The eyelashes of the cows – a story about mindful living and leadership
This is a story about the power of slowing down, of reducing the pace of your thinking as well as your life. Most of us race through life, appointment after appointment, task after task. Often collapsing at the end of the day into a restless sleep with our minds still spinning.
We get stuff done, tick things off our to-do lists, but have you ever stopped to notice the eyelashes of a cow?
I was working with a company recently and chatting over lunch with one of their leaders. She had recently returned to work after a serious illness and she told me a story about how her recovery had transformed the way lived, and the way she now led her team. Her story really inspired me.
This lady had worked in an executive position for many years, commuting between the US and Europe. She worked incredibly hard, long punishing hours and few boundaries between her work and her life. She also drove her team hard, expecting the same level of commitment and performance. Faster was always better, more was always possible.
When she became seriously ill, she was stopped in her tracks. During her recovery she spent time in the Alps, walking and resting, forced to slow down. As she regained her strength she started to exercise more and started to mountain bike, as well as walk. Her realisation came after a hard ride down the mountain, it was fast and technical – not dissimilar to the work she used to do! At the bottom, she was aware that the pleasure of the achievement quickly passed, and she was left with a feeling of disappointment.
The disappointment surprised and shocked her. She realised that speeding down the steep tracks, past the sights she had taken in most days, she had actually seen nothing. Most of all, she hadn’t had time to notice the eyelashes of the cows.
During her walks she had noticed them for the first time in her life and wondered at how beautiful they were, beauty in an unexpected place. She couldn’t stop thinking about how she had never noticed this beauty before and wonder what else she had missed as she had hurtled through her life at a frenetic pace.
On her return to work she carried this realisation with her, and shared her story with her colleagues and her team. She dramatically changed the way she lived and worked. Slowing down to take the time to observe the people and the places around her. Being mindful about her work and her commute. She also extended these changes to her approach as a leader. She started to encourage mindfulness in the way her team worked and empowered them to work in a way that balanced with their lives. I spoke to some of her team and asked if she had really changed.
Their answers were clear. We work in a way that ensures we will always notice the eyelashes of the cows.
They are still a very productive team, however they are now a very mindful team. Mindful of their own wellbeing, mindful of each other and of the value of the work they produce. Their leader’s realisation and the changes she has so passionately role modelled have made a very big difference to this team, and to the wider executive team. The story of the “eyelashes of the cows” is spreading through the organisation and changing the way people behave.
This story resonated deeply with me as a leadership coach, but also as somebody who has been forced to take stock, on more than one occasion, of the way I work and lead my own life.
If you would like to know more about how coaching can help you to understand your own behaviours, or change the way you live and work, or if you would like to know more about the story of the “eyelashes of the cows”, please get in touch.