Addressing Cultural Challenges through Mindfulness

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The practice of mindfulness is paying attention in a particular way, on purpose,in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally." Jon Kabbat-Zin

Practicing mindfulness is not only a proactive way to counter stress, but is also a way for individuals and organizations to increase focus, innovation, creativity, and to improve performance. At the request of employees, in 2014 the Gates Foundation piloted the nine-week Awake at Work mindfulness program, led by consultant Anakha Coman. The pilot, which was measured with rigor, was very successful and has been repeated with results that show a self-reported increase in well-being, ability to focus and be pro-active, and perception of sufficient time to think, innovate, work and plan. This Zing Round will provide a high-level overview of the program, and will include a brief experiential exercise in the form of a brief, guided meditation.

Learning Objectives

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  • Experience a micro-meditation that can be practiced in the workplace.
  • Increase your knowledge about the benefits of mindfulness practice.

Application

  • Leverage the Gates Foundation case study as a way to consider whether a mindfulness program would benefit your organization.
  • Discover free mindfulness resources that you can use to support your journey to become a change catalyst

Resources
About the Author

Kara Laverde is a past chair of the ATD Forum, and is the Principal and Owner of Seattle-based Laverde Consulting. Kara has more than two decades of experience in leadership development, adult learning, and organization development, and is a seasoned consultant, facilitator, curriculum designer, and change leader.

Past experience includes serving as the Deputy Director of Learning and Leadership at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where Kara led enterprise-wide leadership and management development, as well as the learning and professional coaching functions.

Kara’s consulting experience is cross-sector, including public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic organizations. Here early career was in social work and she lives the social worker’s mantra of "starting where the client is" in her consulting practice.

Kara has a BA from Smith College and an MSW from the University of Washington.