10 Prominent CEOs Who Meditate at Work
The workplace is more often than not one of the key sources of stress, anxiety, and burnout and it is difficult to juggle its demands. And because of that, we find ourselves frequently fumbling with tight schedules, deadlines, and meeting the demands and needs of our bosses and clients. Yes, it is a struggle to find stillness and balance at work, but with the practice of mindfulness and meditation, we will be able to do so. And if you are doubtful, continue reading to know 10 prominent CEOs who adopt meditation to help them realize their true potentials and achieve higher success levels.
“Yes, it is a struggle to find stillness and balance at work, but with the practice of mindfulness and meditation, we will be able to do so.”
The workplace is more often than not one of the key sources of stress, anxiety, and burnout and it is difficult to juggle its demands. And because of that, we find ourselves frequently fumbling with tight schedules, deadlines, and meeting the demands and needs of our bosses and clients.
Yes, it is a struggle to find stillness and balance at work, but with the practice of mindfulness and meditation, we will be able to do so. And if you are doubtful, continue reading to know 10 prominent CEOs who adopt meditation to help them realize their true potentials and achieve higher success levels.
- Jeff Weiner – CEO of LinkedIn
The CEO of LinkedIn would schedule a time during his work hours to practice meditation. He said that meditation helps him to think and to be able to practice empathy and compassion which has a positive impact on his productivity.
“One of the most powerful benefits of meditation (and greater awareness) is the ability to improve issues that may have previously gone unrecognized.” – Jeff Weiner
- Ariana Huffington – Co-founder of The Huffington Post & CEO of Thrive Global
The co-founder of the successful American news aggregator and blog, HuffPost (The Huffington Post), Ariana Huffington has been practicing meditation since she was a teenager and has been a vocal supporter of meditation as it has been part of her success and leadership.
“Meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but recognizing that we are more than our thoughts, and our feelings.” – Ariana Huffington
- Padmasree Warrior – Founder and CEO of Fable
Despite her hectic schedule – sitting on the boards of some of the world’s largest tech companies such as Microsoft and Spotify and running her start-up Fable, Warrior makes time to practice a 20-minute meditation session every evening as she has said that meditation has helped her tremendously in her leadership skills.
“Meditation breaks me from the digital world and brings me to the physical world.” – Padmasree Warrior
- Jerry Seinfeld – Comedian & Actor
Not a CEO but Jerry Seinfeld is among the most successful entertainers in the world, (co-creator and star of the popular sitcom Seinfeld), practices Transcendental Meditation to enhance his productivity.
“Every day when everybody would have lunch, I would do TM (Transcendental Meditation) and then I would eat while I was working because I had missed lunch but that is how I survived the 9 years (of Seinfeld), it was that 20 minutes in the middle of the day would save me.” – Jerry Seinfeld
- Ray Dalio – Founder of Bridgewater Associates
Dalio who is the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund has the key factor to his success. He has been meditating for over 40 years.
“Meditation, more than any other factor, has been the reason for what success I’ve had.” – Ray Dalio
- Robert Stiller – Founder of Green Mountain Coffee
Stiller is a strong advocate of meditation as he encourages his staff to practice it as well. He provides incentives for engaging in activities that will help to increase his employees’ happiness and health which he believes is key to boosting productivity and reducing stress levels for his staff.
“If you have a meditation practice, you can be much more effective in a meeting. Meditation helps develop your abilities to focus better and to accomplish your tasks.” – Robert Stiller
- Marc Benioff, Founder and CEO of Salesforce.com
Benioff has been practicing meditation at the start of his career when he first started at Oracle. He acknowledges meditation has given him the push he needs in life to expand his horizon. At the same time, it has helped him to manage his stress levels. The founder of Salesforce has set up meditation rooms in every Salesforce corporate office and encourages his staff to take time away from their work to unplug and meditate daily.
“I enjoy meditation, which I’ve been doing for over a decade – probably to help relieve the stress I was going through when I was working at Oracle.” – Marc Benioff
- Andrew Cherng, Founder and CEO of Panda Express
The founder of the popular American Chinese fast food restaurant chain is a big proponent of meditation. He is known to encourage store managers to meditate if they start to lose their cool which results in better leadership and lower stress levels in the long term.
“I want to fix my people from the inside.” – Andrew Cherng
- Bob Shapiro – Co-founder of Sandbox Industries and former CEO of Monsanto
The former Monsanto CEO who then became a venture capitalist said he started meditating while he was still a student at Harvard University. He said meditation helped to improve his ability to listen and to think creatively. He added he met people who were initially skeptical about it but later found meditation has helped them greatly.
“As a businessperson, I noticed several people I knew pretty well who picked up on it (meditation), people who perhaps had come into it with some degree of skepticism and found the experience useful.” – Bob Shapiro
- Oprah Winfrey – Media Mogul
Winfrey, the successful media mogul, has contributed meditation as a way to get closer to God and cited it as one of the most significant things she has done on her path to success.
“Meditate. Breathe consciously. Listen. Pay attention. Treasure every moment. Make the connection.” – Oprah Winfrey
Credit: Inc.com
Michael Teh, 11th March 2022.
Michael Teh is a meditation coach devoted to a personal mission of awakening more people to higher consciousness. He teaches self-realization through meditation, qigong, yoga and philosophy.
Michael Teh Signature Workshop: The Essence of Life Series explores meditation as a powerful tool to realize our true potential. Michael has designed multiple workshops in this series to support his participants’ self-realization journey. Workshop Series 1 is currently running every few months on-ground in Kuala Lumpur, titled “Knowledge of The Self and Fundamentals of Meditation”.
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