Rest and reflection are essential to good leadership, yet hard to come by. Often leaders are judged (internally and externally) by how well they can handle a constant diet of over-full days. Yet every leader makes better decisions when she or he is well rested.  Rest and reflection help us see what is most significant.  Why is it so hard to create spaces or eddies in the midst of the rapids to pause, catch our breath, and take time to reflect on where we have been? Truly, rest and reflection are underdeveloped leadership muscles.

Here is what some of our colleagues do to build rest and reflection into their leadership practices:

Prioritize self care  * Make time to exercise, have fun, see friends  *  Create an ongoing practice of reflection  *  Use a leadership journal to jot questions or note areas you want to explore  *  Set aside time the first of the year and at the six-month mark for reflection  *  Invite colleagues to gather and reflect on how things are going  *  Take a month off for rejuvenation  *  Negotiate a leadership sabbatical every six years * Do what feeds your spirit so you have your full juice for reflection * Set aside a time in the day, week, or month specifically for reflection *  Let the work of your organization inspire and rejuvenate you - take a canoe trip to land your organization has protected, take a drawing, jewelry making, or yoga class that your organization offers * 

At this turning of the year, we encourage you to step out of the rapids to give yourself time to consider: What was a success?  What is going well (now and over the past year)? What was disappointing or didn't go as well as hoped for? What is emerging that we had not expected? Are we in alignment with our mission, vision, and values? What needs to shift or change?What do we need to pay attention to in this new year? 

We wish you ample time for rest and reflection in this transition between the years and  invite you to share your R & R leadership practices with us.  We will post your ideas in our newsletter.

• Paddling the Rapids: Nonprofit Executive Directors meeting to build leadership effectiveness; one group in Bangor and one in Camden
• The Journey: a group of professionals in the Portland area meeting to support each other in achieving more work-life balance

• Succession Planning: Not Just About Leaving: January 25, 9AM-Noon, Bangor Public Library. In this confidential workshop, craft your legacy statement and succession plan as a way to be fully engaged in your leadership role today. See MANP for a full description and to register.
   
• Evaluation as a Capacity Building Tool - three 3-hour sessions focused on practice, reflection, culture, and embedding evaluation in the organizational workplan.  Each session will focus on evaluation of one element - Executive Director; Board & Staff; and Organization - March 10, 17, & 24; 2-5PM
• The Leader Defined - three 3-hour sessions focused on looking at leadership practice through reflection, several assessment tools, discussion, and reading. May 11, 18, & 25; 2-5PM
• Eleanor Days - a five-day retreat for women leaders on Isle Au Haut focusing on self care and connection.  June 14 - 18, 2011  
   
• Rest, Reflect, Renew - a weekend retreat for leaders, October 2011;  to be held in a beautiful location in Maine  
   
• Paddling the Rapids - peer consultation groups for leaders, new groups will start in the Fall of 2011
   

We take care of the future best by taking care of the present now. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Coming to Our Senses

In our last newsletter we talked about mindfulness as being in touch and then staying with the present moment while being open to experiences as they come. It is a form of rest, a form of renewal, and can inform reflection.

Based on Zinn's work in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein have created a workbook with accompanying audio CDs.  The workbook is a guide to developing the practice of mindfulness.  The benefits are well-documented in medical literature.  Connected to the workbook is a blog and website as well as a Facebook community where people practicing mindfulness connect.