Mark and Amy Q&A: Leadership and Handling Stressful Situations

Today, Commander Divine does a Q&A; with his producer, Amy Jurkowitz. They discuss the future of leadership, the importance of cultivating a positive mindset amidst fear, how to handle stressful situations, and more. Key Takeaways: The future of leadership is world centric. The only way we can hope for a more peaceful world is to get all leaders to move beyond merely an egocentric view (“I matter”) or an ethnocentric view (“my tribe matters”) and into a world centric view (“everyone and everything matters”). Negative thinking = negative action. The reason we have such violence on this planet is the collective negative mindset that has accrued and been projected out into the world over thousands of years. If we can change that collective mindset to one that’s positive and inclusive, then we’ll start to see the outer environment change really quickly. Try pattern interrupts for more productive conversations. The next time someone you’re working with becomes reactive instead of constructive, try a pattern interrupt. Very calmly, point out the obvious to the individual who's lost control. For example, pause, take a breath, look at the individual and say, “Well, yelling at me isn't going to help X, is it?” Turning the mirror on their behavior will likely make them stop and think about their actions. The best way to face a crisis. If you're facing a crisis, don't meet that crisis with more activity, because it might be the wrong activity. Press the “pause” button, take a retreat, spend some time on the meditation bench. Just take some time to go inward so you can ask better questions and find out where to point your arrow for the future. The next several years are about to get interesting. Between now and 2030, we’re going to see a lot of changes in global structures and culture as the Industrial Age structures fall apart. It’s up to us to not contribute to the negativity through fear, but to maintain a positive mindset that we can move to a better place.