11/11/2013
After a week-long mindfulness workshop with Jon Kabat-Zinn, Marturano—then a General Mills executive, now founder and executive director of the Institute for Mindful Leadership—changed her entire view on what it takes to be an effective and calm leader, and changed her strategy accordingly. This book is the result. Her fundamentals of leadership excellence are focused on getting readers out of the endless rat race, and re-orienting themselves towards doing real, meaningful work. Constant movement keeps us reacting, rather than innovating. Change means learning how to give your full attention to what you’re doing, and making sure others know they have your undivided attention while talking. Learned practices such as meditations are effective, as are reflections and purposeful pauses. Marturano provides exercises for meditation practices for leaders to create a useful and self-directed daily routine. Readers are likely to find her thoughtful discussion of multitasking useful, and will appreciate her suggestions regarding leading by inspiration, the role of emotion in leadership, and compassion and kindness in the workplace. While the content can become repetitive, readers looking to find ways to retrain their brains to pay better attention will find this helpful. Agent: Stephanie Tade, Stephanie Tade Agency. (Jan.)
"With leaders everywhere searching for ways to be mindful, Janice Marturano’s timely new book, Finding the Space to Lead, is the definitive guide to becoming a mindful leader. If you follow her practical advice and easy-to-adopt exercises, this book will change your life." —Bill George, Professor, Harvard Business School and former Chair and CEO of Medtronic
"Finding the Space to Lead gives us concrete strategies, from a high powered executive of a major American corporation, to increase our focus and creativity, as well as how to lead with compassion. In this practical and straightforward book, Janice Marturano shares her down to earth and common sense approach that can help moms and moguls alike. I highly recommend it." —Congressman Tim Ryan, Ohio, author of A Mindful Nation
"At the World Economic Forum, I saw in person how Janice Marturano's Mindful Leadership training could make a real difference in the lives of corporate leaders from around the globe. Her powerful new book, Finding the Space to Lead, makes the principles of this training accessible to readers everywhere." —Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief, Huffington Post Media Group
"A must read for anyone in a leadership position. This is a riveting account of how mindfulness can transform leadership in organizations and improve individual well-being and organizational success. Sprinkled with compelling real-world examples, this book should be required reading for leaders of any organization." —Richard J. Davidson, Founder and Chair, Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"Janice Marturano is a widely-admired executive and a leader in a movement that is changing the shape of our world through mindfulness and emotional intelligence. With this insightful book, leaders of all shapes and sizes will not only become much more effective in every way, they will also become happier." —Chade-Meng Tan, Google's Jolly Good Fellow and international bestselling author of Search Inside Yourself
"Janice Marturano has been an inspiration to many of her friends at General Mills. Her new book, which explores the framework of mindful leadership, is an excellent read for anyone balancing the complexities of modern life and leadership." —Michael L. Davis, SVP, Human Resources, General Mills
"This book is both deeply moving and utterly inspiring. Whether you are already a leader, or preparing to lead, or perhaps you have had leadership ‘thrust upon you,’ reading this book and following its practices will become a lifeline, allowing you to discover a way to cultivate your deepest potential to lead with excellence and wisdom." —Professor Mark Williams, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford
"I describe my first mindfulness retreat as life-changing and once again Janice has ‘WOW'ed’ me. Her clarity, encouragement and reminders to be gentle on ourselves as we learn to be mindful leaders are simply amazing. Finding the Space to Lead will benefit all who read and practice it." —Gale S. Pollock, Major General (Retired), CRNA, FACHE, FAAN
"This is a book filled with practical steps that can help businesses to succeed by cultivating the strengths of their most important resourcetheir employees. This book is a must read for business leaders who want to create a sustainable corporate environment grounded in shared communication and trust." —Matt Mumber MD, author of Sustainable Wellness: An Integrative Approach to Transform Your Mind, Body and Spirit
"Janice's personal story about discovering mindfulness, and ultimately defining how it applies to enhanced leadership, is inspiring. This is not some 'new age mindset' rhetoric . . . as someone who had no idea what mindfulness was, this has made me a better leader, father and husband by building the muscle of staying focused 'on demand.'" —Joe Ens, Vice President, General Mills
"Mindful Leadership has transformed my life. As a corporate change agent my ability to understand myself better and others is crucial to bring about skillful & sustainable improvements. In Finding the Space to Lead, Janice, the pioneer of Mindful Leadership, offers us the practices that have enriched my leadership competencies and opened the most meaningful workplace and life dimension." —Andreas Metzen, Senior Vice President, DVB Bank SE
"Janice Marturano knows what leadership excellence is, and shows us how it can be cultivated. Much more than just a simple application of some mindfulness techniques, Finding the Space to Lead joins mind training exercises and sound business disciplines into practical, transformative leadership practices." —James Gimian, Publisher, Mindful and mindful.org