TSLP Season 4- Mindful Living for Leaders

🎙️ New Episode: Mindful Living for Leaders with Stefanos Koutsoumpis

In a world that rewards busyness, many leaders are running at full speed while feeling increasingly disconnected, overwhelmed, and exhausted.

What if the answer isn't doing more?
What if it's becoming more intentional?
In this episode of the Transformation Station Leadership Podcast, Stefanos Koutsoumpis and I explore the power of mindful living and why it may be one of the most important leadership skills for today's environment.

Leadership isn't just about managing responsibilities, it's about managing yourself.
The leaders who create the greatest impact are often those who learn to slow down, think clearly, listen deeply, and lead intentionally.

Learn more about Stefanos:
Website- https://www.mindfullife.coach
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanos-koutsoumpis/

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Until next time, stand tall, step bold, and own your transformation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

What if one of the greatest leadership advantages today is not working harder, moving faster, or doing more? What if it's learning how to slow down long enough to think clearly, lead intentionally, and live mindfully? Well, listen, I'm ready to get this conversation so that we can talk about how mindful living can actually be a leadership superpower. Come on, let's get this conversation started. I'm your host, Adrienne Benson, and today we're exploring a topic that is both timely and transformational. That's right, we're talking about mindful living for leaders like you and like me. I'm super excited for you to meet our guest Stefanos today because we're gonna be talking about how we can lead more effectively and communicate more intentionally. Now, listen, before we get this conversation started, I'm really excited because today, you know me, you know I like to celebrate. Today we are celebrating. What are we celebrating? We're celebrating you. That's right. We're celebrating that because you have been such a committed community. We actually hit 6,500 podcast downloads. I want to say thank you so much to you for your consistent journey with Transformation Station. Now, listen, here's the deal 6,500. I know we've only just begun. That's right. We gotta keep on going. So, what I'm gonna invite you to do, if you notice, we're in season four. So if you miss even one episode of season one, season two, or season three, I need you to go back. That's right. I need you to go back on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Buzz Sprout, like all of the podcast platforms, go back and I need you to watch the replays and get caught up with the leadership wisdom that we have been experiencing every single week. And then finally, I need to remind you we don't we don't do this by ourselves. Oh no, we we invite other people. So I'm inviting you to invite a minimum of five other leaders in your network to tap into the wisdom and the goodness of Transformation Station. How can they do that? Well, one, go back and watch the replays, but then two, every month we meet once a month as a community. The lead her shift webinar. Well, this month, in the month of July, we are going to have our special guest, Christine Valdez. Christine Valdez in July next month is going to be our special guest. And look at what we're talking about. We're talking about leading without lowering our standards. You want to be in the room. So, what this means is when this podcast is over, I need you to click on the registration link and register today so that you can join us for this webinar. And as always, make sure you don't come by yourself. All right. Well, I'm excited because our conversation today is a very pivotal one. Let me tell you about our guest, Stefanas. Well, our guest, he has a PhD in physics and over a decade of experience as a scientist and a researcher. He has spent years achieving success on paper, and then later he transitioned into business, working as a certified project manager in multinational IT corporations. For years, he has coached students and professionals to optimize their performance and to reach their goals, but something deeper was missing. He has since trained at leading institutions in the USA and in the UK, from corporate coaching to IBM and Kindrel and to life coaching through and through the Mindfulness Coaching School and Mindfulness Training at Oxford Mindfulness Center and the Institute of Organizational Mindfulness. I'm excited for us to talk with Stefanos today because he has discovered that true growth comes from within and over time. He's rediscovered his own personal growth again and again and again. And Stefanos, welcome to Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. We're really thrilled that you are with us today.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Hi Adrienne, it's so nice to be here with you here today. And congrats on the 600, 6500 downloads. That's exciting.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

That's exciting. Thank you so much. Super excited for this community and for the conversation that we're having today. Okay, so as I was preparing for this episode, you know, I'm thinking to myself, mindful living, mindful living, mindful living. And Stephano, I was thinking, you know, mindful living, it isn't necessarily about slowing progress, but it is about increasing awareness. And I was thinking to myself that mindful living has the opportunity to create space for us as leaders, right? Between stimulus and between response, right? Helps us to strengthen our emotional intelligence. So I want to start off by asking you this thoughtful question. When you hear the phrase mindful living, what does it mean? And why is this important for leaders today?

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Yeah, sure. You know, being uh authentic in business and life, it's something you know that you cannot get paid for. And there is a lot of intuition and a lot of creativity in leadership, which is not something that someone can just tell you to do it, it's coming from within. So learning to live more authentically is a way to tap into those resources that most probably, if you are in such a position, you already have them. So when it comes to mindful living, it's the art of learning again and rediscovering your strengths, going back and see how you can connect better with others. What brought you into that position? What were your strengths that brought you here today, and how you can use them instead of just rushing and trying to extinguish fires all day, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:59

And and I'm gonna ask you to repeat one thing one more time.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

You said it's the art of it's the art of getting back, grounding yourself, yeah, living authentically and leading authentically.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

And so, leaders, you know, here in Transformation Station, we always take a moment to pause and to reflect on the wisdom that we're receiving. And so, leaders, you know, Stefanos is already reminding us you got to ground yourself. So ask yourself right now, what is grounding you? Right. And then I love a word that you used, authentic. Many times I have found over the years that as leaders, it's I won't say it's easy, but it's easy to lose yourself, right? So many times we all of a sudden throw ourselves into our role, our responsibility, that becomes our identity, that starts to frame our values, and we lose who we really are in the process. And so, leaders, we want to remind you right now stop, pause, get grounded, focus in, and and and really stop and figure out what your values are and how that aligns with who you're called to be every day. And so, you know, we have a best practice for you. There's a best practice we want to give you that says begin each day with five minutes of intentional reflection. And Stefanos, this is where I get tripped up sometime. Before, mercy, before you wake up in the morning and start checking your emails, before you start messaging, you know, people about what needs to get done, or before you even log into social media. Leaders, we're talking about mindful living. Give yourself some space, give yourself some space to wake up. And we're gonna talk a little bit more with some of the things that we can do. So, Stephonis, I want to ask you this question next. Many leaders operate at a relentless pace, right? I mean, if we if we just stop and look at how the world is moving, everything's moving like this, right? How can mindfulness help us as leaders to manage our stress, to manage pressure? Oh, here's a big one decision fatigue. How can mindfulness help us to manage stress and pressure and decision fatigue?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

You know, this is the right way to phrase it. How can I manage stress? Because stress can be helpful, and stress is something we need. And if you think, for example, of athleticism, athletes stress themselves to compete and stress themselves to grow, but they also take some time to relax, so it's important to be able to have time to de stress as well, and maybe equal times of stress and distress. So a lot of people that I've been talking to, they say, Okay, I perform good under stress, and it's true, we we get into flow when we are in stress, but too much stress leads to burnout, and chronic stress leads to disease. So this is where mindfulness is coming because it's one of the best tools we know scientifically to be able to manage our stress and keep it in in a state that is still helpful, so we can be in a state of flow or in a state of big performance. And we need to learn to recover as well. So this has to do with pressure, yes, and there is a lot, there's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of pressure in our days, there's a lot of pressure in our nights, and learning how to decompress is also so important. And you told up about decision fatigue, right? And you need a lot of focus, you need to be focused. And when you are doing a thousand things at the same time, you know, we have a lot of multitasking happening, and it happens to me. I'm in a meeting, I'm replying to an email, I'm getting messages and phone calls, and you know, I'm still handling them, but I'm not a hundred percent in either of them, and I'm not I'm not there for the others as well to contribute. I'm just I'm just in the room. This is not why someone called you to be in the room, just to be in the room. They called you for your contribution because you are the expert, because you are taking decisions. So again, we're going to find a way to ground ourselves to come back to the room and to be present when others are speaking to us, uh be present when we're having to make a decision.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

I see. You said a whole mouthful there, like this is like a masterclass. And honestly, like all jokes aside, this really is a good reminder. You know, I love the fact that you reminded us several times to be present. You know, they say that to be present is a present, it's a gift, right? Um, and you know, when when I think about leading teams and leading people, many times your teams will feel valued when they believe that you see them and you hear them. And how do they believe you see them and hear them? When you're present. You know, I try to challenge myself. Sometimes my team members will come into my office and I'm working on an email. I'm working on something. And the easy thing to do is to say, yeah, come on in and talk to me and keep looking at the screen. But I'm challenging myself nowadays to stop and turn and look. Like, like give them my focus and give them my attention. And if I can't, then I need to communicate. You know what? Give me five minutes. Or right now, I really need to finish this email. Can we talk about this? Can we come back? Can I let you know when I'm done? And I notice that when I do that, my team responds much more positively because they believe that I value them and whatever it is that we're working on, we're talking about, or what needs to be done. So, leaders, you know, Stefano's reminded us again that we need to create space to think clearly, to regular regulate our demo emotions. And you, you know, you said, you know, when it comes to decision fatigue, if we stop and pause, we'll actually make greater or better decisions because we're thinking it through as opposed to just responding. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Exactly, exactly. You know, it has to do with communication, and it's not a trick, it's not a hack, it's not about others believing that we value them, but you actually value someone if you give them the your time, right? Someone is coming to you, and he's asking you something, he needs your help. So taking a pause, taking a breath, noticing how he looks like what's going on with his day. This will inform you and inform your decisions for later. And uh, you know, this way you can uh foster teamwork, you can foster empathy, yes, you can connections with people, and we know how important connections are in business, right? There are so many networking events, and we know that projects and teams fail because they don't communicate effectively, and it's not about you know being concise in your words because you know nowadays chat GPT does as well. They are concise in your words, but we need to listen really to understand what is going on, to take decisions and to tap into this collective knowledge and collective wisdom of thinking with others. Yes, you can't do this, you know, three through post-it notes, you can't do this through sending text messages, you need to be there to think together, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Yes, yes, yes. So I'm gonna invite you to take us a little bit deeper, right? We're talking about mindful living, we're talking about the benefits. So, so talk to us a little deeper in terms of how does mindful living improve our communication, how does it improve our relationships, how does it improve our team dynamics?

SPEAKER_01 15:28

No, we know that uh mindfulness really helps with empathy building in teams, it improves communication, it improves teamwork, and it really helps people be less stressed and more creative. So we know this, these are facts, we have research over these things, and we have also stats from companies that are using mindfulness that they have reduced turnover of employees, and that employees are taking less sick days per year. So this is a productivity hack, really, to have people who are feeling better are working happier. A big part of creativity is you know feeling good and feeling safe in the environment that you are, and you are free to speak and be heard. And we tend maybe sometimes to micromanage people and not let them take their own decisions, but be open and let people really express their thoughts and creativity, they can come up with better solutions that maybe you as a leader can come up with. And this is not something that uh will hurt you, actually. This is something that will help you because you are the facilitator of your team, of your people, and you are building better teams, stronger teams, better results. You are delivering.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

I love that. So, leaders, I'm I'm gonna invite you. We're we're inviting you right now in the chat. Tell us where you're watching from. We're also inviting you to tell us right now what is resonating with you when you think about mindful living. What have you used? What have you seen that has helped to improve your communication, your relationships, your team dynamics? Go ahead and share with us in the comment section. We'll be sure to highlight your comment. We believe that we can grow together as we share together. You know, I want to thank you for sharing this because sometimes we think that mindful living is this thing that's outside of our reach. Oh, it's so hard for us to be able to do consistently, but it's not. It's making an intentional choice and it yields so many benefits. So, leaders, again, we want to invite you to really resonate, really think, really reflect as you hear Stefanos leading us and sharing with us, right? And again, just now he talked to us about pausing, making better decisions, not reacting, but responding, being present, seeing, hearing, valuing our people, and strengthening trust. So, let me ask you this question: What are some common habits or behaviors that keep leaders from living mindfully?

SPEAKER_01 18:19

I'll start with what you said in the start. So being intentional first thing in the morning. So when you start your day before taking your emails, maybe before opening social media, set the intention for your day. How would you like your day to run? How would you like your day to be? And what are the important things you need to do today? What is the one single thing that you can do today and have an impact? So start with an intention your day. This is the best thing you can do for yourself. And like you did as well, gratitude is an important habit because it helps us be present, it helps us live in the moment, and it helps us being happier. And being happier, it's a big part of my work because it helps you actually be a better leader, be a better parent or a better husband or spouse, or or you know, a better human, more creative, live longer. So this can also help you get back in the moment.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Absolutely, 1000%. And so, leaders, you know, we want to park it right here just for a moment, right? We were asking Stefanos what are some common habits or behaviors that keep leaders from living mindfully? I we're inviting you right now to this is an assessment moment, this is an evaluation moment with no judgment. We want you to think right now, what are some common habits that you have? Some common behaviors that you have that keep you from living mindfully. We're inviting you to whatever note-taking device you have right now, go ahead and write it down. Or if you're driving and you cannot write, just speak it, just say it, right? Because knowledge is power. The more aware we are, the more we're able to grow and to move forward. Maybe right now you're trapped in constant busyness. No judgment, it's okay, just admit it. Maybe right now you're trapped in overcommitment. It's okay, just acknowledge it, or maybe you're trapped with a negative mindset. Stefanos, I call it stinking thinking. Maybe stinking thinking takes over and that keeps you trapped. Well, today is the day that you get to declutter and that you get to reduce your self-awareness, you get to call it by name and then make the commitment to move forward because Stefanos just now gave us multiple examples of how we can move forward. Stefanos, I'm gonna put you on the spot for yourself as a leader. What is one daily habit or practice that you have that supports mindful living for you?

SPEAKER_01 21:12

You know, for me is meditating and exercising, and I do this one or the other each day because it helps me really ground myself. It uh releases those good uh hormones in my body that help me regulate myself in a physical way, and then I'm ready, you know, to take some challenges because the most challenging thing is what I did in the morning, you know. Yes, lift some heavy weights or sit with myself.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Yes, yes, yes, I love it. For me, you know, we talked about gratitude earlier, but I intentionally so I was reading something, and I don't know where I read it, so I have to say that out loud. But I was reading something that said that whatever you focus on in the first 20 minutes of your day sets the tone. For how you were perceived the rest of the day, right? And it would say if you start off the day being negative, then even if good happens to you throughout the day, you will see it that good as temporary and you'll automatically turn it into something negative, right? So I try my best to be intentional with starting off my morning with gratitude. Before I start having a conversation, before I start listening to the news, I just wake up, you know what? I'm just thankful to be alive. Like I want to be quiet, I want to enjoy being present, focus my breathing. As I'm driving to work, I listen to motivational speaking, right? I listen to speeches that talk about having courage and you know, not because I want to arm myself so that now as I go through the rest of the day, there's like a protective factor that's already in protective wall that's already in place so that I can continue to live life on purpose while I'm experiencing some of the crazy that happens, right? So, leaders, we want to ask you again, be intentional right now, right? We're not just looking at what are the habits that keep you from, but right now we want to invite you to be intentional with recognizing what's already in place for you, what opportunities are already in place for you to practice and to live mindfully every single day. Before we get to the last question, Stefanos, any thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_01 23:32

You know, like you said, you have to be intentional and really recognize yourself. We're not that emotionally intelligent, even as leaders, because one of the parts is self-awareness. So no one is very good at that, understanding ourselves, understanding what motivates us, what brought us here today. And it's important if you want to move forward to understand where you're coming from, you know, like a tree that is growing, you have to go back to the roots and get a base for what you're gonna do next. Yes, and we are living in the future, we're living in the now, but we're going to have a steady base. So, what brought me here today? What are my strengths? What are my values? Where can I base myself to keep growing?

SPEAKER_00 24:23

This is powerful. So, as we turn the corner on this conversation, this really is a good conversation. I'm enjoying it very much. I will I'm gonna ask you to speak to our leaders, right? Speak to, you know, there's a leader that's listening right now that's saying, okay, mindful, mindful, living. I okay, I want to do this, right? I'm gonna ask you to speak and give some advice to the leader that's listening, that's watching right now, live and on the replay, who recognizes that they have been operating in survival mode, they're operating in I'm tired mode, they're operating in I'm always busy mode, but they want today to begin living and leading more intentionally and mindfully. Please speak to the leaders right now.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

You know, I I can understand that there are a lot of people who don't have the time or the opportunities to imagine their lives like this, because like you said, they are just surviving. So why just survive and not thrive in your life? Why you don't have this choice? And if you can't just find five minutes for yourself today, start your day and ask yourself what is the most intimidating thing that I'm doing in my work today? Start with this five minutes, think on the hardest thing you have to do with your work, and do nothing and keep doing this day after day. You know, everyone has five minutes, right? Even in a busy day, and this can set the intentions for you and for your team. And if you want to keep doing this, you don't have to do it on your own. There are a lot of experts, there is help. You have help in your teams, you have experts in your team, so why not have someone expert in your life? Don't have to reinvent the wheel and learn and start everything from scratch. There's a lot of courage, you know, in asking for support and learning, and there is a lot of learning and a lot of information that we are missing.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

I love this. You know, what I'm when I was reading your bio, I love the fact that at the end it said that you have started over again and again and again. And I and I, you know, I said that's so important because sometimes we get discouraged, you know, like, man, I'm in busy mode again. Man, I'm in survival mode again, and we get tempted to feel like this is the way it's always going to be. But you have reminded us today, no, you you can start over, and it's okay to start over again because our lives are important, and it is important that we live life on purpose. I want to thank you so much for adding so much value to our leadership community today with such a pivotal and vital conversation. So, how can the leader that's listening or watching today, how can they tap into your resources, look you up as a coach, learn more? What's the best way?

SPEAKER_01 27:30

The best way is through my website, it's mindfullife.coach, and I have all the info about what I do, all the episodes that I have guests, so they will find you there again as well. I have a short free guide with five ways to feel happier today with what you do without having you know to quit your job, and actually, it's about routines and habits, so it's how to build healthy routines, five ways to build healthy routines and what to do exactly step by step, so they can find this support as well. I love it, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

All right, Transformation Station, you know we like to support our guests, so I'm inviting you. You see the link here on the screen is also in the description box. I'm inviting you to go and to tap on the leak, get this guide, a free guide where we can learn. Also, reach out to Stefanos, let him know first of all, that you saw, that you heard this particular episode, let him know what resonated with you today, and then find out how you can continue to live mindfully. Get a coaching session with him and move forward. Stefanos, thank you so much for joining us today. It has been an honor to have you here on Transformation Station Leadership Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 28:46

Thank you very much. It was so nice speaking to you, Andrean. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

All right, well, listen, today's conversation reminded us of several things. Today's conversation reminded us that leadership is not simply about accomplishing more. No, it's about becoming more intentional with how we live, how we lead, and how we serve. This week, I'm inviting you to choose one mindful practice that you can implement right now and implement consistently. So don't choose something hard, something very simple. It may be, Estefano's talked to us, it may be five minutes of reflection, it might be a gratitude practice, it might be intentional breathing, or just simply creating space for focus thinking. I know that this episode encouraged you, it encouraged me. So I'm inviting you right now, share this episode with five leaders in your family or leadership network that you know can benefit from greater clarity and intentionality. Subscribe to Transformation Station Leadership Podcast and continue growing with purpose. So until next time, remember great leadership begins with self leadership, and mindful leaders create meaningful impact.