Marco Houwen, co-founder – How Institute

How can practical mindful leadership and emotional intelligence help bring out the best in you and the teams that you manage? Such was the question that leading experts in neuroscience, emotional intelligence and mindfulness asked themselves when developing the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI), a mindful leadership initiative that has spread to over 30 countries and 100 cities around the world.

Nurturing healthy minds

On the 7th and 8th of November, the HOW Institute is hosting a two-day Search Inside Yourself (SIY) workshop in Luxembourg City, focused on nurturing healthy mindsets for better productivity and overall well-being among workers, managers, leaders and individuals. Over the course of the 16-hour program, certified SIY teachers Frédérique Charlier and Cristina Jardon will be teaching mindfulness practices to build the key emotional intelligence skills needed for more compassionate leadership.

Navigating work and life

“Emotional intelligence is a trainable skill, and mindfulness practices help develop it,” explain Charlier and Jardon. “Mindfulness practices, are a form of mental training. It is about making certain brain areas stronger or connect better, just like when you go to the gym to improve your physical fitness.” The practices taught in the workshop are vehicles for increased emotional intelligence, helping to strengthen the focus of employees. Higher motivation, stress reduction, a greater resilience, better interpersonal relationships and more creativity are outcomes that are measured as a consequence of the program. What makes the program particularly interesting is that teachings can be easily adapted to the workplace and to private life. Because employees, whatever their role, are all human beings so the benefits they experience at work can also have a positive impact in their personal life.

A complete toolkit

The workshop is designed to be highly interactive and experiential, focusing on hands-on exercises to build core competences through attention training, dyad and group conversations and writing. “The program gives companies all the tools for increased well-being at work,” says Marco Houwen, the co-founder of the HOW Institute. “As a training institute committed to the development of soft skills, the HOW Institute is very excited to be organising Luxembourg’s first Search Inside Yourself workshop. Emotional intelligence is a key soft skill that every company should be looking to expand.”

Three-step guide to more mindfulness at work

• Take a few minutes of mindfulness practice before you start the day. You can use an audio or one of the techniques taught in the SIY program. Settling the mind for five minutes can make a huge difference.
• Start every meeting with a short pause. Once seated, close the eyes and bring the attention to the breathing. This is an excellent way to be fully present and leave behind thoughts or emotions from previous meetings.
• Practice mindful listening. When listening to a colleague or your team, try and be fully present to their message and emotions. Avoid preparing your answer as they speak – sometimes conscious silence is the better choice.

You’ll find infos about the SIY program, our certified SIY teachers, the benefits of SIY, target audiences, testimonials and other reference materiel at https://www.how-institute.lu/siy and you may register for the 2-day program here https://www.how-institute.lu/siy#9.

For further information on the program itself watch the replay of our SIY Introduction Webinar: