlling mind to a more receptive and intuitive space. We’re developing another kind of presence, another kind of skill to be able to stand within our experience differently. And the foundation is this ability even in a moment of time to step back into the body and the breathing.”

This process involves:

• Shifting your posture so that you show up with strength, stability, and a brighter energy.
• Becoming aware of your internal experience, including emotions, body sensations, and thinking mind.
• Using the breath as an anchor and a way to give the thinking mind a rest.
• Using awareness of breath and body sensations to support showing up clear-minded,
• calm, and grounded in complex external environments.
• Becoming aware of and freeing up personal biases and past experiences so that you can approach each situation, especially challenging ones, with a clear mind.

If you want to learn more about meditation and want to try the practice of meditation, click here to listen to Norman Fischer’s guided meditation on “Presence,” a client favorite (13 minutes).

 

I would like to share another useful resource: The Four-Part Work Life Series featured on the Ten Percent Happier podcast.

• Click here to listen to Scott Galloway on: The Impact of Work on Mental Health, the Role of Luck in Success, and How Much is Enough on Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris (50 minutes).

Galloway is a professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, a serial entrepreneur, founder of nine companies, including Profit, Red Envelope, and Section Four, has served on the boards of directors of the New York Times Company, Urban Outfitters, and Panera Bread. And best-selling author of many books, including, The Algebra of Happiness, Post Corona, and his latest book, which is called Adrift: America in 100 Charts.

Key discussion topics in this podcast include:

• • • Why work is such a big factor in determining our mental health.
    • Where Galloway stands on the idea of “bringing your whole self to work.”
    • How to get over being fired.
    • Plus, lots more!

• Click here to listen to Do You Feel Like an Imposter? | Dr. Valerie Young (Co-Interviewed by Dan’s Wife, Bianca!) on Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris (65 minutes).

Dr. Valerie Young is an internationally recognized expert on imposter syndrome, the co-founder of the Imposter Syndrome Institute, and author of the book titled, The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It.

Key discussion topics in this podcast include:

• • • Three things that define imposter syndrome.
    • That imposter syndrome is not just for women — men deal with it, too, as do many other people along the gender spectrum.
    • What it means to shift from imposter thinking to thinking like “a humble realist.”
    • Three tools for dealing with imposter feelings.
    • Plus, lots more!

• Click here to listen to Jerks at Work | Amy Gallo on Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris (71 minutes).

Amy Gallo is a workplace expert who writes and speaks about interpersonal dynamics, difficult conversations, feedback, gender, and effective communication. Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review and the author of a new book, Getting Along, How to Work with Anyone, Even Difficult People. She has also written The Harvard Business Review Guide to Dealing With Conflict, and she co-hosts the Women at Work podcast.

Key discussion topics in this podcast include:

• • • Why quality interactions at work are so important for our professional success and personal mental health.
    • Why Gallo believes one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to dealing with difficult people in the workplace.
    • A taxonomy of the eight different flavors of difficult coworkers, including the pessimist, the victim, the know-it-all, and the insecure boss – with tactics for managing each.
    • Plus, lots more!

• Click here to listen to Does Mindfulness Actually Make You Happier (or Better) at Work | Prof. Lindsey Cameron on Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris (55 minutes).

Professor Lindsey Cameron is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Management. Her research focuses on mindfulness, as well as the future of work. She has a 20-year practice, having studied and taught primarily in the Vipassana and non-dual traditions. In her prior career, Professor Cameron spent over a decade in the US intelligence and diplomatic communities serving the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Key discussion topics in this podcast include:

• • • Where she stands on the whole “McMindfulness” debate.
    • What companies mean when they talk about mindfulness at work.
    • Which specific practices are most beneficial, depending on the situation.
    • Plus, lots more!