Digital detox helping to forge better leaders

Leaders, step away from your laptop - new research reveals that a digital detox is the secret to great business performance. 

Griffith Uni: Mindfulness

Leaders, step away from your laptop - new research reveals that a digital detox is the secret to great business performance. 

HEAD: Digital detox helping to forge better leaders

INTRO: We’ve teamed up with Griffith Business School to learn more about the changing face of business.

STANDFIRST: In an era smothered in technology, researchers reveal business leaders should take a step back from their screens to perform at their best.

William Holmes APPROVED BY CLIENT

There's no going back now. The world we live in is digital, and it's becoming ever easier to be consumed by the likes, shares, tweets, texts, emails and notifications that pile up relentlessly on our devices. The key, then, is to find a way to master the digital beast, to create a world where you're in control. For many, a strategy to cope in a digital world is resolutely analogue. It's free, and can take as little as a few minutes. There is a word for it - mindfulness - and it is becoming a widely employed strategy for coping in a world where switching off is ever more challenging. "In between meetings, or talking with students, it’s about just being able to take that deep breath and bring my attention back," says Griffith University's Dr Amy J. Hawkes. "I think we’re too focused on that idea of what’s next. You’ve got to slow yourself down enough to be willing to take that deep breath, to look out the window, to spend even two minutes doing that. It’s about giving yourself permission to do that." New research from Dr Hawkes, from Griffith's School of Applied Psychology, and co-researcher Carla Neale, suggests that taking a breather and being mindful of, not only your surroundings, but the impact your words and actions have on your co-workers, can maintain and improve workplace relationships.

“People who are more mindful reported higher quality relationships with their colleagues, and that seems to be explained by how they’re processing and responding to what is happening,” said Dr Hawkes. “This ability to process emotions, how they’re feeling in that moment, and then respond appropriately and not snap, is something that is starting to appear strongly in mindfulness literature as being an explanation for why mindfulness might help these relationship processes." Neale said "the fact that mindfulness has become such a phenomenon, to me, speaks to a deep need of all people for rest in an increasingly restless world, and a very natural and human need to connect with ourselves, with others and with our surroundings, when everything else seems to fracture or disconnect us”.

Mindfulness, Dr Hawkes said, is a technique that workplaces can and should encourage. "As soon as we start to think about mindfulness, and people needing to practice their mindfulness, it becomes very easy for organisations to say, 'Right, well go off and do that on your time', and if you’re not coping well, or not managing things well, or you’re not getting along with people, 'Well then, you need to go and do some mindfulness practice'. "I don't think that's a fair outcome and that's not the aim of what we're trying to show. Rather, organisations can have a big impact on the culture of their workplace. Mindfulness is not the only thing that will impact those outcomes, [but] a workplace can have an impact on improving mindfulness by allowing people the space and time to do that ... somewhere where they can go during their breaks and really focus and relax, and there are training workshops and retreats to help people develop those skills." Dr Hawkes has made a daily routine of getting outside and going for a walk, during which she makes a point of focusing on her surroundings. "I find that really clears my head," she said. "It gives me a chance to take a breath of fresh air, look at the trees. I’m lucky here at Griffith because we're set in beautiful bush, so there are lovely walks. I do that twice a day at least. “Walking up from the car park is a really good chance to take that all in, and going for a walk to get a coffee, or having a quick walk at lunchtime." BREAKOUT At Scrunch, a digital data agency connecting online influencers with advertisers, CEO and founder Danielle Lewis tends to employ digital natives. Lewis uses natural sunlight, plants, essential oils and diffusers to create a workplace environment that is conducive to mindfulness."In an agency environment it's very easy to let everything overwhelm you," she said. "While I'm at work I have lunch away from my desk and get some sunlight if I can. I'll even take off my shoes and put my feet on the grass." Lewis also instigated the daily ritual Tea at 3. "At 3 o'clock we get up, leave our desks and have a cup of tea and actually talk. It gives you 10 or 15 minutes of getting away from your big screen and your phone ... particularly if it’s been a busy day, it’s so easy to just sit in front of your laptop and forget about the rest of your colleagues who are sitting right next to you. "Sometimes, if there is a deadline looming, 10 minutes seems so precious that you can't stand up and [have tea], but the leaders in the team are always the first to get up and they encourage everyone to do the same." The Griffith MBA teaches leaders how to turn good business practice into strategic advantage. Scholarships available. Learn more here.

BREAKOUT QUOTE (for graphic) No headshot for her:“The fact that mindfulness has become such a phenomenon, to me, speaks to a deep … human need to connect with ourselves, with others and with our surroundings, when everything else seems to fracture or disconnect us.

Carla Neale, Griffith University researcher

Originally published as Digital detox helping to forge better leaders