To know what goes on in the background of managers’ lives, be it frontline, middle or top

management, I took interviews of some management professionals about mindfulness and self-
leadership. Mindfulness is about being present at the moment and concentrating on what is happening
rather than on anything else.

Through these interviews, I got to know about the mindfulness practices they follow, how its helped
them, and when they realised the importance of mindfulness. I also got to know about their attitudes
towards their work and life, in general which was derived from self-reflection and loads of experience
which was intriguing, borderline fascinating at times.

The two managers and their designations:

a) Suresh Kumar-Deputy Project Director (Systems and Commercial) (Systra) [SK]

b) Sarang Deshpande- Vice President-SAP(Cloud4C) [SD]

In this report, I have written down the essence of the answers that were given to me by them.
Different answers come with different experiences, that is what I have learnt from this project.

Initial Questions

1. What are your key job responsibilities?

(a) SK: Project management, planning, procurement, writing the bid document, technical
specifications and leading a team of about 150+ people of different domains.

(b) SD: Service delivery predominantly, for SAP applications.

2. What are some common stress factors in your job?

(a) SK: Their deliverables are highly affected by contractors and external factors (people,
etc.)
For example, they had to change the alignment of the Pune metro route because the people of Pune
protested against any construction near the Aga Khan Palace which is a historical monument.
They already take a margin in terms of time when they start the project but they might face
unanticipated obstacles when the project is actually implemented.

(b) SD: Maintenance and service of customer applications. Identifying the problem in
servers, solve it and make sure it does not repeat in the future. They have to work
unexpectedly for long hours when there is a problem in the system.

3. How long you have been practicing mindfulness?

 (a) SK: He got aware of it when he joined Elstrom Ltd. in 2015(i.e. approximately 4 years)
when he got a more holistic view of the company he worked in rather than the
bird’s eye view he had before. His actions would directly affect the company.

(b) SD: He has been practicing it for more than 25 years. His dad made him do it initially and
he continued it for long.

Main Questions

1.Could you briefly describe your experience about practice of mindfulness? What form and/or
techniques do you use? (i.e., breathing meditation, walking mediation, speaking)

(a) SK: One of the practices he follows is sitting alone quietly and thinking aloud. It helps him in
taking decisions away from the chaos that usually prevails during the day. He goes for a walk
where he plans the day out (walking meditation). He also does yoga that ‘charges his
batteries’ and gets a full 8 hours of sleep.

(b) SD: He exercises for at least 45 minutes in the morning and stays alone for an hour in a day
for self-reflection and contemplation. Exercise freshens the mind. He walks/runs in the
morning and leaves his phone at home. He takes time apart at the end of the day as well to
review the day in his head.
2.When did you realise the importance of mindfulness?

(a) SK: He talks about it from experience. He says that he had got signals when he something
went wrong in his life and he had conveniently ignored them because he was not mindful of
his surroundings.
(b) SD: He realised the importance of it 15 years ago when he saw that when we are stressed, we
respond differently from what we would usually.
3.Where have you seen positive change/changes in your personal wellbeing because of
mindfulness?

(a) SK: He talks about it from a health point of view. He is very aware of signals about
his health going bad and can accordingly take decisions to prevent it from worsening
(b)SD: He says that walking kills two birds with one stone, it refreshes him in the morning
and makes him exercise.

4.Tell me about the impact of mindfulness has had on you as an individual?

 (b) SK: He emphasises on his health, how he is more aware about it and how he can take
measures to improve it.
He is also more careful about the words he uses as ‘a word which is spoken in a rude
manner in a loud voice can put off a very sincere manager.’ He has to be extremely
careful and it helps in getting the work without offending anybody. He says that it is
the same in his personal life as well.

(b)SD: He feels fresh every morning.

5. Tell me about the impact of mindfulness has had on you as a leader?

(a) SK: That is a huge part of his job as he has to manage 150 different people. He has to be a
‘facilitator in their productivity’ and keep them motivated.
(b) SD: It helps him to react thoughtfully and peacefully which is accepted rather positively by
his subordinates.
It also helps him in taking calculated risks.

6. Can you share an experience about how mindfulness has helped you in achieving your
professional objectives?

(a) SK: Ever since he became aware of the importance of mindfulness, he has become good in
managing the dynamics of a team- it’s challenging to lead a team of 150 learned, educated
and qualified people.
Example: If everything is in place, the contractor is there but the design drawing is not there
probably because of a decision a civic authority has to take, then you have to call them and get
the drawing as fast as possible so that the project does not get delayed and there is no waste of
resources. Mindfulness helps him in identifying problems and solving them as well.
(b)SD: It helps him in behaving calmly in situations, not to react spontaneously but give it
sometime and react accordingly.

7.How has mindfulness helped you to manage the stress factors of your job?

(a) SK: He believes strongly that eventually things do get done so we shouldn’t get bogged down
by difficult situations. There is always a way out, you just have to keep composed.

(b) SD: It helps him to be present in the given moment and prevent him from issues repeating in
the system.
8. Does your organization support any kind of mindfulness practices? Also ask about support of
colleagues.

(a) SK: They have a lot of mindfulness-related sessions. He remarks that in Elstrom, the last
company that he worked in, even if there were 200 people working in the office, it would be
rather quiet. They only spoke softly no matter how tense or stressful the situation got. They
also had a proper weekend where there was no disturbance from the company’s side.
(b) SD: The organisation organises sessions that consist of practices, do’s and don’ts, etc. They
call speakers regularly.

9. Do you find any resistant’s in pursuing mindfulness practices?

(a) SK: Yes, he does because we are not perfect and there can be people who are dominating
without a reason. It is difficult for humans to always to give a calculated response in such
situations.
(b) SD: He says that out of 10, 2 people will comment negatively about mindfulness practices
that you do.
10. How do you like to pursue your mindfulness journey in developing yourself as an individual
and as a leader?

(a) SK: Leaders are mindful about their followers and about the needs of the world, that’s how
they become leaders. If he can imbibe even a fraction of the percentage of that, he would be
glad.
(b) SD: Whatever he earns in some years, he wants to give back to society specifically the new
generation and in creating good leadership.