Conscious leadership and meditation

Living in a time when we are constantly busy and look towards the next big thing we want to achieve, it is difficult to stay present and live in the moment. This highly affects our leadership style and how we communicate and work with others, but at the same time, how we engage with ourselves. Knowing that CDTM is a highly driven community, we found it necessary to offer an elective course on this topic. Also, since many Centerlings end up in leadership positions after graduating, we want them to have the right tools and knowledge on how to be more conscious leaders. One of these techniques is meditation, a mindfulness activity that has been scientifically proven to show positive results. We will explain them in a moment. The lecturers of this elective were Dr. med. Markus Deutschmann, doctor and scientist at the Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich, and Thomas Bleyer, Executive at Ravensburger AG, investor, yoga & meditation teacher. Both shared with the students their experiences with mindfulness, one in a more scientific approach and the other in a more practical approach, which fitted perfectly together. During one weekend, the Centerlings learned about the benefits of meditation, how it increases focus, resilience, openness, and curiosity and thus makes one a mindful leader. Meditation is also proven to reduce stress, slow down the aging process, and strengthen the immune system. After every theoretical session, a practical session of meditation followed, ranging from 5 minutes to 30minutes. The students practiced a variety of meditation methods, from different techniques of breathing and positioning of the body, silent and mantra meditation, to yoga. Everyone had the opportunity to get out of their comfort zone by trying something they had never tried before. At the end of every session, the participants shared how the meditation had impacted them. By the end of the second day, we were all convinced that a mindful life makes us not only better leaders but also better human beings. That is why we committed to 28 days of daily 30 minutes meditation after this experience. We also created written concepts on how meditation can be integrated into business life by taking examples of successful companies doing so. We are very thankful to Markus and Thomas for providing this great experience to the CDTM students. Also, thanks to the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) for showing us that mindfulness makes us better leaders!