Diversity and Leadership:

Possibilities of Mindfulness and Compassion‑BasedLeadership Training

Abstract

How can mindfulness contribute to the management trainings concerning diversity and leadership? This study analyzes Search Inside of Yourself (SIY), a leadership training based on the mindfulness, developedat Google.
As an attention training, mindfulness can make people aware of the autopilot mode of their mind. The clear awareness through mindfulness can lead them to a clearer self-awareness, including monitoring themselves, others and their situations. They can seek flexible options for their responses and regulate themselves to optimize their situations. In this way, mindfulness can help leaders to avoid categorizing,stereotyping, and attributing others―i.e. auto piloting of mind by cultural scripts―and choose optimal responses. Together with other benefits, mindfulness can be a powerful practice for leaders working with people from diverse backgrounds.
However, if the leadership training only relies on mindfulness, there is still a dualism of themselves and others in people’s consciousness. The SIY program, derived from Buddhist priests’teaching, is further strengthened by combining compassion-related components with the mindfulness. Although it was not articulated so, these components encourage people to experience non-duality, an ultimate response to diversity.
The paper proposes an introduction of mindfulness and compassion in corporate Japan in relation to diversity management.