Mindful leadership and reflective practice in higher education · Leadership Deakin University...

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Mindful leadership and reflective practice in higher education A/Prof Marcus O’Donnell Pro Vice-Chancellor Teaching & Learning Deakin University CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B

Transcript of Mindful leadership and reflective practice in higher education · Leadership Deakin University...

Page 1: Mindful leadership and reflective practice in higher education · Leadership Deakin University CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B Transformational Leadership Authentic Leadership Servant

Mindful leadership andreflective practice inhigher education

A/Prof Marcus O’DonnellPro Vice-Chancellor Teaching & Learning

Deakin University CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B

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• What is mindfulness?• Why is it relevant in Higher

Education?• What’s it got to do with leadership?• What can I do?

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•What is mindfulness?

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The age of mindfulness

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• One minute mindfulness• Mindfulness: an eight week course

for finding peace in a frantic world• The mindful dog owner• Mindful knitting• Mindful horsemanship: daily

inspirations for bettercommunications with your horse

• Everyday blessings: the inner workof mindful parenting

• Eating the moment: 141 mindfulpractices to overcomingovereating one meal at a time

• The mindful couple: howacceptance and mindfulness canlead you to the love you want

• The mindful leader: awakeningyour natural management skillsthrough mindfulness meditation

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“Mindfulness is awareness thatarises through paying attention,on purpose, in the presentmoment, non-judgementally. It’sabout knowing what is on yourmind.”

John Kabit-Zin

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“Mindfulness helps us getbetter at seeing the differencebetween what’s happeningand the stories we tellourselves about what’shappening, stories that get inthe way of direct experience.Often such stories treat afleeting state of mind as if itwere our entire andpermanent self.”

Deakin University CRICOS Provider Code: 00113BSharon Salzburg

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Attention• Focused concentration• Open Awareness

Insight• Exploration of awareness

Intention• Heart and mind

Suite ofpractices

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• Breath meditation• Walking meditation• Body scan• Compassion practices• Body practices – yoga, tai

chi• Journaling• Art practices• Ritual• Prayer

Suite ofpractices

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Mindfulness effects

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• Health & medical: stress-reduction and pain toleranceprograms (Kabat-Zinn 1982; Grant 2014)

• Psychological interventions and therapy (Grossman & VanDam 2011)

• Business and leadership programs (Purser & Millio 2015)• Big corporations such as Google, Facebook, Target and

Ford (Wilson 2014).• Schools & educational practices (Barbezat & Bush 2013)

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Mindfulness effects

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Eberth, J. & Sedlmeier, P. (2012) TheEffects of Mindfulness Meditation: AMeta-AnalysisMindfulness 3: 174.

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Mindfulness effects

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They point to four areas where they can nowshow convincing links between meditativepractice and changes in brain systems orneural pathways:

• Reactions to stress, trauma and disturbingevents

• Development of compassion and empathy• Deepening of focus and attention• Changes in our sense of self

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•What’s this got to dowith higher education?

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Disruption and change within the sector

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• Australian Qualifications Framework Review• National Regional, Rural and Remote Education

Strategy• Performance-Based Funding for the Commonwealth

Grant Scheme• Review into University Freedom of Speech• Review of the Higher Education Provider Category

Standards• Tackling contract cheating – Draft Legislation

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Disruption and change within the sector

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Disruption and change within academicworkforce

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• Casualisation• Short-term contracts• Divisional restructures• Emergence of third space professionals• Rebalancing academic and professional roles• Audit culture

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The age of supercomplexity

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A complex world is one in which we are assailed by morefacts, data, evidence, tasks and arguments than we caneasily handle within the frameworks in which we have ourbeing. By contrast, a supercomplex world is one in which thevery frameworks by which we orient ourselves to the worldare themselves contested. Supercomplexity denotes afragile world but it is a fragility brought on not merely bysocial and technological change; it is a fragility in the waythat we understand the world, in the way in which weunderstand ourselves and in the ways in which we feelsecure about acting in the world. (Barnett 2000b: 257)

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The idea of the university

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• The adaptive university• The borderless university• The bureaucratic university• The civic university• The digital university• The distributed university

• The global university• The liquid university• The managed university• The performative university• The schizophrenic university• The therapeutic university Barnett 2011 Imagining the

University

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The triple challenge

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This “constellation offragility” is markedaccording to Barnett by• uncertainty,• unpredictability,• challengeability and

contestability(Barnett 2000a: 63).

It presents a “triple set ofchallenges”• challenges in the domain

of understanding andknowledge,

• in the domain of actionand professional work and

• challenges to self-identityand being-in-the-world.(Barnett 2000b: 257)

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•Mindful leadership forsupercomplexity

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Leadership

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TransformationalLeadership

Authentic Leadership Servant Leadership Emotional Intelligence

idealized influence internalised moralperspective

listening self-awareness,

inspirational motivation self-awareness awareness self-management,intellectual stimulation balanced processing empathy social awarenessindividualizedconsideration

relational transparency commitment to thegrowth of others

social/relationshipmanagement

positive psychologicalcapital

persuasion

authentic behavior foresightstewardshiphealingbuilding communityconceptualization

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Emerging connections: ambiguity

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“These results indicate a strong connectionbetween increased self-care practices duringtimes of ambiguity and a sense of presenceand self-awareness, advising leaders toselect personal practices to developmindfulness and to take care of their ownwell-being during change. Mindfulness helpschange leaders embrace ambiguity, andtherefore be more effective at leadingtransformational organizational change.”Julie Chesley & Avonlie Wylson (2016) Ambiguity: theemerging impact of mindfulness for change leaders

Megan Reitz, Michael Chaskalson, Sharon Olivierand Lee Waller , The Mindful Leader

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Emerging connections: communication

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We identify a behavioral mechanism – mindfulness incommunication – which explains the interpersonaleffect of leaders’ mindfulness. The high agreement ofmultiple followers in their ratings of the leaders’mindfulness in communication that we found in ourdata..suggests that mindfulness fosters a specificcommunication style, which is relatively stable acrosssituations and followers.

Arendt JFW, Pircher Verdorfer A and Kugler KG (2019) Mindfulness and Leadership: Communication as aBehavioral Correlate of Leader Mindfulness and Its Effect on Follower Satisfaction.

LeaderMindfulness

RespectfulCommunication

Followersatisfaction

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Emerging connections: feedback

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Paying attention (i.e. to fixed mindset triggers) andworking to identify, then accept one’s thoughts andfeelings are benefits of mindfulness practice thatmight enhance a growth mindset. Awareness offixed mindset triggers can increase an individual’sability to openly receive, accept and use criticalfeedback.Danette V. Day, Jess L. Gregory, 2017, Mindfulness as a Prerequisite to Effective Leadership; Exploring theConstructs that Foster Productive Use of Feedback for Professional Learning

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Mindful Practice

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Self-care Relational

MeditationPause Practices

GratitudeSelf-compassion

Deep ListeningPause Practices

Compassion

CuriosityPause Practices

Conscious reframing

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Leading mindfully

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Pause

You could meditate: And you could be mindful:when waiting whilst walkingwhilst commuting whilst talkingat your desk when eatingat the gym when you’re irritated or upsetwhen you’re put on hold preparing a mealduring ads on TV listening to musicduring meetings playing sport

Melbourne Meditation Centre

Choose everyday triggers and use structured pauses to manage transitions

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Leading mindfully

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Beginnersmind

Let go of the need to add value. Many people, especiallyhigh achievers, have an overwhelming need to providevalue to the people around them.

Let go of the need to win every argument. “Others don'tneed to lose for me to win.” If you're having a conversationand someone makes a statement that you disagree with, tryreleasing the urge to correct them.

Tell me more about that. Every now and then, I'll challengemyself to stay quiet and pour all of my energy into listening tosomeone else. My favorite strategy is to ask someone to, “Tellme more about that.”

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s thereare few.” - Shunryo Suzuki

James Clear

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Leading mindfully

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Retellthe

story

“The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positivesones.” – Rick Hansen

The first step is to turn positive events into positive experiences. All kinds ofgood things happen in our daily life that we hardly notice at all, and if we do,we don’t feel it.Second, really savor it. In other words, the way to remember something is tomake it intense, felt in the body, and lasting. So rather than noticing it andfeeling good for a couple of seconds, stay with it. Relish it, enjoy it, for 10,20, or 30 seconds, so it really starts developing neural structure.The third step is to sense and intend that this positive experience is sinkinginto you and becoming a part of you. In other words, it’s becoming woveninto the fabric of your brain and yourself.

Rick Hansen

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Putting things in perspective

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“Mindfulness is not a ‘silver bullet’ solution as manybooks and courses would have one believe. Seen incontext, as a gradual increase in awareness of theseaspects in ones’ life, it is however essential and agreat help in interacting with collaborators,managing a team, decision making and puttingthings in perspective.”Megan Reitz, Michael Chaskalson, Sharon Olivier and Lee Waller , The Mindful Leader