Monday Motivation - How to be a Mindful Leader
Summary
TLDRIn this Monday Motivation video, Dr. Seagull interviews William Bowler, a student in their top-ranked DBA program, who recently completed a course on high-performance leadership. William shares insights from his leadership mini-book, 'The Mindful Leader: A Four-Week Roadmap to Master OCD, Elevate Your Leadership, and Improve Your Life.' The book details his personal journey with OCD, how he's harnessed mindfulness and meditation for over three decades to manage it, and offers practical steps for integrating mindfulness into leadership and daily life, demonstrating its power to transform even the most challenging situations.
Takeaways
- 🎓 William Bowler is a student in a top-ranked DBA program and has written a leadership mini book as part of his coursework in high-performance leadership.
- 📘 The title of William's book is 'The Mindful Leader: A Four-Week Roadmap to Master OCD, Elevate Your Leadership, and Improve Your Life'.
- 🧘 William has been using mindfulness and meditation for about three decades to control and master his OCD.
- 👶 William's childhood struggles with OCD and his journey to overcome it are shared in his book, highlighting the power of mindfulness.
- 🔄 Mindfulness is described as an innate quality that can be awakened and utilized to one's advantage, despite the distractions of modern life.
- 📈 The book outlines a four-week process involving surrender, learning relaxation techniques, and applying mindfulness to improve life and leadership.
- 💪 William emphasizes that the techniques in his book are not only for those with OCD but can benefit anyone looking to enhance their focus and presence.
- 📚 The book is a practical guide, offering step-by-step mindfulness strategies that can be adapted to individual needs.
- 🤔 William's personal experiences with OCD, including his struggles with reading and the impact on his education, are detailed to demonstrate the effectiveness of mindfulness.
- 🔗 The book is designed to be a quick and accessible resource, with the potential for a companion journal to further support the practice of mindfulness.
- 🌟 The interview concludes with a suggestion to rename 'Monday Motivation' to 'Mindfulness Monday Motivation,' reflecting the impact of William's insights.
Q & A
What is the main topic of William Bowler's leadership mini book?
-The main topic of William Bowler's leadership mini book is mindfulness and its application in mastering OCD, elevating leadership, and improving life.
How long has William been practicing mindfulness?
-William has been practicing mindfulness for about three decades.
What is the title of William Bowler's book?
-The title of William Bowler's book is 'The Mindful Leader: A Four-Week Roadmap to Master OCD, Elevate Your Leadership, and Improve Your Life'.
What is the significance of the book's title in relation to William's personal experience?
-The title reflects William's personal journey of using mindfulness to control and master his OCD, which has been a significant part of his life since childhood.
How does William define mindfulness?
-William defines mindfulness as paying attention and being aware of your present tense at all times.
What is the connection between mindfulness and OCD as discussed in the book?
-The book discusses how mindfulness can be used to control and master OCD without the need for psychotropic medication, demonstrating the power of mindfulness in managing mental health conditions.
What is the structure of the four-week process outlined in the book?
-The four-week process in the book consists of week-long steps that introduce relaxation, mindfulness, and visualization techniques that can be applied to any part of life, not just for managing OCD.
What was the turning point for William in his journey with OCD?
-The turning point for William was when he surrendered to his OCD, expecting it to take over but instead finding relief and the beginning of a new approach to managing his condition.
How did William's experience in college contribute to his current understanding of mindfulness?
-In college, William was placed in a remedial reading program due to his OCD, which led him to learn about meditative and relaxation techniques from a psychologist, laying the foundation for his current understanding of mindfulness.
What is the purpose of the companion journal that William is working on?
-The companion journal is intended to provide a practical tool for readers to apply the mindfulness techniques and strategies discussed in the book to their own lives.
How does William's personal story in the book enhance its credibility and relatability?
-William's personal story, including his struggles and successes with OCD, adds credibility to the book by showing that the techniques he discusses have been personally tested and effective. It also makes the book relatable to readers who may be facing similar challenges.
Outlines
📚 Embracing Mindfulness in Leadership
In this segment, the host introduces William Bowler, a student in the top-ranked DBA program and author of a leadership mini book. William shares his journey of using mindfulness to overcome OCD, a theme central to his book titled 'The Mindful Leader: A Four-Week Roadmap to Master OCD, Elevate Your Leadership, and Improve Your Life.' He explains the importance of mindfulness, how it's a natural state that can be cultivated and used to one's advantage, and how his personal experiences with OCD have shaped his leadership style. The conversation highlights the practical application of mindfulness in leadership and life, emphasizing its potential to transform even the most challenging situations.
🛠️ Overcoming Obstacles with Mindfulness Techniques
William continues to elaborate on his book, discussing the four-week process he underwent to surrender to and eventually master his OCD without the use of medication. He shares the transformative moment when he involuntarily surrendered to his condition and the relief that followed, illustrating the power of mindfulness. The book outlines week-long steps introducing relaxation and mindfulness techniques that can be applied to various aspects of life beyond OCD. William emphasizes that mindfulness is not just for those with OCD but can enhance anyone's leadership and life by improving focus and presence.
🎁 The Gift of Mindfulness: A Book and Beyond
In the final paragraph, the host expresses excitement for William's work and suggests renaming the segment to 'Mindfulness Monday Motivation.' The conversation concludes with the host's intention to recommend the book as a valuable resource and gift for those who might benefit from its insights. William hints at a companion journal to further support the application of the mindfulness practices introduced in his book, reinforcing the practicality and impact of his approach to personal and leadership development.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Mindfulness
💡OCD
💡Leadership
💡DBA Program
💡Meditation
💡High-Performance Leadership
💡Consciousness
💡Mindfulness Techniques
💡Visualization
💡Therapy Dog
💡Spiral
Highlights
William Bowler, a student in the top-ranked Forbes DBA program, shares his experience writing a leadership mini book.
The book 'The Mindful Leader: A Four-Week Roadmap to Master OCD, Elevate Your Leadership, and Improve Your Life' is William's personal journey with mindfulness and OCD.
William has been using mindfulness for three decades to control and master OCD.
The book details William's struggles and triumphs, offering a relatable narrative for readers.
Mindfulness leadership is a growing field with both good and bad aspects affecting our daily lives.
Everyone possesses mindfulness, but modern distractions often draw us away from it.
William likens mindfulness to a jug of milk that needs to be 'woken up' and used to one's advantage.
The book provides a four-week process to help readers master OCD and improve their leadership through mindfulness techniques.
The first step in the process is to 'surrender' to OCD, which was a turning point for William.
William's personal experience with OCD and college struggles adds credibility and relatability to the book.
The book offers practical mindfulness techniques that can be applied to any area of life, not just for those with OCD.
William emphasizes the power of mindfulness in controlling OCD without the need for medication.
The book is a hands-on guide, offering practical steps and strategies for readers to apply in their lives.
William is working on a companion journal to further support readers in their mindfulness journey.
Mindfulness is defined as paying attention and being aware of the present, with practical applications for leadership and daily life.
The book serves as a reminder of past struggles and a guide to current success, offering hope and strategies for overcoming challenges.
The interview concludes with a suggestion to rename the segment to 'Mindfulness Monday Motivation', emphasizing the importance of the topic.
Transcripts
well hey there I am really excited for
this Monday motivation where I am joined
by one of our students and adun
professors William bowler and so William
not only is a student in our DBA program
our number one Forbes ranked DBA program
but he's especially a student in my
class that just finished high
performance leadership and one of the
culminating assignment options was to
write a leadership mini book I know many
of you have heard me talk about this and
William did that he wrote this really
cool leadership book we'll put a link uh
in this email or however you're getting
this video to the book but I really
wanted to have him join us and share a
little bit about what he chose to write
about and how it's informed his
leadership so hi William hello hi so
yeah tell us a little bit about what is
the book about and why did you decide to
write on this topic well I decided to
write on a topic because I've been using
mindfulness now for about three decades
um and you if if you if you purchase a
book you you you will be able to read um
kind of my trials and tri ulations as a
child and what what got me here that's
right the title of the book is the
mindful leader a four-week road mapap to
master OCD elevate your leadership and
improve your life that's it that's a
mouthful it is so U as a child I had OCD
and as an adult I still have OCD uh but
the difference is uh for the last three
decades or so I've been controlling it
and mastering it through the use of uh
mindfulness and meditation
uh when when I started using mindfulness
it wasn't called mindfulness it was just
called meditation basically yeah um yeah
so so uh that's why I went forward and
and decided to write the book uh as I
started looking into the literature I
found that mindfulness leadership was a
big thing still is a big thing and uh
it's it's becoming more and more of a
big thing and and here's the thing about
mindfulness there's there's good news
and bad news about mindfulness the good
news is we're all born with it if you
have Consciousness if you're if you're
and if you're a if you're awake okay and
you're walking around and you're
performing a job and you're you have
mindfulness you may not know it but you
do uh uh but the bad news is everything
that goes on in our lives uh from cell
phones to Family Matters to job uh
everything draws us away from our
mindfulness so I like to think of
mindfulness as a as a uh kind of a jug
of milk that's been sitting in your
refrigerator for the last 40 years and
it's spoiled and it's your job wake it
up and use it and use it to your
advantage um so we all have it all we
have to do is wake it up and unspoil it
so I love that analogy that's so great
and so you used mindfulness techniques
and strategies not only to master OCD
but really improve your life and your
leadership and that's what you're doing
today and you're in our DBA program so
we know yes yes 100% I'm glad to be here
as uh in the top ranked DBA program and
that actually got yeah that actually got
the uh the notification uh and the
accolades when right after I had uh kind
of got into the program so I'm really
really glad to be here well I'm sure
it's because you enroll that really
helps
elev yeah okay uh so so in in the book
in the book I give you some uhh some of
my childhood right and and I tell you
how I got to where I'm at okay it's it's
it's it's a bit of a tearjerker there
were some trials and tribulations and
some trauma as a child uh that brought
on the OCD um and having OCD I uh I
almost didn't make it into college
because when I got into college and was
accepted uh we went through what what
was called a u a trial period that's
like a week of uh of of tests and where
they're going to place you and what
classes and that sort of thing and I was
reading on the fourth grade reading
level and that was not acceptable and
the reason that was happening is because
when I was reading in in high school I
could only read the first sentence of
every paragraph
if you know anything about OCD it's uh
it's called obsessive compulsive because
you have obsessive thoughts then you
have these ritualistic compulsions that
come along with that to relieve the
stress of your obsessions okay so my
obsession was death and loss Through
Fire how it got there I don't know but
that's what I that's what I focused on
and so my my my my whole ritual was I
had to read the first uh sentence of
every paragraph at least four times but
the more stressed out you get you you
you read it four times and then you read
four time four and then it's four time
four time four my point is is you can
get stuck in a loop and start what I
call spiraling um and and that's where
um uh I had to learn when when when I
went to remedial reading which was
entirely embarrassing and I tell you I
when I got the letter I if last year was
was the first time I mentioned it to my
parents and I never told my father right
last year isn't that amazing how we
carry these things with us
oh it was I but after that I forgot it
because uh it's it's really a reminder
of the past and a reminder of uh how
it's good because it reminded me where
I'm at but it's bad because it was it
was really I had to clear the air right
so in the book I go through fstep
four-week process and the first step is
to surrender okay when I surrendered to
OCD I did it involuntarily I got sick
and tired of it I was s I'm sitting
alone in my apartment I just screamed at
top my lungs and you'll read that in the
book I'm done with you I'm through with
you you
win just do what you want to do and I
expected my what I call my OCD monster
to take over at that time and he didn't
it's really weird it's like when when I
gave no resistance neither did he right
what a turning point I remember that it
was like such a turning point because
you're like where's this going to go
which way and then it was like wow yeah
it just relieved it's a lot of stress
and a lot of pressure and at the same
time I was seeing a psychologist through
through the college and I actually saw
that psychologist all four years so uh
he helped me tremendously because he
would give me little assignments to go
to go take a look at meditative
techniques and relaxation techniques Etc
some of the stuff I I go over in the
book um step two and step step two
through five are week-long processes
each okay and I do that because it's an
introduction now after you learn this
stuff you can do what whatever you want
to with it you know whatever feels best
for you pick and choose right and the
other thing is is is this book isn't
only for people with OCD once you learn
relaxation and mindfulness and
visualization you can use these in any
part of your life yeah it's incredible
the changes that that that that it can
make the reason why I why I I I I kind
of bent it toward OCD was because I
wanted to demonstrate how powerful
mindfulness is I never took one
psychotropic medication when I when I
had OCD and I had it really bad okay so
um uh that's how powerful mindfulness is
that's why I put these steps in the in
the book well I love it because this is
like a Hands-On guide I thought the same
thing when I was reading it first of all
you have to get this book because the
way William tells you this story you
will immediately be drawn in and there's
such a credibility to it because it's
like people know wow you've been there
but also like I can take away so much
from it too even though maybe I can't
relate to the OCD part too much who
knows but also it's like wow these these
work if this can work in the most
difficult and intense of circumstances
this can work in any leadership or life
peril so I really appreciate it and it's
so applied that's what's so great is
this isn't some long book on Theory it's
a very short and sweet mini guide book
and I hear you're working on a companion
journal for it too which is I am I am I
am yes I
am yeah and and so uh um mindfulness
within itself is when you when you
define the word mindfulness if you ask a
100 people maybe 10 of those may know
what it is and out of the 10 they're
going to tell you something different
but mindfulness is just is just
basically paying attention being being
aware of your present tense at all times
right and and having uh ADHD or OCD is
like having one of your therapy dogs
with you I had I had a friend when I was
in college that had a therapy dog and
anytime he would be close to to to a
seizure the therapy dog would put his
paw on his on on on on on Jack's knee
and so Jack could then take the
preemptive steps he needed to take uh to
toh get himself to a safe place and to
squelch what was going to happen to him
right so U uh having mindfulness is like
having that little uh uh dog in your
head that that little friend that lets
you know when things are going to start
spiraling and that that is where the
magic is I uh my spouse is extremely
understanding and there are times when I
get very stressed out I'm I'm having
trouble I'm I'm checking the stove I
know immediately when I'm going to start
to spiral so I go to my wife and I go do
me a favor I'm G to step outside can you
please check the stove and then tell me
come out tell me it's okay and so that's
what she does and so she come out she
it's fine it's off you're good to go um
that's what mindfulness does for you it
doesn't pure your OCD it helps you
control your OCD and or ADHD and if you
want to use it to for for for your
leadership yeah go for it it does
nothing but but uh but but increases
your leadership you're so right because
how many of us could use better focus
and to be present myself included in
meetings when there's emails and there's
texts and there's all sorts of things
you're thinking about on your to-do list
this really helps you develop that
mindfulness security so William I'm so
excited for you we'll put a link I
highly recommend this book it's
extremely readable and to gift it as
well because you may know folks that
struggle with this or who could benefit
from this and it just makes a great gift
so thank you for joining us on our
Monday morning motivation I think we
need to change it to mindfulness Monday
I like that even better mindfulness
Monday motivation so thank you so very
much thank you Dr seagull
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