Exploring Mindful Leadership Through Reflective Practice

Mindful leadership integrates presence, reflection, and purpose-driven action, offering a sustainable model for influencing and supporting others in complex environments. The concept of mindful leadership continues to gain prominence as organisations today increasingly seek leaders who are not only strategic but also emotionally attuned and self-aware.

With the growing relevance of mindful leadership in today’s work landscape, the YWLC Flagship Mentorship and Peer Mentorship Programme (PMP) hosted the “Mentorship x PMP: Mindful Leadership” workshop to support leadership development, in partnership with Growthbeans. Below are the four core leadership and well-being skills that participants practiced through the Beantastic card game: 

• Empowering others: Providing encouragement creates belief, boosting self-confidence, effort, motivation, success, self-esteem, and validation.

• Emotional agility: Being present shows engagement and builds rapport.

• Perspective-taking: Staying curious and open to different viewpoints allows us to understand others and see the world through their lens.

• Active listening: Paraphrasing what someone has said helps check for understanding and makes others feel heard and understood.

The workshop began with an introduction on mindful leadership and participants were guided through reflection exercises such as “What does success in work and life mean to you?”and “How do you feel when you think about your career and the future” that surfaced similarities and differences in sentiment across the room. This provided a platform to explore how mindfulness connects to improved decision-making, greater empathy, and enhanced resilience, particularly in uncertain situations.

The session also highlighted how mindfulness plays a role in decision-making and relationships. Emphasis was placed on how being present for one another creates space for active listening, self-reflection, and intentional support — all of which contribute to more meaningful and impactful relationships such as in work and mentorship settings.

Through hands-on activities and guided reflection, attendees were encouraged to reconnect with their personal leadership styles and explore new ways to lead with authenticity and effectiveness. After the workshop, many participants shared that they greatly appreciated this opportunity to reflect and connect with one another in a safe environment.

“The workshop and game scenario cards created a safe space for everyone in the group to share their views and experiences without judgment. This openness allowed us to be vulnerable, encouraging deeper sharing and mutual understanding. We connected on a deeper level as we opened up about personal and often uncommon topics—something rare in typical settings. By the end of the event, we were already making plans to meet again, hoping to continue the friendship that had begun to form.” – Vivian Sim, Participant

“I liked the game that was played that helped us to know each other better, and made us realise that we have more in common with each other than we think, even in our stress coping mechanisms! Besides a sense of belonging, I was also surprised by the empathy shown where individuals from different stages of life within the group were able to empathise and suggest coping strategies to each other that we found helpful and wanted to do more - this helped us explore more coping mechanisms we could try, and remind us of other coping mechanisms we could do more of, such as being kinder to ourselves and reminding ourselves of our own strengths from past experiences.” -Kathleen Koh, Participant

By offering holistic workshops such as on mindful leadership to foster greater awareness, improved decision-making (e.g. through active listening) and personal leadership, YWLC continues to support the development of female leaders to be well-equipped to navigate dynamic work environments with empathy, intention, and presence.

Acknowledgements: 

Executive Committee: Caren Tso, Urmila Baskara

Organising Committee: Andrea Yiap, Farah Liyana Normal, Kelly Ong, Jamie Low, Rachel Lee