“Mindfulness” or being “mindful” is an adjective being applied to people these days.

“Mindfulness” or being “mindful” is an adjective being applied to people these days.

To be “mindful” is often associated with being thoughtful before you act, intentional about your action, full of purpose as you act.

John Baldoni, who wrote a leadership book called Moxie, had a unique take on the topic. According to him, mindful folks are aware of their environment and always take part in improving that environment.

Being aware of your environment means you are alert to what’s going on around you. It gives you credit for reading situations, having an intuition about people and developing sound strategies to improve things. I expect to get the “mindful” tag, you practice this awareness repeatedly. Like most things, the more you practice it, the better you become.

The “special sauce” in this mindfulness tag is you take what your awareness tells you and you put it to work. You can be counted on to do the work. To show up. To make suggestions. To work alongside others. Consistently. Constantly. Effectively.

Being “mindful” sounds like “happening to the world” to me.

Show up. Pay Attention. Participate. Lead.