“We Can Create A More Peaceful Business Life with Mindfulness”
Defence Turkey: Like many sectors, the defense industry sector is an area that requires much cognition; many decisions are made, it changes quickly, and it carries much responsibility, and as a result, it can create stress for employees. The concept of Mindfulness is something we hear about frequently today. What kind of support does it provide in terms of dealing with the intense anxiety and difficulties in the sector, and what are the benefits in business life?
Erhan Ali YILMAZ: I think the phrase "create stress" is too polite to describe the fatigue and stress experienced by people working in such intense sectors. Mental fatigue and stress, in particular, are at the forefront of these experiences. We can list the benefits and promises of the concept of Mindfulness to eliminate these problems as follows:
First, Mindfulness is at its most basic; It is beneficial in reducing the stress and anxiety of the person in the business environment. There is evidence to support this in many clinical trials.
Secondly, the person whose stress decreases begins to look at life and the situation more clearly. What does this do? Our decisions shape our lives. We spend part of our time during the day making decisions, and the clarity we gain makes it more accessible. Since decisions can be made more quickly, less time is spent, and the burden of being unable to make decisions is reduced. We know that when it becomes challenging to decide on specific issues, it is reflected in the person's sleep and becomes unhealthy by constantly occupying his mind.
Third, and perhaps most important, is its impact on human relationships. The most critical issue in human relations is our style and reactions. The increase in stress has effects such as the hardening of people's reactions and the fact that their style becomes a little ruthless. Mindfulness exercises soften people's style and make their reactions more comfortable, understandable, and humane. It is suitable for human relations in this sense.
Thus, when employees in these sectors practice Mindfulness, they gain mental clarity, their stress decreases, and their happiness increases because they have good human relations.
“Mindfulness Practices Cause Us to Meet Ourselves”
Defence Turkey: When you mention a place about human relations, the following question immediately comes to mind; "Is it a way to acquire a skill related to oneself to reduce stress?"
Erhan Ali YILMAZ:The main starting point for human relations is increasing one's familiarity with oneself. In other words, as a person's journey of self-knowledge deepens, their peace with themselves increases. We are afraid of what we don't know, and what we know turns into a person we show compassion to and love. Mindfulness improves our relationship with ourselves in a good way, as it causes people to know themselves and develop acquaintance with themselves. A person who develops a relationship with themselves can establish their relationship with others from a more comfortable and enjoyable place.
Defence Turkey: The intense, stressful work environment and Mindfulness are two very different fields of concepts. How can we relate business life and Mindfulness?
Erhan Ali YILMAZ: By the way, let's define Mindfulness. Mindfulness is observing and noticing situations happening inside and outside a person.
Therefore, being able to notice things, look at them objectively, and evaluate and confront them is an important skill.
Everything is good when things are flowing in business, but sometimes things don't flow, and some things go wrong. In this case, it is essential to identify the problem. If we cannot look at the situation simply and clearly, we can sometimes blame the issue on the other side if we have difficulty facing it. Or we can pretend that the problem doesn't exist; this makes things difficult—stubbornness, persistence, avoiding confrontation, and resistance to keep things blocked. Therefore, Mindfulness can facilitate business life by enabling us to look at our lives and events objectively and impartially.
Defence Turkey: We know the importance of teamwork in business life. What advantages can Mindfulness have, especially when working with large and disciplined teams in this industry?
Erhan Ali YILMAZ: A person who practices Mindfulness softens his style and becomes softer. The sweet tongue also pulls the snake out of its hole; this is the most significant advantage of Mindfulness. The fact that people working in a problematic atmosphere communicate with each other in a sweet language makes that challenging atmosphere more bearable. One comes to see those friends. A problem is solved more efficiently in a good conversation.
Second, Mindfulness increases the ability to focus. It allows us to listen more mutually focused, more relaxed, and, in short, effectively while cooperating. Teams that listen to each other well understand something without repeating it. Since the speed and the respect for each other are high, there is a more excellent flow there.
“Creating the Mental Calmness Required for Creativity is Possible with Mindfulness Practices”
Defence Turkey: Again, we know that creativity and innovation are very intense in this sector. From this point of view, how does Mindfulness affect performance, work efficiency, and creativity?
Erhan Ali YILMAZ:Let me answer this as someone who has worked in the creative industries for about thirteen years. We can start with the definition of creativity. We can define creativity as the ability of people to look at two related or unrelated issues from a different angle than ever before, from a distance or closer, and to establish new connections that have never been made before; this requires mental calmness.
We come up with creative ideas in the toilet or shower. The reason for this is that we were relaxed and calm at that time. When we are relaxed and calm, we can combine creativity. Of course, thinking under the shower or creating comfortable environments in business life is not always possible. Still, it is possible to develop calmness of mind with mindfulness practices. For this reason, Mindfulness has a significant contribution to creativity.
Innovation starts with knowing the situation well, comprehending it well, and understanding the problems in the existing situation well. That is why it is necessary to understand what happened. Mindfulness, our ability to see what is, allows us to approach the processes in our lives innovatively. Only then can we see the shortcomings and errors much more clearly.
Defence Turkey: How should we introduce mindfulness programs into the company to increase employee health and well-being? How should we implement them?
Erhan Ali YILMAZ: As we have worked with many industries in this regard, we have also had eight-week programs with ASELSAN and TAI. We have worked with these institutions in employee health and well-being for about five years.
We can think of the sustainability of employee health and happiness as follows. If we eat very healthy one day and do everything very healthy and beautiful that day, not much will change our lives. In the same way, if we eat very severely for only one day and do not do any sports, nothing much will change. The things that make a difference in our lives are our habits.
Our approach in this regard is to build programs to gain Mindfulness and healthy living habits. We develop our programs on being good sustainably and make it a habit rather than a day's well-being in employees' lives. That's why I suggest that if an institution takes such a program, it prefers a program that includes a habit design, a journey of self-knowledge, and a self-compassion habit program. Only a few hours or a one-time mindfulness training can give a general idea, but more is needed.
“Mindfulness Skills Are the Biggest Need of Today's Leader”
Defence Turkey: Leadership is a critical issue in business and industries. How does Mindfulness affect leadership approaches when we think about strategic planning and the processes of achieving long-term goals?
Erhan Ali YILMAZ: We need to understand leadership and management in our lives. Giving orders to people, saying go here, doing this is not leadership. Leadership is the ability to inspire the people we work with the work we do and the people we are. In other words, leadership drags them after us, making them aspire to behave like us. If we say run, they won't run, but if we run, people can start sports behind us. If we want them to eat healthy, we must be someone who will inspire healthy eating. Therefore, we can define today's leadership as follows: A leader should be a soft-spoken and creative person who understands the people they work with, listens to them, empathizes, can feel their emotions and difficulties, and is more at peace with themselves, has emotional resilience, can manage their feelings. Mindfulness practices can meet these needs.
Mindfulness was the cover story of Time magazine in 2014. The article in the magazine explains exactly how much of a difference the skills I have just mentioned can make in a leader's life in today's world. Let's imagine a person who has difficulty managing their emotions and focusing on kind/proactive language, communicating, and listening; how good a leader can they be, whether they are very good at mathematics or physics or have an excellent diploma? Therefore, it would not be an assertive statement to say that mindfulness skills are the greatest need of today's leaders.
Speaking of leadership, let me say this. At Mindfulness Academy, we have a program called "Mindfulness Skills for Leaders". We have been working on this in many institutions for about six years. I recommend this program to all institutions.
There is another issue I would like to underline—artificial intelligence and machine learning, which is a trendy topic these days. We are different creatures than computers. They are developing very quickly because of us. We have a different way than machines. Now, I want to ask a question. Can we be better at what machines do than machines? We can't be, and we shouldn't be. We cannot, and should not, make better calculations, analysis, and memorization than the machine. So, how can we differ from machines as humans? The answer is that humans can be different from machines and be "better people." Being a better person means being more creative, empathetic, inspiring, understanding, comprehensive, joking, and having developed human skills. When working with other people, our contribution should be in this direction. Otherwise, let the machines do the work, such as doing the calculations and combining the photos well. People need to be more human in the coming days, and supporting this with mindfulness skills is both valuable and essential.
Defence Turkey: Well, you have conducted corporate cooperation with many companies with large teams. When working with these institutions, you may have observed the effects on the profile of employees. What kind of effects did Mindfulness have on people who took and applied this program?
Erhan Ali YILMAZ: For about ten years in companies, we have done over five hundred programs and introduced more than a hundred thousand people to Mindfulness. According to the feedback we received in the surveys we conducted with the people who participated in these programs in this process, approximately 40 percent of the program participants stated that they did these practices even after six months. Again, their feedback states that their quality of life has increased. Having this ability means their quality of life improves; They have less stress, their relationships are more enjoyable, they are more focused on business life, and their performance is high. In other words, mindfulness skills certainly have a positive impact on employees
