Creating Mindful Leaders

Chapter 5What Does “Performance” Mean to You?

Meditation, more than anything in my life, was the biggest ingredient of whatever success I've had.

—Ray Dalio

We're all looking to get better at something. When it comes to performance, I've found that most leaders are looking to be happier and get more out of life versus be Super‐Boss or experience some spiritual awakening.

Better at What?

Companies want employees to be better at a range of things, mostly work‐related. Employees want to be better in many areas of life, many not related to work. It's an age‐old friction point that contributes to more employees feeling that a work/life balance is BS.

Good companies tend to provide expectations and their own definitions of performance. This requires them to make big assumptions, including that most employees are looking to advance, they want to qualify for rewards (pay increases, bonuses, recognition, and so on), and that their corporate culture is enjoyable enough to continue working under the company's norms.

Over the past year, we've surveyed more than 3,500 leaders. Here's what we learned about stress, disruption, and performance.

Companies Do Care

I've never met a company that didn't want their employees to be happier and healthier. Most companies also see that stress is a growing crisis that is negatively impacting their cultures and driving up their turnover; they need help ...