A conversation with Michael Chaskalson, author of “The Mindful Workplace” and adjunct professor at IE Business School on how leaders practicing mindfulness creates value.
WHAT MADE YOU START PRACTICING MINDFULNESS IN THE FIRST PLACE? WHAT WAS THE TRIGGER?
I was just finishing studying for my undergraduate philosophy degree in 1974 and feeling very unsatisfied with the answers I was getting from my teachers. I wanted to understand the world more deeply. What was really going on out there? I met a Buddhist who had come to town to set up a meditation centre. He taught me to meditate and that was it. From conversations with him and from my meditation practice I felt I finally had a path forwards. I decided that pursuing that path was what I wanted to do with my life and that’s what I have done.
HOW HAS THIS CHANGED YOU AS A PERSON?
It’s hard to say really. I was in my early twenties when I set out on this journey and I’m nearly 62 now. I hope I’ve become kinder, clearer and more sensitive. But who is to say?
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