Mindfulness practices for faith-inspired leadership

Leadership is no joke. As a leader, responsibilities weigh heavily on your shoulders. You need to remain focused on your goals and vision while staying in tune with your team. The same remains true if you are talking about this personally for your family. 

We sat down with Laura Boyd, a leadership expert, to talk about mindfulness practices that can help you not only in leadership but in every area of your life. We also discussed how leadership is grounded in Biblical principles and how your values play a role in consistency for your leadership and your team. 

Meet Laura 

Laura Boyd is a leader, speaker, leadership coach, and author. She has over 25 years of experience working with organizations to help them develop sustainable growth as organizations and the people within. She has been a leader on executive teams for large companies, emerging companies, and nonprofits, as well as a business owner. Laura believes Leadership is the ultimate Delta for change, strategy, and growth in an organization. She is now taking her years of experience and helping businesses become high-performance organizations.

Mindful Leadership Practices 

Our mind is the gatekeeper to our success. As a leader, Laura has found to change or improve, you can’t do so unless you are aware of what the change or improvement needs to be. Figuring out where there are self-awareness opportunities and what triggers you have is key to building the foundation of change and leadership. After you have become aware of your roadblock, you need to focus on your desire to change. Why is it that you desire to change, or better yet, do you have the desire to change? If the answer is no, you are not going to get too far. If the answer is yes, it is then you can move on to committing to that change. Commit to putting a plan together to achieve your goals, i.e., I will do X or Y twice a month. Once you have committed to your goal, the fourth and final mindful practice is to put it into PRACTICE! Again, the keyword is practice. Stay true to your commitment and practice getting better one step at a time. And remember, failure is an option. Keep practicing (and failing) until it becomes a habit.  

Leadership Grounded in Biblical Principles

Contrary to popular belief, leadership has been around since the Bible. If you look at any leadership book today, all of those same principles are in the Bible. Connecting your faith and work is possible and will help you when leading. One of the best ways Christians can lead is by discerning their purpose and God-given skills and, in return, being able to help decipher your team’s skills and place them in the strategic areas where they will thrive. For Laura, God has given her the gift of lifting people up and motivating them, “I’m so passionate about it, and it comes through when I’m facilitating on leadership because I get so passionate about serving others. And that is my gift to the world. So I wanted to take that and give it to the world because God gave that to me, and that is my gift.” Find what gift(s) God has given you, focus on them, and lead with authority. 

How to Remain Consistent in Your Leadership

If someone followed you around for 30 days, what would they say about you? Would your actions align with what you proclaim your values are? To be consistent, you have to know your values. Map out your values (hint, write them down) and remain consistent by asking yourself, “Does this action/task/behavior align with my values?” Treat it like a checklist, and if a box doesn’t get checked, it gives you an opportunity to pause and reevaluate. This checklist can also help you recognize when you have missed the mark. Being vulnerable and recognizing when you have acted in a way that doesn’t align with your beliefs allows you to build trust with others. “We are gonna fall down, but it’s how you respond back that’s going to help you get back on the consistency wagon,” says Laura. Consistency with your values allows you to be the same person, leading a team, leading your family, or leading community efforts – what you see is what you get.

More from this episode

Amid COVID-19, Laura wanted to find a way to encourage others like she always had. When her normal options weren’t available, Laura turned to inspiring others with one simple word a day for a whole month. The positive response Laura received was unexpected, and a book was born. Words that Work for Leaders: 31 Days of Reflection, Motivation, and Goal Setting provides a daily inspiring word with a simple goal. Each page allows for daily reflection for leaders (like you) who want to grow, reflect, and challenge themselves to be the best leader of their lives. This book is just a glimpse of the support and encouragement that Laura and her team at Leadership Delta provide for their clients. Strategy, team development, and leadership growth all with a biblical foundation in mind. 

Ready to connect with Laura? Connect with her online and via LinkedIn and Facebook.