If you work as a professional coach in any area, whether it be life, leadership, organizations, or another, before you can address the root causes of the issues your clients need help with, you must make them feel comfortable opening up to you. When a new client feels comfortable speaking openly, you may find out why they really choose to work with you and are better equipped to ask questions that get to the root of their biggest difficulties.
Below, Dr. GB Hewawasam describes how he begins working with a new client so that they may begin unraveling those essential concerns together, as well as why these tactics work effectively for him.
“I strive to understand my client’s point of view and negate any features of a self-centered relationship. Conflict arises when an individual only considers their own personal values and perspective, which is why I prioritize empathizing with my clients and making them feel visible. I do not impose forms of change upon my clients. I act as a guide to find the best techniques and solutions suited to them.” – Gamini Hewawasam
Click here to view the full Forbes Expert Panel article.
Dr. GB Hewawasam, the CEO of ManoLead / FineFinish Engineering / INT Terminal Travel Group, was featured in Forbes Expert Panel for offering his first-hand insight on the topic ‘Strategies To Set Yourself Up For Success In 2023 by Forbes Expert Panel.’
Some people might find it tedious to repeat the cliché “new year, new me.” To reflect on what went well and what didn’t, contemplate a reset in key areas of their lives, and choose what they want to focus on improving, leaders and professionals may find the beginning of the year in January to be the best time.
The time after the holidays may be the ideal time to start a new practice, give up a bad habit, take up a fulfilling new hobby, change your daily routine, or make any number of other life-improving changes, whether you feel like you need a complete reset or just want to keep the positive momentum going. Below, Dr. GB offers an excellent piece of advice to set yourself up for success in 2023!
“Happiness sought from outside forces is temporary. Prioritizing our individual selves and practicing mindfulness that places attention internally may allow us to cultivate happiness and tranquility that remain constant. Therefore, no matter what dire circumstances may arise, we are able to return our mind and body to a state of equilibrium and respond to situations calmly and effectively.” – Gamini Hewawasam
Click here to view the full Forbes Expert Panel article.
Dr. GB Hewawasam, the CEO of ManoLead / FineFinish Engineering / INT Terminal Travel Group, was featured in Forbes Expert Panel for the third time in December 2022 for his expert advice on the topic – ‘First steps recommended by coaches to their clients for navigating a prospective pivot.’
From changing markets to unexpected challenges to potential new opportunities, there are many reasons a business owner may consider a pivot. Before making that leap, however, it’s important to ensure the decision is well-planned—and, more importantly, that the plan is well-executed.
Laying the proper foundation is critical if a pivot is to produce the desired results. Dr. GB Hewawasam explains the first measures he would recommend to his clients for navigating a prospective pivot below.
“Most of the time, we are influenced by our emotions, making it difficult for us to find the right kind of reasoning without first calming down our emotions. Hence, it is very important to stay calm. Use reason to discover the right sort of thinking. This is the primary approach when attempting to pivot a business.”- Gamini Hewawasam
Click here to view the full Forbes Expert Panel article.
Dr. GB Hewawasam, the CEO of ManoLead / FineFinish Engineering / INT Terminal Travel Group, was featured in Forbes Expert Panel for the second time this month for his expert advice on the topic ‘Advice to Help Clients Build Resilience’.
We are presented with difficulties, difficult choices, and countless daily duties that demand our time and energy every day. Sometimes, we don’t always get the outcomes we wanted or handle difficulties in ways we’re proud of finding the resilience to keep going despite failure, mental health difficulties, fatigue, loss, and other setbacks may appear unattainable, but there are actions you can do to create that capacity.
Here is a real-life example of advice provided to a client by Dr. GB Hewawasam to help the client recover from a difficult situation and carry that strength and momentum forward.
“By shifting the focus from external factors to internal processes, my client was able to alter the way they perceived and responded to situations. With this new mindset, they no longer felt discomfort from the unpredictable nature of life. Instead, they learned to remain secure within themselves and maintain a state of tranquility that allowed them to face any circumstance with confidence.” – Dr.Gamini Hewawasam
Click here to view the full Forbes Expert Panel article
Dr. GB Hewawasam, the CEO of ManoLead / FineFinish Engineering / INT Terminal Travel Group, was recently featured in Forbes Expert Panel for his expert tip on the topic ‘Strategies for Business Owners To Conquer Distractions And Stay Focused’
Running your own company might seem like a 24/7 job that demands all of your focus as an owner, especially if you’re juggling several operational “hats.” When you are often interrupted, it can be difficult to find and keep the focus you need to achieve your goals.
Here is a tip from Dr. GB Hewawasam for staying focused on the bigger picture and your primary business objectives;
“Business owners should understand the difference between attention and awareness. Attention is focusing on what is inside or looking within. Awareness follows from the focusing of that attention. Looking and seeing are two different things. You may look but not see. Cultivating this awareness through deep internal attention can allow business leaders to remain mindful.”- Dr.Gamini Hewawasam
Dr. GB Hewawasam emphasizes the significance of business leaders understanding the distinction between attention and awareness and how cultivating awareness via deep internal attention may assist business leaders to remain mindful.
Click here to view the full Forbes Expert Panel article.
New Rules of Engagement to become [better citizens] in Sri Lanka
By Dr. GB Hewawasam, Forbes Coach Council
Dear Children!
About the webinar
Majority of youngsters today intend to migrate for studies and work but before leaving this country it is important to unlearn.
According to a research carried out on mental health; the mental health problems prevalent among adolescents in Sri Lanka is higher than the global average.
The research conducted also indicated that most of the upper grade students (grade 12-13) who are preparing for various competitive exams and university admission had higher mental problems. It is quite evident that youngsters are under immense pressure due to these competitive exams and the social structure that keeps them framed in a box. This webinar is primarily focused on breaking the children from this bond of thinking within a box.
Youngsters of Sri Lanka are highly talented individuals with very innovative ideas but unfortunately the educational system and the society has confined the youths to think within a box. So, this sytem of thinking within a box impedes growth potential and leads to many mental health problems.
One of the best ways to approach mental health problems is to approach it by looking within oneself. This webinar Facilites this by disucssing
1. What, why and how to unlearn
Unlearning is the art of removing the barriers placed on the youth from a very early stage and this webinar will discuss what unlearning is, how to unlearn and why to unlearn.
2. Be good over do good.
We are often taught to be good than do good. We often hear from our parents, elders, teachers, religious leaders to do good but what we actually need to do is to be good. Being good is an approach to start looking within as opposed to doing good which is from outside.
Sunday the 18th of December from 09:00 am –10:00am.
New Rules of Engagement to become [better citizens] in Sri Lanka
By Dr. GB Hewawasam, Forbes Coach Council
Dear Parents!
About the webinar
It is obvious that Sri Lanka is an unstable nation right now, and the country didn’t reach this position knowingly. It was the outcome of focusing on doing good than being good.
For a number of reasons, parents nowadays experience a lot of stress especially due to Sri Lanka’s economic situation after the covid pandemic and mismanagement of policies. As the country’s financial situation deteriorated, it became increasingly difficult for parents to financially and emotionally support their children and make decisions about their future due to the lack of proper guidance. Parents and their children are significantly impacted by Sri Lanka’s financial, social, economic, and health problems. So, picture the uncertainty each of us feels. We are all to blame for unintentionally causing this state of chaos.
According to the most recent WHO data on suicide fatality rates per 100,000 population in 2019, Sri Lanka ranked first in the WHO’s South East Asia Region, with 14 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Graph-Suicidal morality rate over the years per 100,000 population.
The above graph indicates that Sri Lanka is on top when it comes to suicidal morality rate compared to other countries in the southeast asia region and this is an issue that needs to be addressed.
This webinar is being held to address the stress, despair, and several other challenges that parents are now dealing with by using a novel yet powerful strategy. We need to extend our perspective in order to address this circumstance, and we may do so by learning to unlearn.
It was also revealed in a research study that was conducted on mental health problems among adolescents in Sri Lanka that through increased parental and social engagements reported less suicidal ideas among the adolescents. So, it is quite evident that inorder to help the children the parents have to be taught to unlear too. This is another reason for the webinar to focus on the parents
By expanding our thoughts, we can find solutions to this issue, and we can do so by “unlearning.” Likewise emphasizing being good rather than doing good. We must also share this information with the following generation in order to break the harmful thought patterns we unintentionally picked up. This is what the webinar intends to achieve.
The webinar will discuss the following topics
1. How, why and what to unlearn
The human mind is filled with ideas but from a very early stage we are programmed to limit our thinking and hence we are not thinking outside the box. So, it is important to unlearn these teachings to broaden our mind and get a better perspective of how to deal with life.
2. The art of being good than doing good.
We are often taught to be good than do good. We often hear from our parents, elders, teachers, religious leaders to do good but what we actually need to do is to be good. Being good is an approach to start looking within as opposed to doing good which is from outside.
Saturday the 17 th of December from 07:00pm- 09:00 pm
While the practice of mindfulness has been gaining tremendous popularity in corporate America due to its positive effects on the effectiveness of leaders, recent research has revealed that there are more substantial benefits one can reap from the original form of mindfulness that is based on the Supernormal Eightfold Way found in early Buddhist teachings (without religious aspects), in which the contemporary form of mindfulness is only the 7th step of the 8 steps of the process. Research has found that a person who practices the original mindfulness (more suitably termed “introspection”) develops selfless behavior and self-reflection, and adheres to a value system (Hewawasam, 2022). So, in terms of Buddhist teachings, the values should direct an individual towards the goal of a tranquil mind and a relaxed body leading to increased effectiveness of a leader through multiple facets, and the sense of values is integrated in the Supernormal Eightfold Way since values are the driving force towards the tranquil mind and relaxed body.
As many have observed and experienced, whether or not a business will prosper, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, depends on leaders with the necessary values guiding their lives. When problems such as a pandemic arise, such leaders need to empathize and be understanding of the hardships employees experience in and outside of work to receive the best possible output for the business. Leaders’ decisions, their character, and their sense of values determine the ability of leaders to be flexible as necessary in the new work environment.
In such an environment where a leader’s value-driven character and decision-making skills play critical roles, the popular narrow concept of mindfulness can have detrimental outcomes as it has the potential to steer a practitioner clear of attending to the required elements of a leader. In fact, some have claimed that the currently popular form of mindfulness can make people selfish.
However, as research indicates, a leader practicing introspection (the original form of mindfulness) based on the Supernormal Eightfold Way will have the value-driven character and decision-making skills enhanced while benefiting from the full potential of harmonious attention/mindfulness (Satipatthāna) and eventually reaching harmonious equilibrium (Samadhi) (Hewawasam, 2022).
Furthermore, based on research, a framework for practicing introspection is suggested—although the Buddhist spiritual path is discussed in the framework, the practitioner is not required to be Buddhist or even spiritual (Hewawasam, 2022). Instead, it provides a path for a leader to learn the system of these eight steps as well as understand how mindfulness works in its full context and how he/she can use it in reality rather than superficially using the mindfulness concept alone.
Why the Supernormal Eightfold Way matters
As values play a substantial role in leadership when determining a leader’s effectiveness, harmonious perspective (Samma Ditthi), the first element of the Supernormal Eightfold Way, deals with the sense of values of a person by enabling one to acquire the understanding of becoming unselfish by becoming aware of the self-centeredness of every human being. Due to various reasons, humans have evolved to be self-centered in almost every aspect of life. The harmonious perspective allows people to experience a different perspective (a way of thinking) to eliminate self-centered thinking, feeling, and behavior. This first element establishes the foundation for a sense of values based on selflessness ultimately resulting in calmness of mind and relaxation of the body.
The research indicates that, through harmonious perspective, practitioners can become aware of whether they are living and behaving up to their values and whether their thoughts and decisions match with their values. Data shows the development of the sense of values within the participants after following the Supernormal Eightfold Way (Hewawasam, 2022). By adhering to values, one can be selfless—self-centered behavior originates from emotions, and people tend to be controlled by their emotions when making decisions (Hewawasam, 2022).
The original Buddhist teachings identify the pursuit of sensual pleasures as all human activity that is geared to fulfilling self-centered desires. Through harmonious perspective (Samma Ditthi), the practitioners realize that the tranquility of the mind is impaired by the pursuit of sensual pleasures. Achieving such tranquility of mind in the business world is not easy, one’s sense of values enables one to be aware of what is happening to oneself in a given situation (Hewawasam, 2022). When one goes into a fight or flight reaction due to agitation or anger, a person becomes aware of this when it happens through harmonious perspective. Harmonious perspective leads to harmonious orientation (Samma Sankappa) in which once a person reflects on what is happening to himself/herself, he/she admits that is his/her nature and what he/she will avoid/do in order to maintain the tranquility of mind. This is similar to taking a U-turn in one’s life and tranquility becomes one’s goal in life (Punnaji, 2021). For a leader, tranquility of mind is immensely valuable as it enables him/her to make logical and objective decisions without being burdened by emotional disturbances and biases.
Despite the obvious benefits of a tranquil mind, people are faced with numerous occasions that bring interference with it. As people experience unresolved frustrations that lead to worries and anxieties within and outside of the business world having one’s sense of values and daily reflections cleaning out one’s mind and removing the self-centered emotions are critical. Harmonious orientation (Samma Sankappa) in essence, is a visualization of the goal of tranquility as the most valuable in life. When a person has harmonious orientation, his/her behavior follows accordingly: his/her speech, action, and lifestyle become harmonious with the goal of tranquility (harmonious speech, harmonious action, and harmonious lifestyle). In harmonious lifestyle, the overall lifestyle becomes guided by the values, the fifth step of the Supernormal Eightfold Way (Hewawasam, 2022). In the sixth step, the harmonious exercise the practitioner removes unwholesome thoughts that originates in the mind from direct perception of the external world, memories, or imaginations and “harmonious exercise leads to a mental state where one’s attention naturally turns inward to observe what is happening inside—bodily changes, feelings, emotions, and thoughts” (Hewawasam, 2022). This behavioral change was observed in the research data (Hewawasam, 2022). This stage leads to the seventh step of the Supernormal Eightfold Way, harmonious attention (Samma Sati or Satipatthāna) or mindfulness. Harmonious attention allows one to move from emotionally disturbing thoughts such as the desire for sensual pleasures, hatred/anger, laziness/lethargy, agitation, and cognitive dissonance which are identified as hindrances (Nîvarana) in Buddhism. If one successfully removes these hindrances to clear thinking at least partially, he/she begins to enter harmonious equilibrium where unification of the mind and calmness are experienced (Punnaji, 2021).
Achieving harmonious equilibrium to a high degree requires substantial practice in seclusion over many years. However, a business leader who appreciates the Supernormal Eightfold Way can know this limitation yet try to practice the first seven steps ending in harmonious attention to one’s best ability and reap enormous benefits–a leader who is in touch with his/her inner state while dealing with the external world, one who is calm, cool, and has emotions under control in both personal and corporate settings.
As relaxation and calmness lead to a degree of mental equilibrium when one can think clearly and respond to problems effectively, an effective leader should find great value in them. Research shows that the practice of introspection develops cognitive skills / greater capacity for understanding (Hewawasam, 2022). Experiencing equilibrium at least to some extent is an indicator of whether proper mindfulness is practiced.
In order to continuously maintain relaxation and calmness through mindfulness, the six preceding steps of the Supernormal Eightfold Way are essential; however, mindfulness is not about always disciplining the mind, a common misconception (Hewawasam, 2022). For example, being mindful does not mean that the person who is washing dishes has to think, “Now I’m touching the water. And now I’m opening the tap.” (Hewawasam, 2022). What is needed is being calm and relaxed without forcing mindfulness or being present in the moment on oneself (Punnaji, 2021).
Another supplementary and essential aid to mindful living that is closely related to the Supernormal Eightfold Way: the practice of loving-kindness meditation (KLM) or more suitably translated loving-friendliness meditation (Hewawasam, 2022). Through this meditation, Mettā and Karunā are practiced, leading to strengthening one’s sense of values while being open-minded and avoiding the negative self-centeredness. This allows the practitioners to reach a stage where the mind is calm and relaxed, setting up the conditions needed for the practice of mindfulness. However, if the practice is started without the preliminary mental/behavioral states, the outcome of the practice will not be effective (Hewawasam, 2022).
The takeaway
Successful leaders need to be in a calm and relaxed state—without being angry and agitated, being tough, making all decisions, and thinking that his/her actions are always correct (Hewawasam, 2022). Through the proper form of mindfulness (introspection), a leader can have a clear and unbiased perspective on what is happening around him/her because he/she is aware of oneself, how his/her mind works, and how the body is reacting. This makes “looking within” the keyword in introspection. Practitioners should ask themselves, “Am I relaxed?” and “Am I calm?” (Hewawasam, 2022). Becoming calm and relaxed does not mean that one has to live in seclusion while separating oneself from everything. One can live a happy life while being conscious, calm, and relaxed, the state of mind referred to as Piti Manasa in Pali, which means “happy mind.”
Achieving this state of Piti Manasa does not require a long time since “once a person cleans up his/her mind (i.e., properly interpreting circumstances in a rational, realistic manner), as mentioned earlier, this can be experienced almost instantaneously” (Hewawasam, 2022). For corporate leaders, this can be highly appealing due to the dynamic nature of the business world that demands immediate results.
“The research indicates that, through harmonious perspective, practitioners can become aware of whether they are living and behaving up to their values and whether their thoughts and decisions match with their values.”
-Hewawasam-
