The executive mindset: Intention, clarity, and rediscovering play
As the leader of an organization that partners new sustainable mining projects around the world, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the road, from Asia to Europe to Latin America. Being curious about what diverse cultures can teach me about business has certainly helped shift any dogmatic insistence on one way of doing things. But to a certain extent, that much is to be expected from the novelty of foreign climates.
More surprising was the way the boundaries between leadership and personal development collapsed in the heat and grace of direct experience. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend different spiritual practices that reinforced the core leadership principle that the way we begin the day determines how it unfolds:
In Seoul, I attended a Buddhist chanting session that was profoundly grounding.
In Bali, I experienced a cleansing ceremony where a simple yet powerful trinity stood out—love for the divine, love for nature, and love for people.
This led me to an experiment. Instead of focusing purely on tactical goals each day, what if I started each morning by setting mental and emotional intentions? Not just productivity targets, but states of mind like happiness, focus, adaptability, gratitude, and transformation? Here's what I found out.
THE POWER OF SETTING INTENTIONS
In leadership and business, we often focus on strategy, performance metrics, and results. Yet the most effective leaders understand that mindset is the foundation of success. The way we approach each day determines our personal effectiveness and the culture and performance of our organizations.
The Conscious Leadership Group came up with an elegantly simple way to illustrate the difference between intentionality and getting swept up by events and negativity bias. When leaders operate 'above the line,' they are open, curious, and committed to learning. Its mantra is 'growing is more important than being right.' Leaders functioning 'below the line' are closed and fixated on being right. They perceive threats everywhere and in their defensiveness, kill innovation and stifle creativity and collaboration.
Stress may be a trigger for leaders to move below the line, but that's no reason to stay there. When our brain's survival mechanisms are activated, worry begets more worry, so we need ways to change our baseline.
Over the years, I have found that setting intentions and staying present are leadership strategies to do just that. This idea is practical as much as philosophical. It both reduces stress and fosters a high-performing environment.
The result of my experiment? Starting the day 'above the line' with a mindset of clarity, resilience, and vision shaped my interactions, my problem-solving ability, and the way my team responded to challenges. The energy I carried throughout the day then drove better outcomes.
THE COST OF A NEGATIVE MINDSET
On another occasion, when I arrived in Rome after a long flight, I neglected this practice. Fatigue turned into frustration, frustration into anger, and that mood shaped my interactions with my employees and the way I tackled problems. The next day, I felt drained and a loss of momentum.
The lesson was clear. When we let negative emotions dictate our approach, we compound problems instead of solving them, getting caught in a vicious cycle fed by stress. Negativity bias may have evolutionary roots but it has become maladaptive. One meta-analysis on the effects of acute stress on executive function in the brain showed that it directly impairs cognitive flexibility and working memory. In other words, it sets us up for reactivity.
So, after shaking off the jetlag, I reframed the experience: Every setback is an opportunity for transformation. As leaders, we cannot afford to be reactive. We must train ourselves to operate with clarity, adaptability, and a forward-thinking mindset. If that all sounds like a serious exercise in discipline, well, it is and it isn't. My next leadership insight came from a very unexpected source.
While traveling through Paris, Thessaloniki, Stavros, and Athens, I spent time with a young team member. Every day, we took a break from structured plans, embraced spontaneity, laughed, and explored. The impact was immediate. Our stress diminished, creativity soared, and problem-solving became effortless.
Many executives underestimate the value of play and exploration. But some of the world's most innovative companies—Google, Pixar, Tesla—build play and creative exploration into their cultures because they understand that stress blocks innovation, and joy unlocks it.
As leaders, it's tempting to hear 'play' and turn it into winners and losers, gaming or neurological hacking, instead of the sheer joy of letting go into spontaneity. The French poet Baudelaire even defined genius as 'nothing more nor less than childhood recovered at will.'
For leaders, this means encouraging environments where curiosity and experimentation thrive. It means fostering a culture where teams feel energized, not drained. When we step out of rigid, stress-induced thinking and allow moments of joy and play, we open doors to new solutions, fresh ideas, and breakthrough innovations.
LEADING WITH A HIGH-PERFORMANCE MINDSET
The best leaders set the emotional and psychological tone for their teams and organizations. This is what it looks like in practice:
Start With Intention: Approach each day with a clear mindset and decide in advance how you will lead, respond, and engage.
Control Your State: Challenges will come, but how you respond determines the outcome. A calm, focused leader drives better results.
Integrate Play And Curiosity: Creativity and innovation thrive when stress is managed and energy is high. Build a culture that allows exploration and fresh thinking.
Reframe Setbacks As Transformation: Every negative experience is an opportunity to shift, learn, and grow. The best leaders master this adaptability.
Beyond numbers and metrics, business is about the immeasurables of people, mindset, and culture. By mastering the art of intention, clarity, and play, we lead better and build organizations that are more human, innovative, and resilient. That's the leadership advantage.
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Fast Company
5 days ago
- Fast Company
The executive mindset: Intention, clarity, and rediscovering play
As the leader of an organization that partners new sustainable mining projects around the world, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the road, from Asia to Europe to Latin America. Being curious about what diverse cultures can teach me about business has certainly helped shift any dogmatic insistence on one way of doing things. But to a certain extent, that much is to be expected from the novelty of foreign climates. More surprising was the way the boundaries between leadership and personal development collapsed in the heat and grace of direct experience. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend different spiritual practices that reinforced the core leadership principle that the way we begin the day determines how it unfolds: In Seoul, I attended a Buddhist chanting session that was profoundly grounding. In Bali, I experienced a cleansing ceremony where a simple yet powerful trinity stood out—love for the divine, love for nature, and love for people. This led me to an experiment. Instead of focusing purely on tactical goals each day, what if I started each morning by setting mental and emotional intentions? Not just productivity targets, but states of mind like happiness, focus, adaptability, gratitude, and transformation? Here's what I found out. THE POWER OF SETTING INTENTIONS In leadership and business, we often focus on strategy, performance metrics, and results. Yet the most effective leaders understand that mindset is the foundation of success. The way we approach each day determines our personal effectiveness and the culture and performance of our organizations. The Conscious Leadership Group came up with an elegantly simple way to illustrate the difference between intentionality and getting swept up by events and negativity bias. When leaders operate 'above the line,' they are open, curious, and committed to learning. Its mantra is 'growing is more important than being right.' Leaders functioning 'below the line' are closed and fixated on being right. They perceive threats everywhere and in their defensiveness, kill innovation and stifle creativity and collaboration. Stress may be a trigger for leaders to move below the line, but that's no reason to stay there. When our brain's survival mechanisms are activated, worry begets more worry, so we need ways to change our baseline. Over the years, I have found that setting intentions and staying present are leadership strategies to do just that. This idea is practical as much as philosophical. It both reduces stress and fosters a high-performing environment. The result of my experiment? Starting the day 'above the line' with a mindset of clarity, resilience, and vision shaped my interactions, my problem-solving ability, and the way my team responded to challenges. The energy I carried throughout the day then drove better outcomes. THE COST OF A NEGATIVE MINDSET On another occasion, when I arrived in Rome after a long flight, I neglected this practice. Fatigue turned into frustration, frustration into anger, and that mood shaped my interactions with my employees and the way I tackled problems. The next day, I felt drained and a loss of momentum. The lesson was clear. When we let negative emotions dictate our approach, we compound problems instead of solving them, getting caught in a vicious cycle fed by stress. Negativity bias may have evolutionary roots but it has become maladaptive. One meta-analysis on the effects of acute stress on executive function in the brain showed that it directly impairs cognitive flexibility and working memory. In other words, it sets us up for reactivity. So, after shaking off the jetlag, I reframed the experience: Every setback is an opportunity for transformation. As leaders, we cannot afford to be reactive. We must train ourselves to operate with clarity, adaptability, and a forward-thinking mindset. If that all sounds like a serious exercise in discipline, well, it is and it isn't. My next leadership insight came from a very unexpected source. While traveling through Paris, Thessaloniki, Stavros, and Athens, I spent time with a young team member. Every day, we took a break from structured plans, embraced spontaneity, laughed, and explored. The impact was immediate. Our stress diminished, creativity soared, and problem-solving became effortless. Many executives underestimate the value of play and exploration. But some of the world's most innovative companies—Google, Pixar, Tesla—build play and creative exploration into their cultures because they understand that stress blocks innovation, and joy unlocks it. As leaders, it's tempting to hear 'play' and turn it into winners and losers, gaming or neurological hacking, instead of the sheer joy of letting go into spontaneity. The French poet Baudelaire even defined genius as 'nothing more nor less than childhood recovered at will.' For leaders, this means encouraging environments where curiosity and experimentation thrive. It means fostering a culture where teams feel energized, not drained. When we step out of rigid, stress-induced thinking and allow moments of joy and play, we open doors to new solutions, fresh ideas, and breakthrough innovations. LEADING WITH A HIGH-PERFORMANCE MINDSET The best leaders set the emotional and psychological tone for their teams and organizations. This is what it looks like in practice: Start With Intention: Approach each day with a clear mindset and decide in advance how you will lead, respond, and engage. Control Your State: Challenges will come, but how you respond determines the outcome. A calm, focused leader drives better results. Integrate Play And Curiosity: Creativity and innovation thrive when stress is managed and energy is high. Build a culture that allows exploration and fresh thinking. Reframe Setbacks As Transformation: Every negative experience is an opportunity to shift, learn, and grow. The best leaders master this adaptability. Beyond numbers and metrics, business is about the immeasurables of people, mindset, and culture. By mastering the art of intention, clarity, and play, we lead better and build organizations that are more human, innovative, and resilient. That's the leadership advantage.
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